Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Guys the decision isnt hard I have wanted the place for along time I just need to find someone who will finance us with terrible credit.
It sits on 25 acres.. It has a tractor barn bigger than the house and a huge garage/workshop that is jsut huge, a goat barn that looked like it help mini horses, another tool/garage, a hay barn, a 10 stall horse area, I was just confused because it is on concret but each stall has a gate on both ends to shut and a person area if you will with gates there and a walkway at the back of it, thereis also a huge chicken coop. It used to be a barn and half was section off for chickens and a nice run on it, the other side of the chicken area looks like it help another poultry animal there just were no roosts on that side or nests, all the area are sectiond off already and not much repair needs done. Yea I havent even seen the inside of the house yet lol I am just in love with the out buildings..

I would be too - it sounds like a great place and hopefully you can get the financing. They certainly have tightened things up since the whole mortgage crisis, but lenders are still encouraged to make loans if they can. And, if you are turned down by one, don't be afraid to try another. If you were going to put horses in those stalls, you'd want to put stall mats down over the concrete and then put shavings over the mats. Stall mats are about 6x8 and 1" thick rubber - really heavy, but cushion their feet and prevent them sliding around. They're about $25 apiece at TSC so not too bad at all.

 

[chicken danz]

Oh crap! My olandsk dwarf rooster is sick. Yesterday I thought he might be sneezing but couldn't tell for sure. Today he is really sick. I put denagard in their water as a preventative yesterday. I just gave him a shot of tylan. I had myself convinced the little girl that died must have found some mold or something. Now I believe it is something else. The rest of them seemed fine since then. Whatever this is hits them hard and fast. He is sounding very congested. I guess I should have sent off the pullet for a necropsy but I don't even know if the results would be back yet.
I just hope the tylan works. I'm going to bring them upstairs and just deal with the chicken mess I guess. DH thinks they need more fresh air than they can get in the basement. It really angers me that I think I am taking extra special care of these birds to prevent disease and they get sick any way. Then I get super freaky about spreading any disease elsewhere.
I wish I had a lab that could isolate the virus and tell me how to treat it.
Josie if you are lurking would you use the tylan or the baytril. I have both. I hadn't had much luck with the baytril for the bird I used it for before but you never know.

 

[HEChicken]

And my mystery chicken, any guesses on breed?

I would guess he is a Barred Rock X.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh crap! My olandsk dwarf rooster is sick. Yesterday I thought he might be sneezing but couldn't tell for sure. Today he is really sick. I put denagard in their water as a preventative yesterday. I just gave him a shot of tylan. I had myself convinced the little girl that died must have found some mold or something. Now I believe it is something else. The rest of them seemed fine since then. Whatever this is hits them hard and fast. He is sounding very congested. I guess I should have sent off the pullet for a necropsy but I don't even know if the results would be back yet.
I just hope the tylan works. I'm going to bring them upstairs and just deal with the chicken mess I guess. DH thinks they need more fresh air than they can get in the basement. It really angers me that I think I am taking extra special care of these birds to prevent disease and they get sick any way. Then I get super freaky about spreading any disease elsewhere.
I wish I had a lab that could isolate the virus and tell me how to treat it.
Josie if you are lurking would you use the tylan or the baytril. I have both. I hadn't had much luck with the baytril for the bird I used it for before but you never know.

Oh no!!! I know how much these guys mean to you. My thoughts are with him and hope the combo of meds helps him to throw it off.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Saw news video of that crazy dirty wind, that was dangerous! Glad we had a pretty day yesterday. We are ready for a hard freeze, we got down to 31 for a couple hours. Beautiful cool morning so far!

I'm a turkey newbie. Since we've had a predator kill one of the turkeys and the chicken that was hatched with them, they are happy to go in the barn at sunset. If I don't open the people door they fly over the fence and come up to the house to get me to open the barn door. One of my turkeys can't fly very well so she roosts low in the barn while the others roost high. Here's my question, when I'm going to be gone in the afternoon/evenings should I put them in the barn early or leave the barn door open? I fear the predator might get in the barn if the door is left open. Guess I don't know how they will respond to being the barn for several hours before dark. There are sky lights in the barn. The chickens have a pop door that opens and closes with the sun and they go to roost on their own so the chickens are no trouble if we are not home. I wish the turkeys would use the electric pop door but they won't.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

HEChicken--Ok good deal on the horse matts. Ijust have not seen it with concret like that. My DH said maybe it was a slaughter area,, I was thinking more of a dressage area. Or maybe like you suggested they just used matts. It is a leanto type barn with an open front facing the south. Dont know if that helps. I will have to go get some pics.
On Clyde my handsome Roo I was thinking barred rock/columbian Rock.. He is very nice looking, I have one more that came from the same hatch the guy sold them to me as columbian rock. I new better at the time but didnt care on breed, now I am just curious. On the hackle feathers they are yellow tinted and they have a few misc brown shimmery feathers and the black is that beetle black. The neck is more of a polka-dot

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Oh crap! My olandsk dwarf rooster is sick. Yesterday I thought he might be sneezing but couldn't tell for sure. Today he is really sick. I put denagard in their water as a preventative yesterday. I just gave him a shot of tylan. I had myself convinced the little girl that died must have found some mold or something. Now I believe it is something else. The rest of them seemed fine since then. Whatever this is hits them hard and fast. He is sounding very congested. I guess I should have sent off the pullet for a necropsy but I don't even know if the results would be back yet.
I just hope the tylan works. I'm going to bring them upstairs and just deal with the chicken mess I guess. DH thinks they need more fresh air than they can get in the basement. It really angers me that I think I am taking extra special care of these birds to prevent disease and they get sick any way. Then I get super freaky about spreading any disease elsewhere.
I wish I had a lab that could isolate the virus and tell me how to treat it.
Josie if you are lurking would you use the tylan or the baytril. I have both. I hadn't had much luck with the baytril for the bird I used it for before but you never know.

Oh no!!! I also have a couple I found sneezing, wasnt sure if I should give antibiotics or not.. Maybe the basement has mold spores that are upsetting them?

 

[HEChicken]

I'm a turkey newbie. Since we've had a predator kill one of the turkeys and the chicken that was hatched with them, they are happy to go in the barn at sunset. If I don't open the people door they fly over the fence and come up to the house to get me to open the barn door. One of my turkeys can't fly very well so she roosts low in the barn while the others roost high. Here's my question, when I'm going to be gone in the afternoon/evenings should I put them in the barn early or leave the barn door open? I fear the predator might get in the barn if the door is left open. Guess I don't know how they will respond to being the barn for several hours before dark. There are sky lights in the barn. The chickens have a pop door that opens and closes with the sun and they go to roost on their own so the chickens are no trouble if we are not home. I wish the turkeys would use the electric pop door but they won't.

I am for sure a turkey newbie too. I've only had mine a couple of months and have just the two heritage RP's. It has been a slow process fully integrating them, and last night was the first time they went through the auto door to roost so....

I started with a 10x6x6' high chain link dog run that is within the chicken yard fence and sight distance from the main coop. The turkeys spent about 4 weeks in that full time to acclimate them to this being their new home.

One day when I was sitting down there, the turkeys were pacing the front of the run, looking desperate to get out. I had fears they would just fly away but decided to take the chance and let them out, hoping I could stay close enough to them to keep them close. My fears were groundless. They WERE thrilled to get out but stayed very close to the pen, and after about an hour, went back in voluntarily. From that day on, I let them out for longer and longer and as they showed no inclination to fly off, I even let them out and then left to go back up to the house and when I went back they were still there, just milling around with the chickens. Eventually we reached the point that I opened the door of the pen first thing in the morning, and they were out all day long. Still, they had never gone into the main coop.

One day I left the people door open and Madge wandered in to check it out. She got up on the roosts and walked around calling in excitement to Ned, who was pretty sure the coop was a trap, but eventually she got him to try it out too. That night he headed back to the turkey pen to roost, while Madge decided to sleep in the coop. She eventually talked him into trying the roosts and they both slept in the coop that night. Since then (maybe 2 weeks ago), they've slept in the coop each night but would only enter through the people door (even though they exited through the chicken door in the morning - I also have the auto door that opens and closes according to light).

I usually pull the feeder outside during the day, so with access to food to eat all day, they had no motivation to go back into the coop during the day. But when we had the rainy days last week, I left the feeder inside and that is when I observed them going into the coop through the chicken door, so I knew they could do it. Still, when night came, they "forgot" how to get into the coop if I wasn't there to open the people door, so roosted outside until I carried them in.

Last night was the first night they went in by themselves. I left the feeder in yesterday due to the high winds so I'm guessing they went in to get a bedtime snack and decided while they were there they might as well just jump up on the roosts. So I think for the time being I'm going to leave the feeder in the coop and hope to make last night a regular thing instead of an anomaly.

I don't know if that helps? I wouldn't have the option of locking them in early if I was leaving, because I have too many birds to entice in all at the same time. The turkeys are friendly and curious about me but don't like to be handled so I wouldn't be able to pick them up. So for me, that isn't an option and I just have to take my chances that on the nights I am not here, I can get home and put them up (if needed) before predators find them. Last night, knowing I was going to be gone, I did put the month-old chicks up early so they weren't outside when the sun went down and it got cooler. But the rest of the flock were on their own, so to speak.

 

[checoukan]

Got my cream legbars in the mail yesterday, so I have my small incubator going. Kinda excited to see if they hatch. Yes, Ivy will be heading this way after awhile, they had drizzle rain yesterday along with the wind. So the things they needed to load didn't get loaded. So now they are trying to do it this morning. She has some new furniture coming, so she is really excited.

Hawkeye- is porcelean an accepted color in silkies, I don't want to look it up.

Danz- I would be using the baytril now. What ever they have come down with sounds really bad!

maidenwolf- have you talked to the FSA office, they have different programs, and they have one for women, and first time farm buyers. Maybe you could talk to them. Worth your time. I would think they could help you.

It was really windy here to yesterday, not as bad this morning. We have had rain, so it was not dusty here, but you could see the dust in the sky from out west. Really had a spooky look too it. My DH said "I think we are in for a bad winter". Last year was so nice, I hope we don't pay for it this winter.

Well guess I had better she who is chasing who out side. Crazy roosters, hormones are kicking in on the young guys!

Oh, the goat meat topic. I have been raising goats for 7, or 8 years now. I have butchered and eaten my own meat. The meat is a very mild flavored meat. The burger is almost as light as ground turkey. The chops, are very tender. I tried to fool my husband, and didn't tell him what I was fixen. Sat down started eating, and he looked at me. I asked him is something is wrong, he asked me what I fixed, a I just said meat, what ever it was. He raised his eyebrow and said you aint fooling me, thats goat, and It sure is good.
So don't be afraid, it is very good meat.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Her website hasn't been updated in quite awhile it doesn't look like, so I might give her a call or send an email and make sure she is still in business. If she is, it might be fun to go down and meet her and talk about the pros and cons.

We haven't had our furnace on yet this year. Actually, ever, I guess, since we are in a new house since last winter. Hopefully it will work okay when we turn it on for the first time. I try not to have the furnace on until about Thanksgiving and so far the house hasn't been uncomfortably cold yet.

I've never gotten the calendar but I believe they are available from the BYC store.

Yeah, I'd be interested in hearing what she had to say! Very exciting-- your first year in the new house! I haven't bought the calender either, but saw it in the BYC store last year.

Guys the decision isnt hard I have wanted the place for along time I just need to find someone who will finance us with terrible credit.
It sits on 25 acres.. It has a tractor barn bigger than the house and a huge garage/workshop that is jsut huge, a goat barn that looked like it help mini horses, another tool/garage, a hay barn, a 10 stall horse area, I was just confused because it is on concret but each stall has a gate on both ends to shut and a person area if you will with gates there and a walkway at the back of it, thereis also a huge chicken coop. It used to be a barn and half was section off for chickens and a nice run on it, the other side of the chicken area looks like it help another poultry animal there just were no roosts on that side or nests, all the area are sectiond off already and not much repair needs done. Yea I havent even seen the inside of the house yet lol I am just in love with the out buildings..

Sounds really great! Like HEchicken said-- I would not put a hoofed animal directly on the cement. Especially horses, they can fall quite easily. The rubber mats would the the ONLY way to go with that. I have nice rubber mats in my horse trailer, too. But mine are much thicker than the ones HE is talking about.

DH and I went out last evening to an event and the sky was just amazing with all that dust - like driving through a dense fog. We could almost look directly at the sun, though we didn't want to take the risk. It got us to talking about the dust bowl and hedgerows and all that again. Seriously scary to think about it happening all over again.

I imagine it can be cooked the same way as beef but I dunno for sure. I know a lot of the countries where it is eaten routinely, do it on a spit.

I was way pleased with my turkeys last night.

YES! Remember, we were talking about this last year or earlier this year?? About how all the farmers are cutting down the hedge rows because they have forgotten the whole reason they were put in to begin with! I came across that really cool "slurry" trick on Mother Earth News about creating new hedge rows or even low fence lines that can keep in animals or just help with erosion.

I still think this is a neat idea! And they don't require as much water as a lot of trees do. They are perfect for our area.

HEChicken-- Congrats on the turkeys learning were to go. It is such a wonderful feeling.

Well guys here is my first egg on the left and second on the right

And my mystery chicken, any guesses on breed?

Congrats on the eggs! Pretty rooster! Definitely a mix of something that is barred. His sickle feathers are to die for, though!! WOW! Love the turkey!

Oh crap! My olandsk dwarf rooster is sick. Yesterday I thought he might be sneezing but couldn't tell for sure. Today he is really sick. I put denagard in their water as a preventative yesterday. I just gave him a shot of tylan. I had myself convinced the little girl that died must have found some mold or something. Now I believe it is something else. The rest of them seemed fine since then. Whatever this is hits them hard and fast. He is sounding very congested. I guess I should have sent off the pullet for a necropsy but I don't even know if the results would be back yet.
I just hope the tylan works. I'm going to bring them upstairs and just deal with the chicken mess I guess. DH thinks they need more fresh air than they can get in the basement. It really angers me that I think I am taking extra special care of these birds to prevent disease and they get sick any way. Then I get super freaky about spreading any disease elsewhere.
I wish I had a lab that could isolate the virus and tell me how to treat it.
Josie if you are lurking would you use the tylan or the baytril. I have both. I hadn't had much luck with the baytril for the bird I used it for before but you never know.

I would stick with the Tylan over the Baytril since this is a respiratory illness... right? Although the one good benifit with the Baytril is that it does cross the barrier of the brain and aids in recovery if the brain is also involved. I sure hope he will pull thru. Perhaps they do need the fresh air?

I'm a turkey newbie. Since we've had a predator kill one of the turkeys and the chicken that was hatched with them, they are happy to go in the barn at sunset. If I don't open the people door they fly over the fence and come up to the house to get me to open the barn door. One of my turkeys can't fly very well so she roosts low in the barn while the others roost high. Here's my question, when I'm going to be gone in the afternoon/evenings should I put them in the barn early or leave the barn door open? I fear the predator might get in the barn if the door is left open. Guess I don't know how they will respond to being the barn for several hours before dark. There are sky lights in the barn. The chickens have a pop door that opens and closes with the sun and they go to roost on their own so the chickens are no trouble if we are not home. I wish the turkeys would use the electric pop door but they won't.

Personally, if I know I'm going to be gone and won't be back until really, really late, I will put everyone up early. I'd rather have live animals than dead ones. It's a tough call though if it's like afternoon when you'll be leaving, then I would be tempted to leave them out and just ask my neighbor to put them up. I don't know.