Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I'm not getting much one today other than running around with a tape measure. I'm waiting for a call from DH to see if I can switch trucks with him. I can't get the new cage in the one with a camper on it. I am cleaning out the olandsk pen and have the tray soaking right now so I can get it thoroughly disinfected. The other birds are acting fine. Makes me wonder if i had some damp feed or something.
Quote:

Thanks Trish. I was wondering because I remember seeing a dog down in Ark city that had been a LGD on a farm but they had to move into town. If she hasn't had any exposure to chickens I wouldn't have the energy or patience for that!
Very nice! I wouldn't worry too much about your EE. There is always one that gets bullied sadly. Especially because they are used to having a lot more space so they are probably kind of frustrated by being penned up. You might consider getting a flock block at the feed store. That always keeps my chickens busy when they have to be closed up and gives them something to peck other than each other!
Hahahaha! So funny!
Wow! That is awesome! Your kids are very talented.
Bummer, so sorry. That really stinks. Are you going to send her in for necropsy? It wouldn't hurt, she would need to go out today on ice to K state but if it is bacterial you would know what to treat the rest of the birds with so you don't lose more.

Danz, I'm sorry about your pullet, that's the pits. I can't believe you got chipmunks to go with all the rest of your menagerie. I'll bet they are cute though! Do you have to buy special food for them or what do they eat? I hope you find out about your other pullet whether it's the right breed or not.

ChicknBaron, that's a very nice tractor, the chickens should enjoy that a lot & your yard will get fertilized too as you move it around.

Well I'm off to Wichita today for my hair appt., my hairdresser of over 15 years is going through a divorce & moved from Derby where she has been for quite awhile back to Wichita again, so I just go where she goes. She is the only one that has been able to really deal with my thin, fine hair, so I stay with her. She became a good friend too besides doing my hair. I'm a little better today, at least my nose isn't streaming, my chest is tight & when I cough it sounds tight too, hopefully that will loosen up soon & I can get over this crud. I took nyquil last night & it was supposed to last 6 hours, but I woke up in 4 coughing & couldn't take more. I did get back to sleep though thankfully.

Josie, I didn't see your post until I had posted, hope Lucie gets better soon.

I hope you all have a good day!

Glad you are feeling better Trish. The chipmonks are adorable. A whole nother kind of animal for sure but very very busy little creatures. They play all day and sleep all night unlike some of those exotic critters. They actually eat about the same as birds do. Hampster food is recommended as a place to start. But they eat grains and fruit and veggies and nuts and whatever. You just have to limit their nuts, corn, and sunflower seed intake to special treats now and then, or they put on too much fat. I am really enjoying them so far. I could actually keep them outside but I want to be able to just watch them play. They are clean animals. They hide food for bad times so they bury it like a squirrel would. They always poop in the same corner so they can be litter box trained as well. DH didn't even ask me what I was paying for the cage. What a great guy!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Yesterday I was sitting on the deck and a guy about 16-17 years old came walking through the alley. A couple of the chickens "bock bock bocked" at him softly. He slowed down for a few seconds and bocked back at them once. He was just about out of my sight when he finally noticed I was out there. He looked away quickly and kept on walking. I don't see the problem. I bock at them, too.

Me too! So funny to catch a "cool" teen bocking!

Danz- I am sorry to hear about your turkey. I can totally relate to that powerless feeling of not knowing what is going on.
Baron- that is an awesome looking ark/tractor! That is what I started out with until I built a new coop this summer.
Karen- as always, you sound busy! I hear you on the egg production. I haven't gotten an egg in a week. It is full on molting time at my place. I just make sure the girls get plenty of food and scratch. I do have a lamp in the coop for simulated light and I am thinking I will need another lamp to provide more heat once it really starts getting cold later this year. I will let you know when we are in Park City again later this year.
Time to get back to the chimenea and some relaxation.

Good to hear from you pikeman, do let me know when you're this way again. You'll have to see the turkeys hanging out together and then new set up in the coop. I really like it better and so do "the girls".

My little pullet died about 10:00 last night. It really breaks my heart. Now I am questioning myself about the others. I am still baffled how you could contract a cold when you are totally separated from all other birds. I can't help but wonder if DH didn't go down to water them or something after handling the sick bird we had caged in his shop. I would never suggest that he did but he just wouldn't think to wash his hands in between.
I guess I can disinfect their cage and hope for the best. Looks like I am in the market for a few more Olansk. Ouch! More money!!! It's not the cost of the bird as much as it is the cost of shipping.

EEeekkss! Those are pricey little birds but they sure are pretty. You're going to have to share a pic of your chipmunks. I bet they look a lot like my Sussex chicks! That's why you couldn't resist them, they reminded you of chicks!

We have lots of wind where I live with not much for windbreaks, so when I bought the hoop coop 2 years ago, I realized it would be too heavy to move by hand. While I was using it both last year and the fall I got it, I used our lawn mower to move it. It has a chain attached to the front supports, and when the mower starts to move the upper end of it comes off the ground a little so it doesn't drag all the lawn with it. It was quite expensive, and probably not a good purchase financially, but it is very sturdy and I don't worry about predators with it at all.

That said, if you really want to hand move it, I completely agree, light is better.

Sharol

Where did you get the hoop coop?

Danz,
My daughter has terrible allergies also. I open up the window and air out the place for about 2 hours about once every month, except during rag weed & corn pollen season. Then we just re-breath the air in here.

It's a young full sized Bourbon Red, 12 weeks old, he's a cute little guy when she shows his stuff it's so cute! I hatched 4, I think I may have 3 Jakes now, I think the one that came up missing after the storm last week was a hen, her head was shaped thinner, not as wide. I didn't know what breed to get. I didn't want to get something that might cause a hunter to kill them, and I didn't want the double breasted ones that grow very fast and don't have a very long life. We started out naming them after the guys my daughters were dating, then we changed their names to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Supper. I'm not sure if we'll actually eat them, and I don't even know when they would be ready. So far they have been for entertainment. We'll see how well they work with our place, if they start bothering the neighbors they'll go in the Treager. I've had chickens most of my life, but I'm a compete newbie with turkeys.

I love turkeys! I only have two but I really love watching them. They are very amusing birds. My Tookie moves so deliberately and seems to really be thinking everything through. When she was tiny and the lavender orpington chick would try to ride on its back, she would display and stomp her tiny little feet. She hasn't done that since she was tiny. I wish I had taken a picture of her puffing up when she was so little -- it was adorable.

Danz, I'm sorry about your pullet, that's the pits. I can't believe you got chipmunks to go with all the rest of your menagerie. I'll bet they are cute though! Do you have to buy special food for them or what do they eat? I hope you find out about your other pullet whether it's the right breed or not.

ChicknBaron, that's a very nice tractor, the chickens should enjoy that a lot & your yard will get fertilized too as you move it around.

Well I'm off to Wichita today for my hair appt., my hairdresser of over 15 years is going through a divorce & moved from Derby where she has been for quite awhile back to Wichita again, so I just go where she goes. She is the only one that has been able to really deal with my thin, fine hair, so I stay with her. She became a good friend too besides doing my hair. I'm a little better today, at least my nose isn't streaming, my chest is tight & when I cough it sounds tight too, hopefully that will loosen up soon & I can get over this crud. I took nyquil last night & it was supposed to last 6 hours, but I woke up in 4 coughing & couldn't take more. I did get back to sleep though thankfully.

Josie, I didn't see your post until I had posted, hope Lucie gets better soon.

I hope you all have a good day!

Happy Hair Day! Glad you are at least improving slowly. It seems like when I get something, it just tries to hang on forever. Hope that doesn't happen to you!

I'm not getting much one today other than running around with a tape measure. I'm waiting for a call from DH to see if I can switch trucks with him. I can't get the new cage in the one with a camper on it. I am cleaning out the olandsk pen and have the tray soaking right now so I can get it thoroughly disinfected. The other birds are acting fine. Makes me wonder if i had some damp feed or something.

LOL! Stop running around with that tape measure and focus! You make it sound so funny, but that's exactly what I do. I do a lot of excess flapping around to no purpose. DH moves slowly and gets about 10 times more accomplished than me. What's up with that?

 

[HEChicken]

LOL! Stop running around with that tape measure and focus! You make it sound so funny, but that's exactly what I do. I do a lot of excess flapping around to no purpose. DH moves slowly and gets about 10 times more accomplished than me. What's up with that?

Well, I guess I'm in good company then. I really am not getting the things done today that I promised myself I would. I went out to hang up a load of laundry, saw a bunch of grasshoppers, grabbed my net and started catching them to carry to the coop (yes, I am THAT far gone...) and got so hot I talked myself out of the painting I need to do in favor of sitting in the cool checking the forum. Bad, bad, bad. I must get out there and get something accomplished today!

 

[mommahen10]

You think that's bad, we are purposefully swatting flies to watch the baby chicks act like big chickens.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm off to get my cage. I'll post more later. I decided to quit measuring and just figure things out when I get back home tonight.
I'm delivering my very pretty blue copper maran roo to Eileen to be her new baby daddy! I'll be able to buy some of my own bird's eggs now. Seems kind of backward doesn't it?

I think once I get the chipmonks in a suitable sized cage I can get pictures. Right now they run and bury themselves in piles of shredded newspaper! One of them has been chewing on his food bowl all day because it makes noise. I need to find some cheap used Hampster trails for them to play in. I guess I'll be watching Craigslist. I'm not about to buy new.

 

[sharol]

It came from MO. Henhoops.com http://www.henhoops.com/hen-hoops.html is the URL. We got the 4x9 version (and when we got it, it was about $900). It is very sturdy, but I think 6-8 chickens is VERY optimistic. 7 were tight (and they weren't completely grown when we got the permanent coop).

 

[Hawkeye95]

OKay, I better write quick before 20 more posts show up! I've been soooo busy! Every time I sit down to read-- and get thru all the posts, then it's time to get going again. I had hit multi so many times, I give up. The kids are out of school today and they were out last Friday as well. Parent/Teacher conferences. Both boys did very well. My middle is the best behaved in his class and my oldest is doing so well, they are considering doing something else with him. We have had a lot of church things going on, my oldest is in Choir and my middle is taking soccer, and Wed nights we go separate ways to get those accomplished and I'm taking a class while choir is going on. Piano and 4-H are taking up the rest of the time. (we've had the 4-H Carnival, and upcoming is a BBQ this weekend, and then banquet in a couple more weeks.)

I had a new boy shipped to me. I'm sort of on the fence about what plan to form for him. He wasn't quite what I was thinking. He has extremely nice wings and feet and color. But I do believe our wires got crossed and he is a non-bearded. If I breed him, I will weaken the bearded/muff gene. But if I use him, it will take a few generations to bring that back strong again and then of course, he will give me the wings, size and toe feathering I was after. Things to think about. It will be a project.

Seems like we've had a lot of stuff going on-- my parents are packing up their house and getting ready to move to Seattle. We are trying to spend as much time with them as we can before they leave in another week. Not much time left.

Danz, a pig and chipmonks! I would say I am shocked... but I couldn't seem to work up enough surprise. Maybe I'm starting to understand you! LOL So funny! I want to see picture of both of these guys. On the up side-- if the pig is mean, at least it will be easier to eat him!

Medawinks, that was some amazing talent with the face paints! I'm loving the idea of wanting to be a peacock. I hope it comes together better than you expect. I think as a kid, my favorite costume was when I was Raggedy Ann-- and my mom actually used the dress off my Ann doll (she is one of those full sized dolls) and then she got me an orange yarn wig, and white tights and I wore black Mary-Janes and she made up my face! It was the cutest thing! I'm a little sick of all of the pre-made costumes for the kids-- most of them look like they will rip the second you get down the block. So far, I've been so busy, I've just bought the nice thick fur zip-up costumes. They've been a skunk, horse, rabbit, Scooby Doo, and a dragon. All of them have been the nice heavy plush fur costumes that look like zip-up PJ's. Easy and they last forever. But I'd like to get a bit more creative. We LOVE this holiday. My DH and I used to go to Halloween parties. He did a stint as a police officer before me met and he still had his uniform, and so one year I went as "jail bait" and he went as the officer. Another year, DH was Steve Irwin and I was his wife, Terry Irwin! THAT was probably our best costume yet! I wore the brown wig, we both wore the kahki outfits they were known for wearing, and we carried around a rubber snake and an alligator. I've noticed the BEST costumes were the homemade ones. We would have won the contest that year, but the guy who ended up winning it wore a blue dress with toothpaste rubbed onto the front of the shirt-- "he" went as Monica Lewinsky! LOL Hysterical! That dates us, too.... that was quite a while ago, now.

Josie, so glad to hear that Lucie is hanging in there. I hope she will continue to do well. Very worrisome about the bloodwork. So glad you all are staying on top of that!

My silkies HATED the rain. I loved it! We needed the rain, for sure. But I did have to bring in all the wimpy silkies and put them in the garage during the rain storms. The big girls (layers) were out there happy and did great in the weather. Nothing seems to bother them too much. I have my new boy in quarantine. He's not real thrilled and he's doing fine, but I do see him yawning from time to time. He came in later than he was supposed to, and he was pretty stressed out. I'm giving him VetRX and probiotics and electrolytes in his water. I think he'll be fine. He's MEAN! He goes after me every time I reach in there! He's never been handled-- this breeder has tons of coops set up with all one color to each coop, and has hundreds of silkies. So he hates me. Especially when I rub the VetRX all over his comb, then he's really ticked off for a while. He's a little guy-- only 4 months old and on the little side. He's tiny and I sure hope he stays small. I need to breed down in size/weight.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Oh Trish, my DH did fairly good for the Prairie Fire Marathon! He was really wanting to get a 3:30, but ended up with a 3:39. He said the wind kicked his butt. So many runners came in on the Half and they said the wind wasn't bad at all, but they ran a different course, and they were mostly in the residential and closely treed areas, so they had great wind block. The wind really picked up during the race and the Full was out in the open on Rock Rd, down Douglas, etc.. I was able to drive next to him on Douglas, Rock, and a few of the other roads. Anyway, he did great, I thought. He hasn't qualified for Boston, either. But he laughs and says that if he keeps it up, he will simply age into it with his current times! hehe! (of course, he'll have to get back to the 3:30, though)

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Was such a nice day today that I was able to bring the chicks out for their first day outside. They had a blast. Finished the chicken tractor so next time they come out they can be in that, I wil have to upload my pics of it. It is nothing special like chicknbarons but it will do the job lol. Still need to paint it but I think it looks good.
Hope everyone had a productive day and enjoyed teh sunshine we needed it.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Well, I guess I'm in good company then. I really am not getting the things done today that I promised myself I would. I went out to hang up a load of laundry, saw a bunch of grasshoppers, grabbed my net and started catching them to carry to the coop (yes, I am THAT far gone...) and got so hot I talked myself out of the painting I need to do in favor of sitting in the cool checking the forum. Bad, bad, bad. I must get out there and get something accomplished today!

LOL! It was a beautiful day for catching grasshoppers. I'm sure your birds were very grateful!

You think that's bad, we are purposefully swatting flies to watch the baby chicks act like big chickens.

Our personal favorite are crickets. They seem to be everywhere out here!

I'm off to get my cage. I'll post more later. I decided to quit measuring and just figure things out when I get back home tonight.
I'm delivering my very pretty blue copper maran roo to Eileen to be her new baby daddy! I'll be able to buy some of my own bird's eggs now. Seems kind of backward doesn't it?

I think once I get the chipmonks in a suitable sized cage I can get pictures. Right now they run and bury themselves in piles of shredded newspaper! One of them has been chewing on his food bowl all day because it makes noise. I need to find some cheap used Hampster trails for them to play in. I guess I'll be watching Craigslist. I'm not about to buy new.

Did you get that cage? I'm glad you were able to quit measuring.

I've not mastered the art of not flapping around in all directions to get a simple task completed!

OKay, I better write quick before 20 more posts show up! I've been soooo busy! Every time I sit down to read-- and get thru all the posts, then it's time to get going again. I had hit multi so many times, I give up. The kids are out of school today and they were out last Friday as well. Parent/Teacher conferences. Both boys did very well. My middle is the best behaved in his class and my oldest is doing so well, they are considering doing something else with him. We have had a lot of church things going on, my oldest is in Choir and my middle is taking soccer, and Wed nights we go separate ways to get those accomplished and I'm taking a class while choir is going on. Piano and 4-H are taking up the rest of the time. (we've had the 4-H Carnival, and upcoming is a BBQ this weekend, and then banquet in a couple more weeks.)

I had a new boy shipped to me. I'm sort of on the fence about what plan to form for him. He wasn't quite what I was thinking. He has extremely nice wings and feet and color. But I do believe our wires got crossed and he is a non-bearded. If I breed him, I will weaken the bearded/muff gene. But if I use him, it will take a few generations to bring that back strong again and then of course, he will give me the wings, size and toe feathering I was after. Things to think about. It will be a project.

Seems like we've had a lot of stuff going on-- my parents are packing up their house and getting ready to move to Seattle. We are trying to spend as much time with them as we can before they leave in another week. Not much time left.

Danz, a pig and chipmonks! I would say I am shocked... but I couldn't seem to work up enough surprise. Maybe I'm starting to understand you! LOL So funny! I want to see picture of both of these guys. On the up side-- if the pig is mean, at least it will be easier to eat him!

Medawinks, that was some amazing talent with the face paints! I'm loving the idea of wanting to be a peacock. I hope it comes together better than you expect. I think as a kid, my favorite costume was when I was Raggedy Ann-- and my mom actually used the dress off my Ann doll (she is one of those full sized dolls) and then she got me an orange yarn wig, and white tights and I wore black Mary-Janes and she made up my face! It was the cutest thing! I'm a little sick of all of the pre-made costumes for the kids-- most of them look like they will rip the second you get down the block. So far, I've been so busy, I've just bought the nice thick fur zip-up costumes. They've been a skunk, horse, rabbit, Scooby Doo, and a dragon. All of them have been the nice heavy plush fur costumes that look like zip-up PJ's. Easy and they last forever. But I'd like to get a bit more creative. We LOVE this holiday. My DH and I used to go to Halloween parties. He did a stint as a police officer before me met and he still had his uniform, and so one year I went as "jail bait" and he went as the officer. Another year, DH was Steve Irwin and I was his wife, Terry Irwin! THAT was probably our best costume yet! I wore the brown wig, we both wore the kahki outfits they were known for wearing, and we carried around a rubber snake and an alligator. I've noticed the BEST costumes were the homemade ones. We would have won the contest that year, but the guy who ended up winning it wore a blue dress with toothpaste rubbed onto the front of the shirt-- "he" went as Monica Lewinsky! LOL Hysterical! That dates us, too.... that was quite a while ago, now.

Josie, so glad to hear that Lucie is hanging in there. I hope she will continue to do well. Very worrisome about the bloodwork. So glad you all are staying on top of that!

My silkies HATED the rain. I loved it! We needed the rain, for sure. But I did have to bring in all the wimpy silkies and put them in the garage during the rain storms. The big girls (layers) were out there happy and did great in the weather. Nothing seems to bother them too much. I have my new boy in quarantine. He's not real thrilled and he's doing fine, but I do see him yawning from time to time. He came in later than he was supposed to, and he was pretty stressed out. I'm giving him VetRX and probiotics and electrolytes in his water. I think he'll be fine. He's MEAN! He goes after me every time I reach in there! He's never been handled-- this breeder has tons of coops set up with all one color to each coop, and has hundreds of silkies. So he hates me. Especially when I rub the VetRX all over his comb, then he's really ticked off for a while. He's a little guy-- only 4 months old and on the little side. He's tiny and I sure hope he stays small. I need to breed down in size/weight.

Wow, Hawkeye! You have been busy! I've wondered where you were. This time of year seems to spin completely out of control for us right around the first of November. I just seems like a whirlwind until the New Year! I'm sorry to hear your parents are moving. That's the pits when you're close. I bet your kids will miss their grandparents for sure.

Was such a nice day today that I was able to bring the chicks out for their first day outside. They had a blast. Finished the chicken tractor so next time they come out they can be in that, I wil have to upload my pics of it. It is nothing special like chicknbarons but it will do the job lol. Still need to paint it but I think it looks good.
Hope everyone had a productive day and enjoyed teh sunshine we needed it.

It was a beautiful day! Congrats on getting that chicken tractor done. I love pics! I'm not so good at posting them frequently but I love seeing them!