Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Hey all! Thanks for the well wishes, It must have worked because I feel that I had a great appointment! The Dr actually understood what I was telling her. She's starting me on a few new meds, so if they work, i should see some results within a week. They are going to also do a procedure that has a 50/50 chance of working - botox injections directly into my stomach through a scope. It's supposed to relax the muscle and help food just flow out of my stomach. No side effects, so it's at least worth trying. Someone asked me if I was taking Reglan (sorry my multiquotes didn't work), but I was on reglan for about 4 days and then i started to get tremors and shakes and anxiety, almost like I was strung out with Parkinson's! It was scary, so I stopped immediately!

Still trying to find a home for the silky roos. No bites on them at all. I'm also considering getting rid of the ducks. I love them, but they are so much more work than the chickens. They are not nearly as friendly as the chickens are either and Daffy, the drake, keeps wanting to mate with all my chicks.. grrr..

Hope this finds everyone well!!!!

I'm really glad that your appt went so well! I sure hope the new drugs kick in. What a neat idea with the botox! I would probably go for it too, since you have been so sick! I've noticed that the best thing you can do to sell your birds fast is to post a picture of each one. Get a good shot of them in the grass or standing on something cute-- a chair, whatever. MOST of the selling point is the cute picture, I kid you not!! I started posing my birds and noticed they would sell suddenly the same day or half the time because of how cute the photo was. Maybe in front of a flower garden or standing on the edge of a flower pot with flowers in it. Just sayin'. Price them CHEAP... people don't really want roosters, or can't have them either. I sold mine for $5 a piece. But I'm going to be listing two more here as soon as I get some cute pics set up and I'm going to list them for FREE because they have wry backs and I'm kind of hoping someone will just eat them! LOL

We are building an incubator, do I want the fans running constantly or just when the element is on? I can't find a thermostat that measures tenths of a degree. Does the temp still have to be at 99.5 with an incubator with fans? I thought I read something about that.

Well, we just got back home and I'm going to go out and check on my birdies.

You are brave! Good luck building the incubator! I had thought about it myself and figured I didn't know what I was doing! LOL I decided to ask for my Brinsea for x-mas last year.

Bad news...

the city contacted me and told me i have to move my chickens... i just got the letter today, i think we might go to the next city council meeting and talk about it but if that turns out how i expect it to, I'll need to find a new home for them... since i just read the letter a few minutes ago i havent got to talk to anyone about taking them for me, i plan on talking to one lady that will probably take them, but we'll see... it was such a good day... bummer

Oh no!! What city are you in?? That is terrible news! I'm so sorry. Definitely go to your council meeting. BUT-- BE PREPARED with facts and statistics. Did you know that even New York City allows chickens in city limits?? Be sure you know your fact sources-- like from what website you got it from and NOT just from like "me" saying it's fact. Go hunt down ordinances for other cities and show them that they are behind the times. Tell them that chickens are MUCH quieter than dogs, and they make excellent pets and provide healthy eggs that when raised at home are lower in cholesterol-- Mother Earth News had the article that talked about how much healthier back yard eggs are than grocery store eggs. Go print off that article. Here in Kansas, Wichita, Lawrence and I don't know who else-- but they allow backyard chickens inside city limits! Make a list and be prepared. Don't just go and announce that you are angry and complain with nothing to back you up. BYC here has a thread for people wanting to change their city ordinances and I would get on that and see what all kinds of facts you should bring and what they recommend you say! And then print it all off and take it with you! And if you don't get it allowed or passed then, ask them when you can speak again and how to change the law! Don't quit there.

OMGOSH!!!! Someone is coming to buy 5 pullets tomorrow. What age pullets do I give her? Do I let her pick them out? How much do I charge? This will be my first sale. YAY!!!

Do you already know which birds you are selling? When I list birds for sale, I already know exactly who I am selling. They can choose from those. If you have birds you don't want sold, make that known. If they are baby chicks, then $3 a piece. Hens go for about $5-10 a piece.

We have been seeing large red-tail hawks around, too. The most excitement lately though was when the Life Watch Helicopter went directly over our house. I thought the roo was going to have a coronary. He was shrieking HAWK HAWK HAWK and the girls were scurrying under the sunflowers. Once they were all under cover, he headed there too. I can't even imagine what he thought it was, but he didn't get under cover until all the girls were safe. Good boy, that Butch.

Sharol

Very good boy! I just hope he's smart enough to run for cover himself in the event of a REAL hawk... and not a helicopter! LOL

Danz, this little chick is eating and pooping fine.... Just can't stand up! She eats and drinks if I just support her body. Oddest thing!! No crackly sounds, puffy eyes, loose poop or bloody poop... nothing. The others all seem to be just fine too, except they are hopping around.... Poor thing watched everything going on in my classroom today and cheeped away, very intently looking at all who were interested in her. I made sure she drank and ate. I have electrolytes and Duramycin in her water along with corn syrup and she ate baby parrot food, wet. I added a bit of corrid and powdered milk in all of their water just in case it is early coccidiosis, without it showing up as blood in her poop.
Drat it all.... She is so sweet!

SO odd, poor thing! I still wonder if it's coccidosis. I just don't know what else it would be since it's such a small chick. Sounds like you are doing all you can do.

1) My hens just stopped laying. Or almost. I went from 10-12 eggs a day to 3-5. Has anyone else experienced this recently? I have 14 layers, with one rooster, and they all seem quite happy and look healthy enough. I visit them at least twice a day and haven't noticed anything unusual and I can't find the eggs anywhere else. I thought maybe they had started laying somewhere else. Anyway, there isn't anything I am aware of that could be stressing them out. One day I spent most of the day out back and never noticed anything unusual. These are all young pullets too. Except for three that are on their second year.

Layers
(4) black sex links
(3) Buff Orphington
(3) unknown
(1) Brahman (sp?)
(3) RIR

2) The Brahma hen doesn't lay any more as far as I can tell. She was the big kahuna and ruled the roost until I got a rooster this Spring. Now she stays by herself mostly. The other hens follow the rooster around, though she does not. In fact the rooster will chase her off. It's probably pay back for her picking on him when he was little. Is there any way to get her back into the fold without having the rooster for dinner?

My birds aren't laying either. Except for my barred rocks-- those girls are laying machines! WOW. They lay every single day and the others have all quit. I think they are molting, they look a mess. I'm taking advantage of this and I am worming them in their water.

I went & picked up my other window & this one is missing glass on the top, so I don't know if they gave it to me for parts for the other one or what, it's so aggravating! I was looking at it & I'm not sure it's going to be really easy to take the parts off of it. Just one more aggravation.

Argh, what a PITA! I hope you can part it out.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Decided to take advantage of everyone not laying right now and wormed them this morning. I'm still getting a couple of egg every day, but I guess I'll toss those out.... what for the next 5 days??? Is that right??? Or less??

 

[Hawkeye95]

All of this talk about eggs has me wondering about my birds. I have 3 ducks (2 swedish and one that I think is a rouen) that are last summer's hatch. I got them this past June and have only gotten 1 egg from them since. I also have a swedish cross drake that is this summer's hatch that I got at the same time as the other 3. Then, 3 weeks ago, I picked up 5 khaki campbell ducks. They are probably this year's hatch, but a couple of them might be last year's hatch. At least one of them was laying before I got them. Again, I have only gotten 1 egg from them since I got them. I do NOT yet have a light in the coop for them (working on getting a timer and trying to figure out a way to rig everything that it won't be a tripping hazard and my birds won't be able to reach it). Is this lack of egg-laying normal? I hear about others who have ducks laying eggs and am curious why I'm not getting any.

Thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated.

Here again, I know nothing of ducks! But surely they are like chickens and during the molting time, they quit laying??? Most of my hens are on strike I guess until their molt is over. I took the opportunity to worm them today. Trish reminded me. I've had that Wazine on hand for months waiting for molt!

 

[lizzyGSR]

Here again, I know nothing of ducks! But surely they are like chickens and during the molting time, they quit laying??? Most of my hens are on strike I guess until their molt is over. I took the opportunity to worm them today. Trish reminded me. I've had that Wazine on hand for months waiting for molt!

One of my ducks was laying before I got her. I haven't seen the five khakis molt, and I haven't seen enough feathers for the others to appear to be molting. I thought they molted earlier in the summer. However, this is my first year owning birds, so maybe I'm wrong????

 

[tweetysvoice]

What do you all do with your chickens when they're done laying..? Do they become dinner?

Mine are just pets, so I really don't care one way or another if they are laying or not - especially since I can't really eat the eggs anyways.

One of my ducks was laying before I got her. I haven't seen the five khakis molt, and I haven't seen enough feathers for the others to appear to be molting. I thought they molted earlier in the summer. However, this is my first year owning birds, so maybe I'm wrong????

How long have you owned these new birds? Is it just because they haven't gotten settled in? Hopefully they don't have a hidden nest somewhere.


So I did list the ducks and two roos on craigs list and got several bites. There is a lady that has a dozen chickens already and a pond that wanted a few ducks. She likes the fact that they are named and already grown, so I might have found homes for all of them already! It's sad to loose the ducks, but I've found that I love my chickens so much more since they will squat for me and let me pick them up. The ducks are just the messiest creatures in the world and have made our water bill skyrocket! I'm going to send a message to chooks and see if I can snag a few of her silkies she's getting rid of

 

[Trish44]

I think part of the birds cutting down on laying is the diminishing light besides the molting, so I'm getting ready to put my light back in the coop. I put it on a timer. I think mine are needing it bad right now, so I will get that in today. Maybe that will bump up the laying, I sure hope so, I have people wanting to buy eggs & I'm not getting enough hardly to sell.

My DH just briefly looked at that other window we got last night & we're wondering how we're going to use the parts because they're put in with rivets. We can drill them out, but then have to put them back in the other window, what a pain. I just haven't figured out any other way as of yet that is to open & close these windows without the mechanism. Hawkeye, I need your engineering mind to look at them & tell me how to fix them!

I got my shock collar & we got it set up, so when my DH gets back from running we're supposed to go out & let the oldest guineas out & see how Jasmine reacts to the collar. It may take more than the lowest setting for her since she has so much hair & she's kind of stubborn. These GPs do seem to be kind of hard-headed, I guess it's bred into them since they started out on remote mountain tops basically on their own watching over the sheep.

 

[lizzyGSR]

How long have you owned these new birds? Is it just because they haven't gotten settled in? Hopefully they don't have a hidden nest somewhere.

I've had the "original" flock since the first week of June 2012 (the original flock is everything but the khakis). I've had the khakis for 3 weeks today. How long does it take a duck to start laying again after a transition?

I lock them in their run at 5pm and feed them, and then I put them in the duck house at 6:30pm. I let them out of the duck house at 6:30 am and then let them out of the run at 8am. I would hope that, if they were going to lay, they'd do it in the time that they're locked up.

Recently, I have seen my drake mounting one of my ducks (the rouen). Does this mean she'll start laying soon? I first saw it a couple weeks ago and no eggs yet, but maybe it's still an indicator and I"m not patient enough? What do you guys think?

 

[chicken danz]

Hey all! Thanks for the well wishes, It must have worked because I feel that I had a great appointment! The Dr actually understood what I was telling her. She's starting me on a few new meds, so if they work, i should see some results within a week. They are going to also do a procedure that has a 50/50 chance of working - botox injections directly into my stomach through a scope. It's supposed to relax the muscle and help food just flow out of my stomach. No side effects, so it's at least worth trying. Someone asked me if I was taking Reglan (sorry my multiquotes didn't work), but I was on reglan for about 4 days and then i started to get tremors and shakes and anxiety, almost like I was strung out with Parkinson's! It was scary, so I stopped immediately!

Still trying to find a home for the silky roos. No bites on them at all. I'm also considering getting rid of the ducks. I love them, but they are so much more work than the chickens. They are not nearly as friendly as the chickens are either and Daffy, the drake, keeps wanting to mate with all my chicks.. grrr..

Hope this finds everyone well!!!!

So happy you are getting some better medical options. Get well! Is there any way you can let your ducks just free range in your back yard. They aren't messy at all when they can just roam around. I hate spring when I have to pen at least 2 of the three domestic breeds I have. It just means mess. As long as they have some kind of shelter to get out of a raging ice storm they do fine. Aw! just read you might have a taker.

One time when I was little I stuck my finger in a light socket and it got me bad and of course I cried but my parents laughed and said I was going to die in my sleep. I was seriously scared I was going to die, but I'm so glad I didn't. It's weird how humor to my parents was so different then than now. Saw my parents today and they were talking about when I was little and we were in a store and my dad put a fake snake on my shoulder and I freaked and was screaming in absolute panic and everyone was looking but he was laughing too hard to respond. He said seeing my dd right by the toys like that reminded him but he knew better than to do that again. He said he doesn't even think it's funny now but at 24 he sure thought it was.
Sound's like your Dad is a jokester. Maybe not appropriate for a little kid, but it's nice he has a sense of humor.
14 months is probably my average potty training start time, and they're usually done by 18 months during the day and by 2 yrs for the night. I had 2 that were a little over 2 for night time. I have 10 kids. It was my oldest and youngest that were later for night time training, and they were 2 1/2 and are both boys. Still it wasn't a big deal and there was no struggle or fight. My family always did day care, and in the south everyone potty trains earlier than most I know here. Also, there seems to be a prime age where if you cross that line it's something they learn they can fight about. Starting early eliminates that. I noticed this line a lot with bottle babies, if you take the bottle away at a year it's way easier than at 15 months. That's so sad that your little one had to hurt with her blisters like that but I would have done the exact same thing, take advantage of an opportunity. I also think that dealing with the mess in the big kid undies is helpful in teaching them what it feels like, they don't notice it in disposable diapers nearly like they do when it actually runs down their legs. It's a pain to clean it up but they learn so quickly.
I guess doctors see this different now a days but I have no idea why. I would hate to walk around with wet pants!! I just praised my kids when they did it right and they seemed very eager to be a "big girl" or a "big boy."
A few of mine nursed until just over 2 1/2yrs, once I tandem nursed but the older one decided to quit shortly after her sister was born. One of the kids I put bandaids on and told him they were broken, another I said we can at night time basically limiting it to just that.
I had to LOL. That is hilarious!

We are building an incubator, do I want the fans running constantly or just when the element is on? I can't find a thermostat that measures tenths of a degree. Does the temp still have to be at 99.5 with an incubator with fans? I thought I read something about that.

Bad news...

the city contacted me and told me i have to move my chickens... i just got the letter today, i think we might go to the next city council meeting and talk about it but if that turns out how i expect it to, I'll need to find a new home for them... since i just read the letter a few minutes ago i havent got to talk to anyone about taking them for me, i plan on talking to one lady that will probably take them, but we'll see... it was such a good day... bummer

There is some help facts on BYC to assist in changing ordinances. The move is on for people to become more self sufficient. Almost all the larger cities allow poultry now and many of the smaller ones are going back to it. Many don't allow roosters because of the noise they make but I personally think that is ridiculous. Some people also think chickens stink and they are filthy.
Ask the council to consider allowing them and adding provisions necessary to keep it under control like maintaining them in a fenced area or allowing a certain number. The economy is the biggest factor here. People need to become more self sufficient.
Quote:

OMGOSH!!!! Someone is coming to buy 5 pullets tomorrow. What age pullets do I give her? Do I let her pick them out? How much do I charge? This will be my first sale. YAY!!!

Dependent on age of the pullets and breed, and if you live is a metro area or rural area. If they are mixed breed and just old enough to sex the bottom price should be about $3.00. 3 mo or so should be about $5, and older than that and closer to point of lay should be $7 to $10. For purebred stock and metro area you can double that price other than the point of lay birds. They should stay about the $10 to $12 range. When I want to sell birds I give huge discounts for quantity buys. When someone came and bought 50 mixed pullets I sold them for $7 each. I lost money but at the same time I gained money because that was a lot less mouths to feed. Anytime any one buys over 10 birds at once I knock of at least a dollar or two or give them an extra one free. It works for me because they tell their friends and come back for more later.

Danz, this little chick is eating and pooping fine.... Just can't stand up! She eats and drinks if I just support her body. Oddest thing!! No crackly sounds, puffy eyes, loose poop or bloody poop... nothing. The others all seem to be just fine too, except they are hopping around.... Poor thing watched everything going on in my classroom today and cheeped away, very intently looking at all who were interested in her. I made sure she drank and ate. I have electrolytes and Duramycin in her water along with corn syrup and she ate baby parrot food, wet. I added a bit of corrid and powdered milk in all of their water just in case it is early coccidiosis, without it showing up as blood in her poop.
Drat it all.... She is so sweet!

I don't know what it would be unless she has suffered a spinal or brain injury. It sounds like some kind of paralysis. Make sure she switches sides she is laying on if you can. I would give her Vitamin E a couple times a day. Just squirt some from a capsule into her mouth. If there is swelling in her brain causing the problem it should correct it in time. Does she kick her legs at all. She also needs to exercise them as much as possible.
I just sent one of my brain damaged roosters to be dinner for one of my customers yesterday. I felt really bad. I had nursed him for over 2-3 months so he could get brain function back.I had almost given up because he didn't seem to respond when all of a sudden he was able to hold his head up and function. I let him out of his hospital cage and he has been running around just acting like a normal rooster. Somehow it seemed wrong to let him be butchered after all that care. But that is what I do. I just have to give every one of these birds a chance to survive if I can.
notiones

All of this talk about eggs has me wondering about my birds. I have 3 ducks (2 swedish and one that I think is a rouen) that are last summer's hatch. I got them this past June and have only gotten 1 egg from them since. I also have a swedish cross drake that is this summer's hatch that I got at the same time as the other 3. Then, 3 weeks ago, I picked up 5 khaki campbell ducks. They are probably this year's hatch, but a couple of them might be last year's hatch. At least one of them was laying before I got them. Again, I have only gotten 1 egg from them since I got them. I do NOT yet have a light in the coop for them (working on getting a timer and trying to figure out a way to rig everything that it won't be a tripping hazard and my birds won't be able to reach it). Is this lack of egg-laying normal? I hear about others who have ducks laying eggs and am curious why I'm not getting any.

Thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated.

Your ducks have probably been on strike because of the heat. With cooler weather you should get a few eggs, then it will stop again for the most part, until maybe February. Then they'll go crazy. Mine are laying tons since the weather cooled. The young girls have just started. Patience. It will happen.

One of my ducks was laying before I got her. I haven't seen the five khakis molt, and I haven't seen enough feathers for the others to appear to be molting. I thought they molted earlier in the summer. However, this is my first year owning birds, so maybe I'm wrong????

I think ducks molt more per age than season. I see huge piles of feathers for awhile than not so much. Their molt isn't like a chicken cause they don't get bare.

I have been so busy the last 24 hours and hadn't had time to get on here. Wow there has been a lot of activity.
I have Marans hatching today. Woot!
Maidenwolf, I checked with Eileen by the way, and her Marans are barely laying. I will get more hatching eggs as soon as she can get them. It might be a while though.
Sharol there is another trap on the market that is similar to the tin cat. I've read that the mechanism sticks on those sometimes. Anyway I think if you bait them you have much better luck. Peanut butter is what is working for me right now. I imagine even a few peanuts would work. I just used what I had on hand. I buy big containers of peanut butter at Walmart because it is the cheapest way to do so. (industrial food isle). I make suet cakes with peanut butter for some of the wild birds. It draws in blue birds, cardinals and wood peckers best. It also keeps them from invading my chicken feed so bad. So it is something I normally have around.
I can't wait to get out and check traps again this morning. I am totaly amazed that so many mice can be around.

 

[chicken danz]

I've had the "original" flock since the first week of June 2012 (the original flock is everything but the khakis). I've had the khakis for 3 weeks today. How long does it take a duck to start laying again after a transition?

I lock them in their run at 5pm and feed them, and then I put them in the duck house at 6:30pm. I let them out of the duck house at 6:30 am and then let them out of the run at 8am. I would hope that, if they were going to lay, they'd do it in the time that they're locked up.

Recently, I have seen my drake mounting one of my ducks (the rouen). Does this mean she'll start laying soon? I first saw it a couple weeks ago and no eggs yet, but maybe it's still an indicator and I"m not patient enough? What do you guys think?

I'd give it about a month from the time they started mating. My ducks tend to lay their eggs during the evening to early morning more so than during the day.

 

[mikeksfarmer]

Not sure why I am posting again but; guess I just want to tell someone about the wonders of having chickens. I have a small flock, im not about breeds, money or status,but just a few eggs. Just now looking out the window and half my flock is laying in the sun, enjoying a sun bath. Its so cool they just lay there in the sun streaching their wings every few minutes. 20 minutes later they will be scractching in the dust.Its funny as dry as it has been, there is a cloud of dust that floats accross the back pasture. Its their day at the spa, yet this seems to be an every day. I truly enjoy my flock; I enjoy knowing every bird and their individual personalities. I have a hen that may have come home from 13 miles away.("homer") Though I doubt this I have no evidence to reject it. I have more to support it than reject. I have "rafter" who lost her tail recently to a fox; she stays in the rafters of the coop. She is tramatized and can only handle 40 minutes out side of the coop. Honestly I am just hoping that each of you get a chance to see the individual in each of your birds. To me my chickens are pets with a perk.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Not sure why I am posting again but; guess I just want to tell someone about the wonders of having chickens. I have a small flock, im not about breeds, money or status,but just a few eggs. Just now looking out the window and half my flock is laying in the sun, enjoying a sun bath. Its so cool they just lay there in the sun streaching their wings every few minutes. 20 minutes later they will be scractching in the dust.Its funny as dry as it has been, there is a cloud of dust that floats accross the back pasture. Its their day at the spa, yet this seems to be an every day. I truly enjoy my flock; I enjoy knowing every bird and their individual personalities. I have a hen that may have come home from 13 miles away.("homer") Though I doubt this I have no evidence to reject it. I have more to support it than reject. I have "rafter" who lost her tail recently to a fox; she stays in the rafters of the coop. She is tramatized and can only handle 40 minutes out side of the coop. Honestly I am just hoping that each of you get a chance to see the individual in each of your birds. To me my chickens are pets with a perk.

"Pets with a perk" - I like that! I have ducks (and a goose), rather than chickens, but I completely agree with you. I work from home and thoroughly enjoy looking out my office window and seeing my birds out free ranging, sun bathing, or just playing in their water bowl.