Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Well I decided I'm going to just go ahead & worm all of my birds since they're not laying that well right now anyway, I think it would be a good time to do it. I have not noticed any worms, but they haven't been wormed in quite awhile, so it can't hurt. Does anybody know if I can use the Wazine for the turkeys too? I don't think I should do the peafowl & guineas because I have a lot of small guinea keets in there. I would hate to hurt any of them.

I'm going down this afternoon to pick up my coop windows, the gal sent me a msg today & asked if I would just want to go get them & I told her that I would, so I need to get around & get down there. My DH said he wants to go along because he wants to go buy some tools at the hardware down there. He's out working on the coop right now, he was going to go run, but came out & said he was going to work on the coop instead. He said if he doesn't get to working on it he's never going to get it done, well those are my thoughts exactly, yay for him. I'm kind of behind today since I got home later than I wanted last night & didn't get some things done, so I had to catch up this morning & was outside for quite awhile. Well better get moving or I won't get anywhere.

 

[HEChicken]

Medawinks, congrats on the egg and the colorful egg basket!

I met David yesterday and Betty has joined my flock. Her wounds are superficial and she is very interested in life, eating and drinking so I think she'll be just fine. She seems to be settling in well. It was fun to meet David too!

Madge, my RP hen sounded a little congested this morning. That worries me because I don't have anything going around in my flock. I first heard a congested sound the first time she was out (on Friday evening) but they were making so many new vocalizations out of excitement for being out, that I talked myself into believing it was just another one because I just heard it the one time. Once she was back in the pen, I listed carefully and she sounded fine. Saturday they came out for a longer time (about 3 hours) and I heard a couple more times where she sounded a little raspy but since it only seemed to be happening when they were out of the pen, I still figured maybe it is just a sound they make. But this morning there was no mistaking it. I guess I'll try VetRx on her, although she doesn't like being handled so that alone will be stressful for her. I have Denagard and Duramycin on hand and I know they work for different things, so I don't know which would be the best to try. Any ideas?

Oh - it was so cute when David was here as Ned Kelly gobbled constantly - I guess because someone he didn't recognize was visiting.

 

[HEChicken]

Trish, great news that some progress will happen on your coop today!

I went to Menards this morning and thought I'd pass on a couple of good deals if anyone is interested.

I am replacing my feed bins with metal after I discovered mice chewed a hole in the plastic one my layer feed was in. I bought a 31 gallon at Ace for $25 - ouch, but at least I had a $5 rewards card to use and reduce the amount. I needed the bigger one for layer feed and only need the 20-gallon cans for my gamebird and chick feeds, and they are on sale at Menards right now for $10. It hurt to see how much cheaper they were, but at least now I have all of the cans I need.

The other thing I have been wanting to do is set up a rain barrel and catch the rain that comes off the coop roof. That will be a win-win as right now when it rains it drips off the sides and causes a little trench in the ground under the coop, so whenever it rains I am out there lining up pans and my wading pool to catch the water. I've looked at rain barrels in the past and for what they are, the price was outrageous - last time I looked they were over $100. On Menard's website yesterday I saw they had one on sale for $60 and that model is normally $100 so I decided to get it. But they were out of stock, so I had the employee checking into getting a raincheck when I saw a different model with no price. I asked him about it and he went to check, came back and said it is on sale this week for $45! I told him "sold" and loaded it up. I also got some guttering materials and my new project this week is to add gutters to the coop and have them feed down to the rain barrel. I already have a watering system I bought from Fleming Outdoors that I will then hook up to the rain barrel and they will then have a constant supply of clean water. (Right now I have to walk over to the spigot, fill gallon-size milk containers, then walk back over and dump them into the water bowls multiple times a day.) If we don't get enough rain, it will be easy to fill the barrel with the hose from the spigot and since it holds 50-gallons, it will last for awhile before needing to be refilled.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I worry about having too much standing water because of mosquitoes.. I have a 5-gallon bucket watering system that Trish shared with me.. Everyone (cats, dog, chickens) all drink out of it and it is just in one place - in the coop on a pallet.

I also have the lagoon, which I am sure is a huge attractant for mosquitoes - I am going to get some fish next spring to help with mosquitoes in the lagoon (maybe the ducks will help with that too?) But, then... I have 10 acres of water even further down.. but we do have large fish in there - I am not sure how deep that water is, but we've taken kayaks out and I even caught a huge catfish in there last year.

 

[ChicknBaron]

I've had my birds a year and a half and have never vaccinated/wormed them (partly because i have no idea of the proper way of going about it), they seem fine but then again i don't have a clue what to look for... any advice?

 

[HEChicken]

I worry about having too much standing water because of mosquitoes.. I have a 5-gallon bucket watering system that Trish shared with me.. Everyone (cats, dog, chickens) all drink out of it and it is just in one place - in the coop on a pallet.

I also have the lagoon, which I am sure is a huge attractant for mosquitoes - I am going to get some fish next spring to help with mosquitoes in the lagoon (maybe the ducks will help with that too?) But, then... I have 10 acres of water even further down.. but we do have large fish in there - I am not sure how deep that water is, but we've taken kayaks out and I even caught a huge catfish in there last year.

The rain barrel has a very fine mesh screen over the opening in the top, and the gutter system will come down to sit on top of that and deliver the water. There shouldn't be a way for mosquitoes to get in to lay their larva.

My chicken coop fence shares a fence with the lagoon but I didn't see a single mosquito at the coop this year. There are TONS of frogs in the lagoon and I suspect in their tadpole state they eat any mosquito larva that dare to try to live in it. We also have a good-sized pond and I was concerned about mosquitoes there too, but there are a large number of water fowl at it all the time. Once again, there are tons of frogs so I suspect that any mosquitoes who lay their eggs there, the tadpoles eat the wrigglers, and the herons, egrets, ducks and geese eat the frogs. Its kind of neat how the ecosystems work! We actually had fewer problems with mosquitoes this year, with bodies of water so close, than we did in the city.

 

[sapphireblu76]

Looking forward to meeting you next week And excited about getting little blue marans from you too! Trish is coming along as well.. will be a fun road trip for us!

^_^ Looking forward to meeting both of you ladies, too!

Good to see you back on here. I hope you aren't working too hard!!
Those mouse traps are awesome. Just as long as the mice keep loving my bait we'll be in good shape! I'm ready for the others to get here so I can really eradicate some mice. I might even try one in the house just in case. This time of year they seem to want to move inside.
I'm just kind of dazed today. I think I need more sleep.

Thanks! Trying not to, but it's inevitable Yes, we're definitely going to put some in the house, especially in the furnace/utility closet. I know we have at least one mouse in the walls downstairs (finished basement) because at night I can hear it scurrying and chewing and it drives me NUTS! I love mice as pets, but HATE them as pests! What are you using for bait?

Well I decided I'm going to just go ahead & worm all of my birds since they're not laying that well right now anyway, I think it would be a good time to do it. I have not noticed any worms, but they haven't been wormed in quite awhile, so it can't hurt. Does anybody know if I can use the Wazine for the turkeys too? I don't think I should do the peafowl & guineas because I have a lot of small guinea keets in there. I would hate to hurt any of them.

I'm going down this afternoon to pick up my coop windows, the gal sent me a msg today & asked if I would just want to go get them & I told her that I would, so I need to get around & get down there. My DH said he wants to go along because he wants to go buy some tools at the hardware down there. He's out working on the coop right now, he was going to go run, but came out & said he was going to work on the coop instead. He said if he doesn't get to working on it he's never going to get it done, well those are my thoughts exactly, yay for him. I'm kind of behind today since I got home later than I wanted last night & didn't get some things done, so I had to catch up this morning & was outside for quite awhile. Well better get moving or I won't get anywhere.

Yay! I've still got to get mine finished that we started this spring :/ Hoping hubby can help me get the walls raised and the roof on! Looking forward to meeting you and Michelle

Medawinks, congrats on the egg and the colorful egg basket!

I met David yesterday and Betty has joined my flock. Her wounds are superficial and she is very interested in life, eating and drinking so I think she'll be just fine. She seems to be settling in well. It was fun to meet David too!

Madge, my RP hen sounded a little congested this morning. That worries me because I don't have anything going around in my flock. I first heard a congested sound the first time she was out (on Friday evening) but they were making so many new vocalizations out of excitement for being out, that I talked myself into believing it was just another one because I just heard it the one time. Once she was back in the pen, I listed carefully and she sounded fine. Saturday they came out for a longer time (about 3 hours) and I heard a couple more times where she sounded a little raspy but since it only seemed to be happening when they were out of the pen, I still figured maybe it is just a sound they make. But this morning there was no mistaking it. I guess I'll try VetRx on her, although she doesn't like being handled so that alone will be stressful for her. I have Denagard and Duramycin on hand and I know they work for different things, so I don't know which would be the best to try. Any ideas?

Oh - it was so cute when David was here as Ned Kelly gobbled constantly - I guess because someone he didn't recognize was visiting.

Aww, so glad you were able to take her. Hope your turkey gets better!

The rain barrel has a very fine mesh screen over the opening in the top, and the gutter system will come down to sit on top of that and deliver the water. There shouldn't be a way for mosquitoes to get in to lay their larva.

My chicken coop fence shares a fence with the lagoon but I didn't see a single mosquito at the coop this year. There are TONS of frogs in the lagoon and I suspect in their tadpole state they eat any mosquito larva that dare to try to live in it. We also have a good-sized pond and I was concerned about mosquitoes there too, but there are a large number of water fowl at it all the time. Once again, there are tons of frogs so I suspect that any mosquitoes who lay their eggs there, the tadpoles eat the wrigglers, and the herons, egrets, ducks and geese eat the frogs. Its kind of neat how the ecosystems work! We actually had fewer problems with mosquitoes this year, with bodies of water so close, than we did in the city.

We didn't have any mosquitoes until the last good rain. Now they aren't thick, like they were the year before last, but they're here, and they're tiny.

 

[ChicknBaron]

I've had my birds a year and a half and have never vaccinated/wormed them (partly because i have no idea of the proper way of going about it), they seem fine but then again i don't have a clue what to look for... any advice?

any???

 

[chicken danz]

Trish I worm my turkeys with Wazine. They do great with it. ChicknBaron it is pretty important to worm your birds because they can die from getting wormy and it causes problems even with egg production. Wazine is a pretty common wormer and easy to find. It just requires a 2 week wait before you can eat the eggs. You can also use a couple more natural things like raw pumpkin seeds (use the guts out of a pumpkin) or apple cider vinegar (the unprocessed kind.) You can't use vinegar in galvanized waterers though. The Wazine gives instructions on how to worm on the bottle. Those are the simplest ways to worm. There are others.
I've been feeling crummy all day. I even took a nap which I just don't do. Now I'm sneezing and such.
I noticed my cuckoo Marans rooster is sneezing too. Crum! I sold my back up young roo so he'd better get over this. I sure don't want to deal with colds again this year. Maybe it will get cold enough to get rid of some of those viruses.

 

[ChicknBaron]

how do i know if there wormy,? If they are wormy will it hurt the eggs, or people that eat them?