Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

We just got back late last night from going to Missouri to see my DH's family. His mother is back at the nursing home now, but on the regular care side now since she is no longer able to stay in the "apartment". It's pretty obvious by seeing her that her alzheimer's is progressing & she is getting kind of lost & more confused. The family is now having to make some hard decisions that it was apparent they aren't really ready to make. She still somewhat remembers people, especially the ones she sees all the time, but those of us she only sees occasionally are a different story. She didn't remember that my DH lives in Kansas & he has lived there since the 80s & was asking him what he did there. She is kind of reverting back to more child-like now & often sings nursery rhymes. She thinks it's 1945 when you ask her what year it is. It's pretty sad to watch someone go downhill like that & really hard for her family.

So sorry about your mother in law. I have a close friend whose mom is going downhill from Alzheimers and it is really rough. My grandfather was diagnosed a few years ago and he has done ok so far but he also had a bad stroke so sometimes it is hard to tell which is causing him more trouble.

Josie, glad to hear about the neural response. And, as with Fern, since she is young, healing will be fast in the event she is a good candidate for surgery. Being femoral breaks, it sounds like she was lucky that the femoral artery was not nicked too. As others have said, do take care of yourself, and let Tim worry about Lucie.

She is lucky. She is also lucky that they are mid femoral, so right in the middle of the leg bone, instead of closer to a joint. It will significantly reduce her risk of arthritis.

Josie, I know how you are feeling. My Arnie was hit in April, and I still miss him bunches. You are lucky, you still have Lucie.
Take a deep breath, and keep going forward, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

So sorry to hear you lost Arnie. That is so sad. I am glad Lucie is still with us.

Does anyone here raise their own meal worms? I've been researching it and really want to do it.

I did and was a total failure! I kept getting mold in my veggies during the summer within just a day or two and had to change it out often. I also would forget to change out my potatoes and carrots and would lose some due to lack of moisture so I gave up. I think if you are diligent and check on them once a day they do great, I kept them upstairs in a closet and would forget because when I first started what I had read was that they only needed new veggies or fruit every couple of days which I would say is not entirely true.

Hawkeye, to answer your question about where I learned about the life cycle in a bucket, it was so long ago I really don't remember now. I read a blog and the guy described something similar and I thought it sounded like a neat idea, so I tried it and it worked like a charm. I've been doing it on and off ever since. If we found fresh road kill (rabbit, squirrel) while driving along, we'd stop and pick it up and set up a bucket. I used to use a coffee can for the smaller animals - it was easy to drill a bunch of holes in the bottom and I'd hang it from a tree limb by an old shoe lace. After I shot the fox, DH and I looked at each other and said "well, should we?" and the next question was "But in what? He's too big to fit in a coffee can". That's when I hit on the idea of drilling holes in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket, and the rest is history.

Rather than increase the fly population, I think it actually decreases is marginally. I figure the flies are going to be attracted to road kill and lay their eggs in it regardless. But this way, since the chickens eat the maggots, there are that many fewer flies around because they never get a chance to morph into their adult form.

This is a good idea. I have heard of just putting a tiny piece of meat in a soup can and drilling holes in the bottom. It is supposed to really reduce the fly pop and is a yummy snack for the chooks.

I hit two puppies once. I saw one on the left side of the road in the ditch and I slammed on the breaks and of course my eyes were pretty focused on the puppy and then 3 more ran across from the right side. Two puppies died, I removed them from the road so they wouldn't be hit again, I was crying and shaking and I walked up to the house. All of my kids were in the van too, they were crying. I knocked on the door and explained what happened and apologized all over myself and the lady was yelling at me that I got her two favorite ones and she followed me back to the van and continued to yell at me and the kids were a bit startled. I do think it's the right thing to do to tell the owner, but geez. I'm so sorry about Lucie, that was just wrong to leave her there. I wish there were easy answers, I'm sure they didn't mean to hit her. I'm just so sorry.

How AWFUL! I would never yell at someone for hitting a dog in the road. Accidents happen and I can't imagine anyone doing it intentionally. I just wish someone would have stopped so our poor dog didn't lay outside with two broken legs for hours in shock in the 30 degree weather. If we had known we would have taken her immediately to the clinic or emergency clinic in KC to get her stabilized and on pain medication.

If you want to see larger versions, just click on the pic.



Here are my new German New Hamps and Wellies I bought this past weekend.




Here are those plus the ones I hatched from my own birds all together. Aren't they cute little curious things?




JosieChick, here's Bertram perched in the tree after making a great escape! No problem for my Chicken Whisperers! He's back in the coop, safe and sound. We've kept him in the pet kennel until I can lower my rooster population. We don't want him getting hurt. He has calmed down considerably since we have easy access to him.




Danz, here's Lucy. She is the most affectionate little bird with DS. DS was so upset the other night because he couldn't find her to put her in. I told him not to worry, she was a very clever girl and had probably found a good safe spot. Sure enough, the next morning she was out and about just a perky as usual. They found her hiding spot so now she doesn't get by with spending the night outside.The kids love our Seramas!

Very cute! Love the new turkey! I am glad you have chicken whisperers to get seramas out of trees! They are remarkable flyers. I had a pullet fly over the fence the other day and I couldn't believe how high she got!

JosieChick,

I just wanted to tell you I am sorry what you and Lucie are going through, and I will keep her in your prayers.

I lost my first Great Pyr at 10 months old, he ran out of my house and under the wheels of my neighbor's dump truck. My neighbor did not even see him or know that he ran over him.

I am so glad that Lucie is being given a second chance.

When she is wearing her invisible fence collar, does it work?

I have two goldens on an IF and it works great. I do not have a Great Pyrenees, but want one badly because I didn't think the IF would work with them.

We had a coyote trying to play with my goldens yesterday, I am hoping she wasn't trying to lure them into the woods. Now I am wanting a Pyr even more.

She is very respectful of the invisible fence collar and we have never had a problem with either of the dogs breaching the fence line when they are wearing their collars now that they are trained to them. The problem was that we were also bringing her in the house and and our landscaping is part of the invisible fence line so I didn't want her confused by being shocked sometimes by the fence and not other times. I had planned on putting it back on her but hadn't found her collar receiver yet.

I think if you really invest the time training it really helps. We spent several weeks with the dogs penned up so they only learned the boundaries when we were there so they wouldn't make mistakes and bowl through the fence line. It also helps that most of our fencing is mounted on our barbed wire fence so there is also a physical, "visual" barrier for them to associate with the collar shock. We were told not to use the warning beep because pyrs are smart enough to stand near the fence and let the collar battery run down giving the "warning" beep until the battery dies then they trot off over the fence line.



Well, Lucie is scheduled to go into surgery right about now. She remained stable over night and her chest x rays looked good this morning. Her ECG was also good. They were a bit concerned that she had not urinated overnight and so they were going to repeat abdominal radiographs to be sure her bladder was intact and if everything looked ok place a urinary catheter to keep her from having a giant bladder right after such a major surgery. Once she is able to be sling walked and can urinate on her own she can come home. So I have lots to do today to get the living room ready as Lucie's recovery pad. DH and the surgeon both think she will make a very quick recovery and should be eager to get back on her feet. I am nervous about trying to keep her quiet because she won't be able to run or jump for several weeks so I am going to have my hands full!

 

[cherwill]

Quote:

We just got back late last night from going to Missouri to see my DH's family. His mother is back at the nursing home now, but on the regular care side now since she is no longer able to stay in the "apartment". It's pretty obvious by seeing her that her alzheimer's is progressing & she is getting kind of lost & more confused. The family is now having to make some hard decisions that it was apparent they aren't really ready to make. She still somewhat remembers people, especially the ones she sees all the time, but those of us she only sees occasionally are a different story. She didn't remember that my DH lives in Kansas & he has lived there since the 80s & was asking him what he did there. She is kind of reverting back to more child-like now & often sings nursery rhymes. She thinks it's 1945 when you ask her what year it is. It's pretty sad to watch someone go downhill like that & really hard for her family.

It's pretty rough when someone you love doesn't know who you are much of the time.

A lot of us eat our birds, nothing wrong with that. It only seems mean because in this day and age, we've gotten so far away from our food sources. My mom always says she would just rather buy from the grocery store because she just doesn't want to know where it comes from. I'm the complete opposite. I WANT to know where my food comes from and what went into growing it. I don't have room for meaties, but I'd raise some if I could, for just that reason -- I want to know where my food comes from and what's in it. It's not less mean, IMO, to buy meat from a grocery store than to butcher it yourself. At least if you raise it, you can make sure it has a good life and that it dies humanely.

That is so tough. My grandpa just passed last month. He had Alzheimer's as well and never remembered who I was. I felt guilty for not visiting him more often, but he just could never recognize me. It just hurt me more than it helped him, so I quit going. I was sad when he passed, he was the only father figure in my life, but it seemed like he had been gone for years already, so it was a little easier for me when he did pass. I'm just glad he's no longer suffering, that was the worst thing to see.
Funny about the guineas. Looking forward to seeing the pictures. I'm sorry about your grandpa. Don't feel guilty for not visiting -- he didn't know. That sounds horrible and it is, but this way you hurt less and are better able to remember the grandpa you love and who loved you.

Hawkeye, ha ha, if I posted a pic of our new coop everyone would surely laugh at me. We used old tin siding from another shed we are tearing down. We bought some new lumber to build the frame, but some of it is boards from an old bed frame. It has new shingles, and a recycled storm window. The door is actually an old window screen but it's plenty tall enough for a door. I will cover the door if necessary. The tin siding worked out great because this coop was built attached to the barn and it matches the siding on that side of the barn becuase that part is an addition. Talk about hillbilly, but it looks like it's supposed to be there. We did get the concrete on the floor, and it works and is quite functional. I'm happy it was done in 2 weeks. My entire family wants me to shoot but I tend to panic with guns, someone close to me was killed by a gun years ago and I think it stems from that. I start shaking when they ask me to hold it so they can do something.

I hit two puppies once. I saw one on the left side of the road in the ditch and I slammed on the breaks and of course my eyes were pretty focused on the puppy and then 3 more ran across from the right side. Two puppies died, I removed them from the road so they wouldn't be hit again, I was crying and shaking and I walked up to the house. All of my kids were in the van too, they were crying. I knocked on the door and explained what happened and apologized all over myself and the lady was yelling at me that I got her two favorite ones and she followed me back to the van and continued to yell at me and the kids were a bit startled. I do think it's the right thing to do to tell the owner, but geez. I'm so sorry about Lucie, that was just wrong to leave her there. I wish there were easy answers, I'm sure they didn't mean to hit her. I'm just so sorry.

I think with the butchering thing I'm really lucky, my boys have initiated it all without any prompting. They asked to do it, but meat has been scarce and I think they're just hungry growing boys.

Trish, what's OSB?

Sapphire, it seems easier to not know where it came from and just eat and try to ignore that you know nothing about it. It feels safer and more responsible to know what we are eating and where it came from. One thing for sure, our family has wasted much less knowing and appreciating it.

I was thinking about doing meal worms too. We are also considering planting wheat for the chickens. HEChicken, do you have a good source for the how to's? Where do you get the starts for that? Isn't oatmeal cheaper than wheat bran?

My dh is going to Great Bend for 2 days, boo. I hate it when he's gone over night but it's not as bad as it used to be now that the boys are big enough to do big people things. I won't be scared anyway. I'm not very tough but I'm getting tougher. When we first moved to the country 12 years ago I wouldn't even go into the chicken coop, now I can't live without them and it's a treat to go play with them for a while. I go out there, and I don't want to come back in.

Don't worry about how your coop is built; probably most of us here use whatever we can get our hands on when building something. I like seeing how people reuse things and getting ideas from others.

You don't have to shoot a gun if you don't want to. I think it's a lot of fun, though I haven't done it in a long time. My dad always had guns and he taught us kids to shoot when we were pretty young. It was never scary because he taught us proper handling and what to expect when we shot, and NEVER to point a gun at someone even if we were sure it wasn't loaded. If we were made or he didn't think our minds were in the right place, we didn't get to shoot that day. However, if you think you need to learn to shoot and you have this very understandable fear, find someone who is calm and patient and will let you take as long as you need to deal with each step of the process.

What a horrible story about hitting the puppies. I'm sure she was upset, but you did something that was hard already by facing her and she just made it worse for you and your kids. I hit a puppy several years ago because I was so focused on the toddler to my left who was riding a wobbly bike that I failed to see the puppy run into the street on my right. It's owner wasn't far behind it, running and screaming. I didn't hear her because my windows were up. I scooped them both up and took them right to my vet. I told her I'd pay and she insisted she would because her dog was loose in town. Luckily it had just been clipped by my tire and was OK. It seems odd now that here we were, the person whose puppy was hurt and the person who did it, both of us holding on to each other sobbing. I'm thankful it turned out OK.

My husband works 24 hour shifts and is gone several times a year for training or classes. I've told him before that he needs to make sure I always have a dog or two to keep me company and bark at intruders or we'd probably be divorced! It's only partly a joke. I'm not overly fearful in general, but we have had strange things happen in our neighborhood, including someone knocking on my door after midnight one night. That's when a barking dog is a great thing.

More than the taste, I like knowing the bird had a life before death and I like knowing everything about what went into growing that bird. I believe I'm teaching something really valuable to the children about where their food comes from and the realities of commercial production.

DH likes to tell the story of his first solo batch of fried chicken. He made it shortly after he moved out on his own. He said it was awful and he couldn't understand it because he used his mother's recipe and hers is delicious. He called her and they discussed everything he'd done and made sure he followed her directions. He just kept saying it had no flavor and was blah compared to hers. Finally she asked him where he got the chicken. When he said it came from the grocery store, she told him THAT was his problem! She was right, too.

We went to the city council meeting tonite and they all seemed kinda open minded (except for one stinker, that has never liked my dad) but they graciously extended the deadline to move them... I think we have a good chance!

We'll attend the next meeting to hear what theyve come up with.

P.S. sorry for the dumb question, but what is a DH?

I'm glad it went well. I hope they will reconsider banning chickens. They don't smell and don't make any more noise than dogs or cats.

Hi all,

I promise I will catch up on everyone's posts tomorrow. Just wanted to let everyone know that Lucie is at Kansas State University in their ICU and stable tonight. She is scheduled for surgery tomorrow afternoon with the orthopedic surgeon and they think she will make a good recovery. I am so glad she is doing well and on lots of good pain meds. She has several vet students that will monitor her overnight for stress and pain so she is in good hands. Thank you so much to everyone for all your kind words and support. It means more than you will ever know. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful group of chicken friends!

I'm so glad she's doing well. In an earlier post you had some concern about her leg being useless. Even if that had been the case, there are plenty of tripod dogs out there! You are not responsible for this (I know, I beat myself up the same way for my dog that was hit by a car and killed) and you've done everything to make sure Lucie gets the help she needs. Having hit a dog myself, I know how easily and quickly it can happen, but it wouldn't occur to me to just leave it and speed off. I would be sick with worry if I didn't let the owners know.


The painting is done.

We have some cleanup to do and screens to put up, but no more painting!

 

[chicken danz]

Geez! That would be almost like having a baby!

I am glad she is doing better.
Well I have officially lost my mind. I was checking back through stuff and realized I should have had lavender orpington chicks hatch last week. I don't remember even getting the eggs but the post office tracking says I did. I went out and checked and there were no boxes hidden any where. Sometimes the mailman will set a box somewhere and leave a note if I'm not here.
I do think I threw several bad eggs out last week but I can't remember for sure if those were just the infertile brahma eggs or others.
So-o-o-o-o... Either they were no good at all or I never actually got them. Irritates me. If they weren't good I would have thrown them out thinking they were something else. What a waste of money. I honestly don't think they ever made it here. I don't necessarily need more lavenders because I have a pretty good crew I think. It just bothers me I have no idea where they went.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Does it really matter? If you aren't breeding for chicks or showing, I don't see that it would be a problem? Well as long as you didn't pay for a purebred chick or egg.
I am trying to get into the rare pure bred world of chickens, but I still produce some mutts here and there. If they lay or you can eat them they are still a good chicken.
Speaking of that I pulled out eggs from the incubator today that I can't remember where I got them. They obviously were a nest I found someplace and decided to incubate rather than throw out. There were maybe 18 eggs and every darn one of them is fertile. I had them marked to hatch on the 13th but I have one chick already and one that pipped so a hen must have been sitting on the eggs. I put them in the hatcher because I need the incubator space. I sure hope any later one still hatch. Too bad my shipped egg won't hatch that well.

Oh it doesnt matter she has just asked me to identify her chickens, I know all the breeds I have and she was wanting to know. She bought them from the guy I stated who sells them here in town and he runs them all together in a grow out pen and when asked he just says I dont know, on the breed.lol So I told her I would do my best because most are mixes. The only one she got to hatch was that one egg whom she got from a different person.

Also both mine and her BO have yellow legs,,, so not a BO then huh? Guess I will have to look it up, I will post a pic soon gotta go take some.

 

[checoukan]

Some one was asking about the Buff Orpingtons.

Your combs, wattles, and face will be bright red.
beak pinkish white, legs and toes also.
eyes -redish almost a bay color
feathers are an even shade of golden buff
undercolor-(aka) fluff,should closely match the surface color.

Ok, now your buff color is considered a medium shade of orange-yellow, with a very rich golden cast, but not so rich as to have a reddish cast.
Also not so pale to be considered a lemon or pale yellow. Most breeds in buff are all one color.

Some breeds as your brahma, black tailed buff Japanese , and the Catalana buff will have black in the tail. These are the only ones I know of off the top on me head.

Hopes this helps.

 

[michelleml]

Josie good news about Lucie i hope she heals fast

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Some one was asking about the Buff Orpingtons.

Your combs, wattles, and face will be bright red.
beak pinkish white, legs and toes also.
eyes -redish almost a bay color
feathers are an even shade of golden buff
undercolor-(aka) fluff,should closely match the surface color.

Ok, now your buff color is considered a medium shade of orange-yellow, with a very rich golden cast, but not so rich as to have a reddish cast.
Also not so pale to be considered a lemon or pale yellow. Most breeds in buff are all one color.

Some breeds as your brahma, black tailed buff Japanese , and the Catalana buff will have black in the tail. These are the only ones I know of off the top on me head.

Hopes this helps.

Ok thank you. Well my girl is not a BO she is golden buff all over the same color with the reddish eyes. She has a yellow/white beak and yellow/white legs and toes. any guess until I post a pic???

 

[HEChicken]

The painting is done.

We have some cleanup to do and screens to put up, but no more painting!

Well, if you miss painting, I have some here you can do.....

Well I have officially lost my mind. I was checking back through stuff and realized I should have had lavender orpington chicks hatch last week. I don't remember even getting the eggs but the post office tracking says I did. I went out and checked and there were no boxes hidden any where. Sometimes the mailman will set a box somewhere and leave a note if I'm not here.
I do think I threw several bad eggs out last week but I can't remember for sure if those were just the infertile brahma eggs or others.
So-o-o-o-o... Either they were no good at all or I never actually got them. Irritates me. If they weren't good I would have thrown them out thinking they were something else. What a waste of money. I honestly don't think they ever made it here. I don't necessarily need more lavenders because I have a pretty good crew I think. It just bothers me I have no idea where they went.

That must be very frustrating. I can't even imagine - you must get a lot of eggs in the mail. I do like to shop online but when I place an order, I am usually on tenterhooks awaiting its arrival so clearly I don't get as many deliveries as you do!

Ok thank you. Well my girl is not a BO she is golden buff all over the same color with the reddish eyes. She has a yellow/white beak and yellow/white legs and toes. any guess until I post a pic???

I would guess Buff Rock

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye, I have a suggestion for your DH. I take one of my inhaler plastic holders and drill a hole in it. I found a clip on a key chain that you can clip to a pocket or belt loop or even your waist band. I simply removed the key ring part and hooked it into the hole in the inhaler sleeve. You can use it over and over by just changing the inhaler canister. When my parents still lived in N. Carolina, I would clip it to my swim bottoms when we walked on the beach as well.

That is really a great idea! I will suggest it to DH! Thanks! That would be easy to clip to his running belt.

Last night the turkeys spent their first night in the coop. Until now they've been out with the flock during the day but head back to their pen at night. But last night Madge wanted to sleep in the coop. Ned Kelly was already on the roost in the turkey pen and although Madge called to him, he didn't respond. So she got down off the roosts in the coop and walked down to the pen. I figured she had given up and was going to go roost with him but to my surprise, after clicking and hooting to him briefly, they both walked back up to the coop, in the people door and up onto the roosts. I was fascinated by the communication, that she was able to talk him into sleeping in the coop just like that. This morning when I went down there, they were both outside, having exited through the chicken door, and Ned Kelly displayed for me like I've never seen him display before. I couldn't stop praising him!


I probably made it sound more time-consuming than it is. I actually just reused the same coffee can over and over, so once I had it set up, it was really quicker to drop the road kill in the can than to have to walk anywhere to dump it. Same with the 5-gallon bucket. Now that its set up and hanging, I can add to it quite easily. Even drilling the holes took only minutes.

Awwww, precious turkeys!! I love that!! Okay, that doesn't sound too bad with the life cycle bucket/can.

Beautiful!!!! Too bad you can't use the rain barrel right now. I mean, I guess you could, but what a hassle, I'd be putting it up until Spring, too!

Hawkeye, have you got your show bag all put together and ready to go to the show?

Not quite yet, I do have a bag I've been using for the last couple of shows. I bring my feed in tupperware containers, and treats in another. Then dog brush to fluff them with, and my show spray to spray up their fluff, and then electrolytes (in case) and I have dog tail trimmers in there, and wet wipes, disposable gloves... Then last thing, I dump in my hair dryer in case we have a big accident. What kind of bag do you use? I'm literally using a Dillons re-usable grocery bag. Oh, I have a styptic stick in there... Anything else you can think of that I might need? I bought them a file, and I need to remember to put that in. OH, and I guess the shampoo in case they do something stupid on the drive up, I can wash them that night and coop them in the next morning. I need to start doing chicken washing now-- I bought a whitening shampoo that I already tried out on one of them and it worked GREAT! So it would be nice to go ahead and whiten up the ones that need it now and then just wash them regularly right before hand, and if they need another whitening, then at least I have time to get another one done on them. I need to get a 3 ring binder to put all of my records, etc in. Right now, I've thrown it all in a drawer. I need to get them weighed in, too and write that down. Eeeks... lots to do!!!! Are you starting to get ready for your Nationals?? Mine is Oct 27-- so it's coming up FAST!

Hawkeye, I didn't know they would even let you drive the route the runners were running on. I always just have to stand around waiting at the finish line & it's really boring waiting there for hours. I just don't think I'm going to go this time since it's just the half & my DH can get himself home fine. If he was doing the full one this time I would have to go because he's not in that good of shape when he gets done. He is usually sick at his stomach & sometimes throws up afterwards, I think due to his electrolytes being out of balance. Running that far is really punishing on your body & my DH isn't any spring chicken any more, although he tries to act like he is. I think this year he is starting to feel his age a little more, but he would never want to admit that to anyone, male ego & all.

I need to get out & unload the pickup so I can use it to get some more cattails this afternoon at Sunflowerparrot's place. Those things have worked out fine for the inside of my main coop. They just sunk into the mud out in the outside pens, but I'm going to put some more out there anyway now that I'm kind of closing in the runs more with tarps.

OH yeah, no fun standing around at the finish line! Yep, you can drive down a lot of the same streets they run on! Like on Oliver!! You can drive the entire way on Oliver, so I wait at the parking lot of the Boeing credit union and when I see him run past, I drive reeeeally slow next to him. It's so fun! We used to have chalk with us and drive up ahead of him and then write on the road--- GO JON!!! In big letters with the chalk, and then point it out to him as he came running up (we'd wait there for a while). We've done all kinds of silly things for him. I think this is his 20th marathon!! He's got a lot more in him, I know, but it's kind of exciting to hit a number like that. Your poor DH! Does he eat the Goo or the runner's beans or any of that to keep up his sugar? Jon has a timer to remind him when to eat his stuff on his GPS.

Well, Lucie is scheduled to go into surgery right about now. She remained stable over night and her chest x rays looked good this morning. Her ECG was also good. They were a bit concerned that she had not urinated overnight and so they were going to repeat abdominal radiographs to be sure her bladder was intact and if everything looked ok place a urinary catheter to keep her from having a giant bladder right after such a major surgery. Once she is able to be sling walked and can urinate on her own she can come home. So I have lots to do today to get the living room ready as Lucie's recovery pad. DH and the surgeon both think she will make a very quick recovery and should be eager to get back on her feet. I am nervous about trying to keep her quiet because she won't be able to run or jump for several weeks so I am going to have my hands full!

I prayed for her today to do well in her surgery! So I sure hope she comes out of it doing great!

You don't have to shoot a gun if you don't want to. I think it's a lot of fun, though I haven't done it in a long time.



The painting is done.

We have some cleanup to do and screens to put up, but no more painting!

So glad your painting is done!! YAY! I agree with you about MommaHen, if you are shaky and nervous around guns, then it might be best to just forget it. It's been something I grew up with, and enjoyed when we were all together with our extended family. Shooting targets and clay pigeons--- PULL!!!! hehehe But nothing you should force yourself into!

Geez! That would be almost like having a baby!

I am glad she is doing better.
Well I have officially lost my mind. I was checking back through stuff and realized I should have had lavender orpington chicks hatch last week. I don't remember even getting the eggs but the post office tracking says I did. I went out and checked and there were no boxes hidden any where. Sometimes the mailman will set a box somewhere and leave a note if I'm not here.
I do think I threw several bad eggs out last week but I can't remember for sure if those were just the infertile brahma eggs or others.
So-o-o-o-o... Either they were no good at all or I never actually got them. Irritates me. If they weren't good I would have thrown them out thinking they were something else. What a waste of money. I honestly don't think they ever made it here. I don't necessarily need more lavenders because I have a pretty good crew I think. It just bothers me I have no idea where they went.

Uh oh, I've done that!! I mean, totally lost track of things I did or didn't do or things that were supposed to arrive or didn't and for the life of me, could never figure out what had happened.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy, did you get Danz's lbs. converted to percenetages? That sounds like a great math assignment

I didn't have to.

I called the co-op, who sent me to another co-op who finally sent me to a feed salesperson. He told me he'd do it for me.

At 1100 pounds I get 100 pounds oats or wheat. I get 200 pounds corn (300 in winter and reduce the milo by that much), 200 pounds poultry supplement, 300 pounds crimped milo, and 300 pounds whole milo. Fish meal or soybean meal can be added to raise protein levels higher as well.

So, the feed salesperson I talked to from one of the local co-op said that they couldn't mix the feed for me because they couldn't clean their mixer out and be 100% sure there wasn't any cattle medicine left in it (the cattle medicine is lethal for poultry). However, I would only need 200-300 pounds at once (that amount should last me for approximately 3 months). So, he said he could sell it to me, and I could mix it myself. He said that they could put it in buckets, and I could take it from the buckets and pour it into the metal trash can I plan on keeping it in and mix it in that. So, I might have found a better place to get feed. However, they said that they don't have access to crimped milo or the poultry supplement (they only get a couple calls per year asking for custom-mixed poultry food). Instead of the poultry supplement, I was thinking I'd use the soybean meal, which they do have. Should I just leave out the crimped milo? Or should I increase the whole milo to accomodate for the crimped milo's absence? Or something completely different?

Danz - How did you decide to use the above ratio? I don't have any background in nutrition. I could really use suggestions on what to get from the co-op for my birds.