Consolidated Kansas

[michelleml]

Great news! The BLRW has hatched and is happily chirpping away!!!!!! Fantastic!!!!! He is curiously stumbling around inside and playing soccer with the other eggs!!!! I stayef home ftom school to keep an eye on them!!!!! VerY EXCITED

So exciting will you be posting pictures?


Dh is able to start up on chemo again today and will have two more rotation and then check to see if tumor has shrunk down and then start radiation. im hoping this will be done with by christmas but im not sure . Have to drive into topeka to take him lunch have a great day everyone

 

[maidenwolfx80]

HEChicken-- thank you for the advice.
Chicken Danz-- I am using nutrena but doesnt seem to be too awfully big I do see a few bigger pieces I will have to avoid. All the chicks are heavy breeds so hopefully they dont have an issue I just dont want anyone to choke. I guess if they seem to have a problem or it looks too big once they are by it I will crumble it more. I almost forgot about marbles inthe water thank you so much I need to get to work I only have a few more days left before they get here..

 

[mikeksfarmer]

Again a sloppy pasteing: sorry not sure how to copy and reply other than this route. Mommahen Vanilla is the only edible orchid. Plants must be pretty big to produce flowers and pods. They are easy to start from cuttings about a foot long. I recomend a very large pot as the plants must get big. Well drained soil and some kind of trellis for it to grow on. Just like most I recomend it to be taken outside in the summer. Fresh rain leaches the minerals out of all orchids and brings great nitrogen. Humidity, breeze and sun are its favorite things. Wish I had another vinilla. You can self them to get pods.

I appreciate the information about the orchids. I once had a vanilla bean plant, I'm pretty sure that's an orchid. I kept it in my bathroom thinking it was tropical and the humidity would be good. It grew so beautifully and was huge but it never bloomed. Even if it would have, would I have gotten vanilla beans? Maybe it would need more than one plant to pollenate.

 

[chicken danz]

Maidenwolf, I have a coffee grinder I use to grind feed (and coffee) I just wash it out good between uses. You could also use a food processor to grind the feed a little. I lost several large fowl chicks trying to use nutrena because they just didn't thrive on the large crumbles. If I ever use it again I would definitely grind it until the chicks were at least a couple weeks old. For a minute of work it is well worth not risking starvation IMO.
Mikesfarmer, where can you find a vanilla plant? Can they be started by seed pods? If you can even find seed pods? Do the plants smell like vanilla or is it just the blooms and pods that smell? How old do the plants need to be to bloom? I had a night blooming flower one time...I have forgotten the name of it. But it smelled just like vanilla when it bloomed. Lovely.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Maidenwolf, I have a coffee grinder I use to grind feed (and coffee) I just wash it out good between uses. You could also use a food processor to grind the feed a little. I lost several large fowl chicks trying to use nutrena because they just didn't thrive on the large crumbles. If I ever use it again I would definitely grind it until the chicks were at least a couple weeks old. For a minute of work it is well worth not risking starvation IMO.

Absolutely!! I would much rather grind it for a couple weeks than have that happen. I could grind some up and store it in a plastic bowl with a lid. I just like the nutrena feeds and the feed store 2 mins from my house sells it.

 

[HEChicken]

Maidenwolf, I have a coffee grinder I use to grind feed (and coffee) I just wash it out good between uses. You could also use a food processor to grind the feed a little. I lost several large fowl chicks trying to use nutrena because they just didn't thrive on the large crumbles. If I ever use it again I would definitely grind it until the chicks were at least a couple weeks old. For a minute of work it is well worth not risking starvation IMO.

A coffee grinder is what I used to grind the GBS for the quail too. I don't think I've ever bought the Nutrena chick feed so I didn't realize it was larger. I like the Nutrena All Flock because it is the only one in its class I have found that is available in pellets rather than crumbles, so I often buy it but for chick feed usually get the Purina or DuMor.

 

[mommahen10]

Hi all. I'm so behind. I've been reading but I haven't had time to write, then when I do try to write it keeps getting messed up
and I have to start over. I'm going to try typing in notepad to copy/paste and see if that helps with the redo stuff.

Danz, How's your back feeling?

I need to put a pencil to this chicken stuff. It's okay if I trashed my first sale but I can't afford to put our family
out, that would be irresponsible because we still have a lot of mouths to feed here. It's okay if we break even to give
us fresh meat and eggs though. We need 10 chickens per month for eating, so if I hatch roughly 20 per month and then sell
the hens and use the roosters for meat. How much feed do 20 chickens eat in 6 months? I need to start paying attention.
I have 100 chickens right now of various stages but I'm spending about $75 per month on feed. Is it a safe guess to say
we have about $4 in each chicken. That doesn't count any work or water or repairing andcoops. There are ways we can save
money on their feed. We could let them free range, our big chicken coop we are going to try dividing their outside area
so they can have grass. We even thought we could plant half at a time and then rotate their area. Is anyone doing something
like this?

Hawkeye, we did leave the chicken in the oven for a few days. There was no waste, which I'm thankful, it's not like the
venison where everyone is having a hard time eating it because it's a deer, not becuase of the taste, purely psychological.

HEChicken, would you mind sharing your chart about the egg weight with me too? I just put eggs in the incubator again and
I'd like to watch more closely. How's Cyrus doing? Is his behavior getting better? We only had a cranky rooster once and
it was years ago and I really think it was because my teenage son wanted to see what happened if you antagonized him. We
had just moved to the country and he was always a kid to see if what we said was true or not, he had to see for himself.
That rooster was only aggressive with him though.

We already had an incubator mishap and I just put them in on Sunday. I had to take my dd to the city yesterday and on Sunday
my dh was saying go ahead and leave so we wouldn't have to get up so early. I gave him instructions but he totally forgot
about the eggs. They were still coming up to temp when I was leaving. So I put them inon Sunday, I would have turned them
Sunday night and planned ot have them slowly up to temp by Sunday evening. When I got home yesterday afternoon they were 80
degrees and he hadn't turned them. I turned them and got them up to temp and it's holding nicely. Will these eggs be okay?

Tweety, glad you were able to get them rehomed.

Medawinks, my brooder in the house is nothing but a rubbermaid tub and a desk lamp with a regular bulb. Mind you, my house
is always on the warm side but I never even checked their temp only watched how they behaved. I use a heating pad underneath
when it's first warming up I guess too. I will watch the temp when we finish the ouside one for winter. I've been so surprised
at how hardy chicks are that way. We leave them inside for just a few days and then they go outside and I've been amazed how
they see so fine. They act like nothing happened when I move them out, like it's not big deal. They have a light in a little
box but they can get away from the light and warmth if they want to and they certainly do venture out and seem happy. I have
babies out there that are 2-3 weeks old right now and it seems cool out to me.

Josie, I'm going to write everything down for next time. The next time I consider practically giving birds away if I can see
what I have in them it'll be easier to stick with it. I can't take food from the mouths of my family is what it amounts to.
Sunflower, thanks for sharing your instructions for the fly trap. I still haven't located a milk carton.
We've been to the cider mill a few times, I drove by there yesterday actually but I didn't stop. I've never had a cider donut,
that sounds good.

maidenwolf, I think the bathtub would work while they are little but how long do you plan on keeping them there? I would think
by a month they would be ready for more space.

Josie, when you have them in smaller spaces I guess you have to clean it more often. I get to feeling bad when they look
crowded and then I move them. I'm betting that the 15 I have in the baby chicken pen outside will be bothering me by next week
and I'll leave them a week longer to let their feathers fill out a bit better before giving them a bigger area. I'm going to
push that limit because it's getting cooler.

HEChicken, I like your rheostat idea, I didn't know what that was called. That's a great idea! How's your cat doing?
ChickNBaron, I've enjoyed reading about your chicks hatching, it's so fun.

We use olive oil on people ears too, I can't imagine anything that would be unsafe about it.

Sorry about the deer experience Josie, I would have been freaked out too. I'm with Danz, at least you are safe.

Thanks for the info Mike, I will be looking for another plant. I'm betting it will do better with your advice.

Danz, my vanilla plant didn't smell like vanilla and I never got it to bloom so I can't help you there. I tried
planting a vanilla from seed I retrieved from a vanilla bean once. I got sprouts and they're soooooo super tiny
but they never grew past spouts with just two tiny leaves. I don't know why, probably because the conditions
were just not where they should be. That was many years ago that I tried that, I recently paid $50 for vanilla
beans, I would sure love to have my own.

Have a great day everyone.

 

[mommahen10]

Sorry my post looks all weird, I didn't lose my post that way though. I will try something different next time.

 

[JosieChick]

Well I'll be darned!!!!! There are two buff laced brahma chicks in the incubator peeping their fool heads off! Guess those eggs weren't rotten after all, can't believe they had chicks in them, so weird....

 

[Trish44]

Josie, I'm sorry about the deer experience, but I agree at least you weren't hurt, those deer can do major damage when you hit them. That was such exciting news yesterday about you, keep us posted on progress! I have had things like that happen with chicks hatching too, sometimes you just don't know what will happen with hatching eggs, they can really surprise you.

Well the 2 young welsummer pullets seem to be doing fine this morning along with the orpington roo I moved. The biggest welsummer pullet & the orp roo kept walking the outside of the grow-out pen this morning, they found it & thought they should be back in there. They will get the hang of being in the big coop soon & be glad for being able to free-range. I still have a few more young ones in there that aren't big enough yet to come out.

My DH went out earlier today to work on the breeder coop, so hopefully he will make a little progress today, it goes so slow. I got a call that woke me up this morning telling me that our roofing is in at Lowe's, so in a couple days we'll have to make a trip up there to pick it up. I opted not to go today so my DH could just work on the coop instead, we aren't ready for the roof yet anyway. He's working now on cutting out the people doors on the back out of the OSB. There won't be that much OSB on there after all the doors are cut out because that side is mostly doors. I can use that OSB for something else. I can't wait to get this thing going & get it done, I so want it finished before we go on vacation.

I've got to get out this afternoon & get the paint on that house for the grow-out pen, I need to get it done & get it in there. They really could have used it last night because it was chilly, but I did have the heat lamp on for them. I put a piece on the front of it & made a door so they have more shelter, but the top hinges open for cleaning. It was the one I had attached to the small pen I used to grow out the peachicks & other birds, but had to move it recently so we can start getting wood in the shed for winter. My DH said I have to get all of my chicken **** out of the shed because he bought that for wood, so I have to find places to put my extra supplies. I haven't been able to get a cabinet yet for the garage or shelves, so I'll just have to pile it somewhere for now. I hope to eventually find a used cabinet for out there to put all my chicken supplies in & have them all in one place, that will be nice.

Sunflowerparrot, I did get my new roost fixed again last night in the main coop & the young pullets were using it, so maybe that will help my problem with them sitting in my nest boxes & pooping in there. I noticed the nest boxes were much cleaner today so yay for that! For the rest of you that don't know, I took out my old ladder roost that I had first in the coop because I had built a better one with 2x4s, a double one along the opposite wall. But after getting more chickens I needed more roost space because the older hens don't like to share with the younger ones, they're kind of bossy, so I wanted to put another roost back in on the side where I took out the old one & I built one the other day, but then had to relinquish part of it to my DH for fixing the framing for the bigger window I got for the breeder coop. I went to Lowe's yesterday & bought a couple more 2x4s & came home & put the other half of my roost back up last night. Now the birds all seem happy, the older ones on their side & the youngers on the other.