Consolidated Kansas

[mommahen10]

BEWARE, this post is going to be a pain to read. I've been crazy busy and I got really behind and I tried to get caught up yesterday and got too tired to finish so I got back on here now. I wrote as I read and then tried to combine everything written to one person so that you all wouldn't feel like you had to read it all so it may come out weird or out of order. Best of luck.

Lizzy, I think a plant start would make it, aren't they pretty tough? It'll really only take a couple of days and as long as it's not freezing I think it would be okay.

Danz, next time I go to the store I'll have to look at the active ingredients in Prep. H. I was thinking about trying hydro-cortisone on my hands, they're so severely dry. I used a regular light bulb to light the way when I moved some older chicks that didn't really need a light. I like your idea of using Christmas lights, I'll be sure to leave them accessible after Christmas this year. I was reading something last week about some type of buff being bred to certain type of Ameraucana to get the lavender orpington. The whole thing was do vague like it was a secret and I didn't understand any of it. OMGOSH!!!! What a huge beautiful group of chicks/ducks. That looks like a lot of work. That's awesome that you got them sold so quickly. Did the sticky ones perk up? I've been reading and reading and reading trying to catch up. I was just about to offer for you to come visit me and enjoy a hot shower and the very next post I see that you got your system all fixed. YAY!!!!!!! I'm so happy for you. It's so stressful when things are out of order.

The other day, I saw Daniel(our rooster) do this flapping wings standing up tall dance thing and all the hens ran to the other side of their yard. I thought, hmmm, looks like he just talked to them. Then I heard SPLAT, my 13 yo was on top of the chicken coop and dropped a pumpkin in. It was cool, the rooster knew he was there and I didn't even notice.

HEChicken, bleach doesn't bother me unless it's full strength, that it burns my eyes. I'm hoping that by the time I actually post this you will already have the furnace fixed. Ours was doing that, and it was the pressure switch. The vent just wasn't sealed anymore. Inside the cover on ours, there is an indicator light that sort of gives a code for what is wrong. Like 3 flashes of the yellow light means this kind of thing. I would start there. There is an answer key for the coded flashing lights on the inside of the cover. Oh dear, are you saying I'm a dead give away with my username? I suppose it is fitting. I thought of M*A*S*H too with Hawkeye's name but I figured it probably wasn't because of the age thing. I haven't heard of that book either though. It's cute anyway. What does yours mean HEChicken?

checoukan, does your husband do business in my area? We need an expert to examine our lagoon. Good luck at your Nationals. (this post took me 2 days) I see you made it back and did very well. Congrats! Sounds like you had a ton of fun, can't wait to see pics.

Thanks for the Lastin link Hawkeye, I got it marked. Hawkeye, I don't know what an apron is at the bottom? I've never heard of that. On my chick pens we buried the bottom of the wire. UGH, we did have our lagoon back up into our house one year ini the dead of winter. There was so much snow everywhere. We left and went to my parent's house but not without getting stuck in the driveway. I have no carpeting in the front of my van, we actually pulled it all out when we got it because it was so gross. I had on snow boots but my feet were numb by the time we got there. There is never ever a good time for this stuff. Even our furnace going out when it wasn't all that cold was stressful. My boys have been doing the killing of the roosters (by choice), I'm sure I would hit the ground if I tried. I've been watching videos about processing them and some people aren't cutting the heads completely off just slitting the throat. Good for you standing up to the insurance company. Don't give up. They can't keep getting away with stuff like this. I'm battling our med insurance now over something stated as covered that wasn't covered because of a procedure I had years ago it supposedly means it's not covered for me. GRRR. I'm on it. Would it be possible to remove the velcro and replace with snaps on the Bumgenious diapers. I haven't ever looked at them up close. I'm wanting to buy one just to see, I'm going to make some diapers for my dd and just investigating it all right now. I wouldn't have thought about the carseat thing either, you definitely need to do that.

maidenwolf, I'm so sorry about your chickens. That is so scary. I'd have been freaked out. I'm so sorry you lost another hen. I agree, this is getting ridiculous.

Hi Lori! Welcome! Lori, sorry to hear about the spider bite, that sounds really scary. How do you 'lanolize' something? I've been putting lanolin on my hands for 2 nights now and they don't sound like sand paper anymore when I rub them together.

Congrats on winning Sunflowerparrot! I haven't seen you around lately. How are you?

Kansas Pairie, that was a crazy video. I can't believe they are so bold.

Tweety, as always she looks so adorable. I do hope your procedure brings you much needed relief and that it is just taking a little bit to take effect.

Trish, sorry it is taking so long, I have to say I understand and I'll keep my mouth shut about that. Your coop is looking amazing though, I'm sure you're anxious to have it done.

Would wind chimes do any good to deter the hawks?

Hi WichitaKidd, good to see you.

Holy Cow Cubbysan!!!! That's so amazing and elaborate and beautiful. Love it.

I don't do the multi posts because I kept losing my posts when I was typing in BYC's reply box. I've been using notepad on my computer to type as I go. I think it may save some time as I'm not rereading as I post. I got too tired to finish this last night so I just left it until today. Now I'm going back through to combine some things. I really do think it's easier this way.

Josie, I don't understand the breeding stuff but she is truly beautiful. I have 2 solid black hens out in our layer coop and they are mixed breeds, I don't know why but I can't stop staring at them when I'm out there. They're just stunning in how they look and how they behave. They just started following the rooster around and the rooster seems to be ignoring the other hens now. They look just like the rooster, I guess because he's their dad. They just look so pretty together. I love my chickens. So glad to hear that Lucie is doing so well. It sounds like it's already hard to keep her down. That's amazing about the diapers Josie, and think if you take that same investment and use it for more children how much money you are saving. If we used disposable and had a late potty trainer, say maybe 3 years the cost would have been $2550. That's a lot of money when you think about it and put a pencil to it. I could think of so many ways to better spend that money.

Chickies-duckies, how on earth did cougars end up here???? I've never heard that. Anyone else notice that the coyotes seem bigger nowadays? This evening when I did my chick checks I found 3 cats in my little chick pen. They weren't bothering them and the chickens weren't even rattled by them being there, they didn't even seem to notice. The cats were eating their feed. When we shooed them out, one just climbed right up the chicken wire. Chicken wire isn't much protection now then is it? OMGosh!!!! That's so scary about the coyotes getting so close. I'd have been terrified. Thanks for the links Chickies-duckies, I opened them so I will be sure and check them out.

Since I don't understand the breeds and breeding, would someone like to assign me a project with some instructions? Something moderately priced please and nothing too fancy. My brooder room is coming along nicely. I've been painting in there and my dh is giving me a hard time. He keeps saying, "But it's a barn." I told him that I will be spending a bit of time out there and I want to enjoy my time out there. I've got one pen in there completely ready to go. I was going to put the linoleum down like checoukan suggested but when I went to get the scraps they were really rotten so I will stay on the look out for more. I've put several coats of paint on it so it should be relatively easy to clean with a smoother surface. Tomorrow I start painting the second pen.

We still have a good start on supplies for more coops. We can divide 1 coop and we still have another vacant shed that could be 2 coops. We are also going to put 1 more coop by the nugget pens next to the barn. It's so convenient there to put electricity in. My ds did some more permanent type of wiring outside for me in what we call the 'nugget pen'. I have outlets next to pens where I can turn them on or off as needed conveniently. We used pvc pipe over the cord and outdoor outlets. I can unplug the entire thing from one cord inside of the barn if I want to. We moved chicks around a few nights ago so I'm going out every night to make sure they all got inside for the night, I'm so glad the weather is mild. In our 'bachelor pad' pen we have a bit of fighting going on with the bigger ones so I think we may have to take care of a few this week. I have one rooster, the one that I had so much trouble with getting stuck in the corners. I posted pics a while back of him with the dog when he was quite little. I keep trying to put him in with the bachelors but he still ends up stuck in the corner. He's a couple of months away still from being dinner. I have no where to put him that he is okay. He's so chicken. We put him in a big abandoned rabbit cage for now. Since he and the dog get along so well we will leave him in the cage for a few days and then try letting just him free range during the day.

Sapphire, that sounds like you got a lot of exciting stuff going on. Baby chicks, more chicks coming, baby bunnies. That part sounds fun to me.

Karen, I'm so sorry you've been sick. There is some bad stuff going around. My dd was just diagnosed with mycoplasm pneumoniae, walking pneumonia. The ER dr. said that it's been rampid.

Sharol, the babies are adorable and I love the Sweet-Sprite idea.

Michelle, I think they look way younger. I would guess 4 weeks and I'm judging by the BOs. I have some, they are 6-7 weeks and they are way bigger and way more feathered. I can take pics of them tomorrow. These look more like my EE's in feathering that is, and they are 3-4 weeks. I've heard of other sellers lying about age, what's the point?

Things have been crazy kind of busy around here. There was Halloween, and we went to Ottawa. Then the next day I had to be up at the crack of dawn to take the kids to the dentist in Burlington. Went by a sign that said Waverly, thought of you Danz. I didn't get home until late in the afternoon and we still had to go pick up the pumpkins that they were done selling. I sent the older kids to do that because I had to make a ton of bread dough for an event Friday, bread for 60. That night my dd got very sick and I took her to the ER and she was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. We got home after midnight and I still had to roll out the bread. I didn't get to bed until 3 am after rolling it all out, I was up for 22 hours straight. Then the next morning I got up at 8am to start baking it all, my bread is a slow rise bread so I normally do let it rise over night. I was so exhausted I couldn't even deliver the bread to the event, I had my daughter deliver it and we didn't even get to attend. The kids were very disappointed but I just couldn't walk another step I was so tired. My dh came home to take care of the evening chores and kids and I fell asleep instantly. My burns are healing nicely and they really aren't hurting anymore. They are still red and very dried. What looked like blisters never filled with stuff, one is hard and dried out like a scab but the pain is minimal now.

 

[mommahen10]

*DELETED* Double posted.

 

[michelleml]

Then my guess. Was correct about chicks figured 3-4 weeks. How warm should I keep them? When I went for feed they only has starter/ grower I'm I going to need to get chick feed?

 

[LoriO]

Just chased off a coyote at 8a.m.! Chickens were penned up, thank goodness. I could here them squawking up a storm!

Tweety, at the zombie baby! Lol

Lanolizing: I would melt some lanolin in warm water then soak the cover to make it waterproof. Sounds like you're lanolizing your hands, mamahen!

Rosie, congrats on the nationals!

Busy weekend here, not as busy as mamahen, though! Now I need to get off to work.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Then my guess. Was correct about chicks figured 3-4 weeks. How warm should I keep them? When I went for feed they only has starter/ grower I'm I going to need to get chick feed?

I usually dont go off of temp, I hang the light and let it warm up and just watch their reactions , if they stay huddled after it has had a chance to warm up then they are cold if they are way away from teh light it is too hot, if they are spread out doing their own things chirping hapily then they are fine. Since mine are in my bathroom my older ones ( 5weeks) do not even need a light anymore.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Oh definitely - yeah. Kangaroo meat is sold at the butcher alongside the beef, pork, chicken, lamb and rabbit. I've eaten it many times and no, it doesn't taste gamey at all. It is an extremely lean meat - it is almost impossible to find any fat on it at all - so it has to be cooked in such a way as to prevent it drying out and getting tough. It tastes a lot like very lean beef.

I built my last house but it didn't prevent "errors" on the part of the builders - even getting "professionals" in to do it doesn't stop them cutting corners to save a buck or two here and there. One notable thing they got wrong on that house was covering a vent! It was in the master bathroom and the vent came up against the wall, between the toilet and the cabinet under the sink. Needless to say, that is not a place one steps terribly often. I had always thought it was weird there was no vent in the bathroom but hey, what can you do after the fact, right? Then one day, for whatever reason, I did need to step on that piece of the floor and felt it give. I traced the "hole" and realized it was the size and shape of a vent, so got out my stanley knife, cut away the vinyl flooring, bought a vent cover to put in and voila - we had a vent in the bathroom.


Oooh....I'm glad to hear your explanation for why you chose your name. Sometimes it is obvious how a screen name came about - like Mommahen10 or Danz - other times it is harder to guess.

Wow, then kangaroo meat sounds really good, too! Wonder if it would be good to cook like a pot roast-- with broth and veggies. Wow, that is a real bummer that your builder still was able to cut some corners! We had such great luck with ours. We came out to visit the house almost every night during the building process and took a lot of pictures. In the end, the only thing they did wrong was not install the flood lights where we asked (and they fixed it) and then they tried to install a smaller water heater than we requested and they were upset about having to take that out and change it to the bigger/more expensive one we had contracted in the beginning. Of course-- now we don't even have a water heater tank anymore. But at the time, it was important to get that right. They also put all wood in our closests-- NO wire shelving. There were several things I was adamant about in the finishes and we requested more electrical outlets than they had put in. We also pushed out the south side of the house 2 or 3 more feet and had to add that back in when we got started. After thinking about it, I didn't think the bedrooms would be big enough. We loved our builders-- yeah, they probably didn't love US-- we were picky, but they did everything we asked of them.

That is CRAZY they covered a vent hole!!! That is kind of lazy, they had to have known it was there! Wow!

I know how that goes. I had way too many birds at one point this summer and if I didn't let them out they picked on each other. I don't like them here on our property either. I think the more unfriendly and hard to hunt your property gets the less they come around. The pallet tepees are a big hit with the birds too, some people just set them up on a rocks flat too so the birds can go under them. I have found that the few bird I have lost were out free ranging and the hawk was so stealthy that they didn't have time to run for cover before someone was being carried off. It is the bantams that are most at risk here. The big girls are a bit much for the smaller hawks. They seem to like my cochin cockerels which is awful. I have lost a couple really nice boys this fall. Hope you can get your place all hawk proofed. My chicken yard looks like a junk yard but it seems to be working to keep the hawks at bay. If you can attract crows I have heard they will chase hawks out of their territory. Some people put out whole peanuts and play crow calls and the crows will come and establish in your area. I never got around to that what with all my other hawk prevention mess. Plus the birds are out there jammin to the oldies because that is all that comes in on the radio in the coop! I don't know if it really helps or not but it makes me feel better. I have also read you can put out shiny mylar helium balloons tied to fencing but I didn't get to that either because I didn't think they would last very long.

Well we have gotten lots done and still have lots to do. Trying to get some fall cleaning done. I pulled my brooders out of the garage and we gave them a much needed scrubbing and disinfecting. Now I have to go out and clean up around the pens from all the things I throw out next to them like dirty feeders and nest boxes that need washed etc. At least the sun is shining!

Sounds like you do have it pretty well hawk proofed. I've been really worried about that lately. They are so bold right now! Not scared of me! Sounds like you got a lot done! And no, I don't make covers. It was something I really never got into. I did use Fitteds now and then when I was running low, but figured that I could not make the Thirsties covers any better than they were, so why try? The whole idea of making your own diapers to make something better-- and I think my own brand did that. (in Pocket diapers) I prefer my own pockets over any other. And I'm a BIG lover of Fuzzi Bunz, BumGenius and BlueBerry. But mine just worked better. I also was using materials that lasted longer. I have replaced the elastic in my Fuzzi Bunz a couple of times in the leg gussets-- they used PolyBraid. I'm thinking the new FB's actually use the Lastin like I use now. But a few years ago, they didn't. Mine held up longer.

Yeah, so funny when I learned your name wasn't actually Josie! Now I named the bird I got from you Josie. LOL Figure it reminds me where I got her. I'm with you on the quarantine for 3 weeks. I got that little cockerel about 4 weeks ago now-- he is STILL in quarantine. He's been doing great-- no sign of illness ever. I'm thinking about later this week letting him out with the other birds. Just makes me nervous. I have the room to keep him separate, so it's easy to just leave him there. But I know he'd like some company. I have 4 more birds in quarantine too-- they are only on week 2. So I'm thinking 1 or 2 more weeks and I'll put them in with the flock. SO far--- no signs of illness with them either. Not even once did I have a second thought of them. But I'm not so confident about that to put them in with my birds before their time is up in quarantine. Just figure I might as well do it right!

LOL.... so do we That's why I thought it would be hilarious to put her in there.. you think that one's funny... While we were setting up our halloween decorations, I gave Kaylea a severed hand to play with, she decided to chew on the "appropriate" end.. hence.. Zombie Baby!

That would absolutely freak me and and piss me off at the same time. I'm not sure I would have been able to hold myself back in not killing that bird!

CUTE!!! Hope you are feeling well. Take it easy on your stomach right now. I sure hope you are feeling better before Thanksgiving!!

Chickens are still sneezing, not getting worse, no more deaths. Never got any more advice on what to do, vet never called back, can't find anything else to use from the feed stores, can't afford the stuff they sell on-line. Irritated, but nothing I can do.
Got another pen and got my SLW's separated. BLCM chicks still in the house and doing well. Incubator full of red mix, barnyard mix, and bantam cochin eggs.
Dog keeps pulling the hose out of the duck pen, won't use his dog house.
Rabbits bred, hoping for babies this time.

Nothing exciting going on.

Oh no! So sorry they are still under the weather! It's too bad you don't have an Atwoods near you-- they have cheap medicines right now! They have OxyTet in right now and lots of other drugs. I have bought one of each! LOL I don't need them right now-- but I figure when one doesn't work, on to the next! My next purchase will be the Sulpha drugs. I was at TSC the other day and I saw a couple of bagged drugs there-- have you checked them out? They only run me about $6-$9 at Atwoods, I didn't look to see the price at TSC, and I know they are usually more expensive. Atwoods has GREAT prices. What kind of rabbits do you have?

Nothing exciting going on here, either. I got the blasted flu and felt like I would rather die than put up with the body aches any longer. I had a fierce headache also and lots of upper respiratory congestion. My fever kept breaking and spiking over and over. I had the most miserable night of my life and spent most of today in bed. My eyes wouldn't even focus! Ridiculous! Finally I'm feeling some better this evening and I'm hoping it doesn't go into my lunges like it usually does. I have high hopes for tomorrow!

Tweety, I'm so glad you got the procedure behind you. Now, we can hope things will start to work like they are supposed to.

Danz, Congrats on the peafowl and getting the line unstopped. What a mess, for sure. Our line stopped up so everything came up the clean out into the yard. Gross, but better than in the basement. DH was not pleased but he got it taken care of.

Oh that sounds terrible!! Miserable! I hope you will be feeling better soon! Maybe this will be the last of your illness over the winter!

I haven't had to deal with it in a whole flock but had one sneezing chicken who unfortunately died before I could find the right med, and I've had a turkey making a barking/sneezing sound for weeks and I still can't figure out if its a problem or just a sound she makes.

Not much is happening here. My broody hen's eggs were due to hatch yesterday, I think, but no activity. I'm not surprised because towards the end she really lost interest in sitting. In the beginning all she wanted to do was sit aside from an hour first thing in the morning. But as the three weeks passed, the hour became longer and longer, until by the third week, she was off the nest all day, only sitting on them at night. They hung in there as long as they could but I think that was too much for them. Sad, but - I think she is just too young yet, being only 6 months old herself.

That doesn't sound normal for your turkey to sound like that. Bummer, I hope she feels better. Oh wow, I think those babies may be a loss. Poor things!

I got back fairly late yesterday and had to rush to get everyone fed, watered and put up for the night. I came back with an extra peacock. The guy must have sold one of the 5 cause he had 4 left. He convinced me to go ahead and take all 4. I will just sell my excess next spring or sell one to Trish later. I need time to observe them and see what I have for males and females. There is one female for sure and the others are questionable. The whole point was to get a female. I penned up my peachick and his chicken friend in the smaller pen for the night and wormed the new group first off. I just want to be sure they don't carry any disease with them that they could infect my turkeys. I'm really needing the other half of my lean to building built so I can house all the birds I need to. Probably not going to happen. Then if it was I would have to have pens built for them as well.
Anyway they seemed to settle right in and had found the roost and jumped right up there for the night.
Another busy day today. I have some more ducks to take out of the hatcher. It looks like I have a couple of the campine chicks hatching as well. I have some more chicken eggs that go in the hatcher today as well.
My duck buyer is coming so it will be pay day. Hopefully I'll get enough to pay for the peafowl I bought yesterday.
I've got to get around for church. After church we are having a dinner so that will run me a little later than normal getting home.
I was tickled when I got home to walk in the house and not smell sewage. I guess the oxine worked. Yippee!
Now to get the time to go down there and clean for a week!!!

Glad your house smells much better! YAY! Are these all white peacocks?? Those sound beautiful! Glad you got your baby ducks sold!

Just a short post. Sort of status report.

I'm in Reno at my daughter's house. We got her moved yesterday to a new place with better heating (gas instead of heating oil) and lots more room. Her cat went "walkabout" while we were going in and out, and we though he was gone forever, but he came home about 10 minutes ago covered with leaves and dirt. He had a GOOD night apparently. My grandson is wonderful. Very sweet and cuddly. He is 6 days old in the picture.




I don't want to leave out my beautiful granddaughter, though. This is Lina in her ladybug dress that the sweet-sprite brought her. The Sweet-Sprite is a creature that picks up all the leftover Halloween candy (except for one piece for each year the child is old) the night after Halloween and leaves a nice present in return.





Of course there is still the trauma with Scout (my Campine) at home. She is apparently moving around with one leg and using her wing for balance. My DH says she is in good spirits, but she isn't eating much. She even turns her beak up at scrambled egg. I suppose it is only a matter of time. He says she will eat scratch and sunflower seeds, so we are going to try to give her some time to heal. He says she has made herself a nest in one corner of the hoop/coop and goes out during the day when the pop-door is open. The right leg is just dragging, though, and really seems to get in the way. From 1500 miles away, there isn't much I can do about it.

I think in the SPRING, I'll be looking for a couple of golden campines and a couple of dark egg layers of some kind. NOT NOW. I am expecting to lose one of my Delawares and maybe one of the EE's over the winter. They aren't doing very well and I've done all I can for them. They are both 2 1/2 years old. The Del has always laid the occasional softshelled egg since her first molt. Maybe the second molt will put her back on track?????

Well that's it from Reno. Be sure to vote. If you don't vote, you can't gripe.

CUTE! Both the baby and the little lady bug! Neat idea about the candy. I think we like our tradition of just eating ours, though. LOL!! So sorry Scout isn't doing any better. I'm sure you can find more campines this Spring when everyone is in full swing of hatching! Have fun at your daughters and enjoy the stay!

Everyone has such beautiful grandbabies, i hope it is a very long time before I have any

my kids are 14 and 8 lol

Yeah, I don't have any kids over the age of 8yrs--- so I'm with you! I am NOT ready for grandkids! ha!

I just sold 66 baby ducks. Yep these are all going to the feed market after they grow a while. I have a bunch more eggs in the bator. Hopefully I can hatch about that many more in the next few weeks and make some more money. I sold my doves but two got away as well.
It paid for my peacocks and my gas from yesterday so I am pretty happy.

that's great that you came out even on that!

Danz very cute ducks.

We got new birds I bought a few different breeds just to have some different colors so i bought two black sexlink, and two Silver spangled Hamburgs along with 4 buff orpingtons. They said they are 9 wks old but they look younger what do you all think?

Cute! I agree with everyone else-- these guys are young!

Hey Danz, the mouse trap finally caught a couple of mice. We heard some scrambling in the walls of the barn so I set up one trap in there a couple of days ago. Then I brought back the trap I had set at our horse barn, and I put it in our barn as well, in a corner (the first one was just against a wall). I checked them this morning and the first one was still empty, after being there two nights, but the one in the corner had a mouse in it. I fed that to one of my snakes and put the trap back against the wall and this evening there was another mouse in it. That was fed to another snake and now it is back there to (hopefully) get its third victim tonight. The smell of mouse in there is now quite strong and I'm wondering if that will a) encourage other mice to enter the trap or b) smell of mouse fear so discourage others from entering. I guess I will find out in the morning.

Yikes-- feeding them to your snakes. I guess, it's better than buying them, right?

Hi, to all.
Well, I made the National Rosecomb show!! My cockerel placed 5th in the first show, and 3rd in the second show.
The pullets did not place, but, I had a lot of comments on the girls. They had some very tough competion. My girls were a lot younger than a lot of the pullets there. Some were even laying. My girls have not crossed that line yet. I would say most of the pullets there were 11+ months old. Mine are only 9 months so I am not unhappy. I learned so much from the "BIG SHOW BREEDERS" They were all so nice, and we talked a lot about birds, breeding, and conditioning. I have a lot of work ahead of me but will get it done, and my birds will be better for it. I will be attending Hutchinson the 17th. They will be having sale cages there. Breeders will have birds there for sale. If you are just wanting to pick up something new for your flock, good place to look. All birds have to be tested, so they will all be pollurium clean.
I took a couple of pictures at the show, I have to get them uploaded, and then I will post them.

CONGRATULATIONS!! I'm so glad you had a great time and that your boys placed!!! Getting to speak with the other breeders is just priceless! I took away so much knowledge at my Nationals-- so I'm so glad that you had the opportunity to do the same and enjoy your fellow Rosecomb breeders! Sounds like your birds held their own! I agree with you-- it's not entirely fair to judge 9 month olds with nearly a year old birds-- so I think considering that, you probably did great. I'm so glad you will be at the Hutchinson Kansas Classic!! I'm going too!!! We'll be doing both Open and Juniors. I'm going to bring 11 birds, I think. I do NOT plan on buying anything there, but I am going to try to sell another of my blue boys. He will be shown, then I'll put up a "For Sale" after the second judging. Hopefully I'll come home with one less bird. It will be SO FUN to meet you in person! My son will be doing Showmanship there, too. You really improved his game by giving us all those tips early on this Spring. He got a 2nd place at Nationals.

Just want to remind you of the bottle rocket launcher. if your in the country just launch a few every once and a while. Works for me. I have never lost a bird to a bird of prey. I encourage screech owls or sparrow hawks to eat my mice. I get a few hawks in the big cotton wood trees just above the pen. I use the bottle rockets then. I hear you can use old CDs on fishing line to scare hawks away. Seems like you could tie about 10 feet between 2 and toss them into a tree so they hang and swing in the wind. I have a covered pen for the day time then a big open pen for half the day not that any of them stay in the big pen.

Great reminder!!!! I may have to dig out our left over fireworks!

Thanks for the Lastin link Hawkeye, I got it marked. Hawkeye, I don't know what an apron is at the bottom? I've never heard of that. On my chick pens we buried the bottom of the wire. UGH, we did have our lagoon back up into our house one year ini the dead of winter. There was so much snow everywhere. We left and went to my parent's house but not without getting stuck in the driveway. I have no carpeting in the front of my van, we actually pulled it all out when we got it because it was so gross. I had on snow boots but my feet were numb by the time we got there. There is never ever a good time for this stuff. Even our furnace going out when it wasn't all that cold was stressful. My boys have been doing the killing of the roosters (by choice), I'm sure I would hit the ground if I tried. I've been watching videos about processing them and some people aren't cutting the heads completely off just slitting the throat. Good for you standing up to the insurance company. Don't give up. They can't keep getting away with stuff like this. I'm battling our med insurance now over something stated as covered that wasn't covered because of a procedure I had years ago it supposedly means it's not covered for me. GRRR. I'm on it. Would it be possible to remove the velcro and replace with snaps on the Bumgenious diapers. I haven't ever looked at them up close. I'm wanting to buy one just to see, I'm going to make some diapers for my dd and just investigating it all right now. I wouldn't have thought about the carseat thing either, you definitely need to do that.


Since I don't understand the breeds and breeding, would someone like to assign me a project with some instructions? Something moderately priced please and nothing too fancy. My brooder room is coming along nicely. I've been painting in there and my dh is giving me a hard time. He keeps saying, "But it's a barn." I told him that I will be spending a bit of time out there and I want to enjoy my time out there. I've got one pen in there completely ready to go. I was going to put the linoleum down like checoukan suggested but when I went to get the scraps they were really rotten so I will stay on the look out for more. I've put several coats of paint on it so it should be relatively easy to clean with a smoother surface. Tomorrow I start painting the second pen.

We still have a good start on supplies for more coops. We can divide 1 coop and we still have another vacant shed that could be 2 coops. We are also going to put 1 more coop by the nugget pens next to the barn. It's so convenient there to put electricity in. My ds did some more permanent type of wiring outside for me in what we call the 'nugget pen'. I have outlets next to pens where I can turn them on or off as needed conveniently. We used pvc pipe over the cord and outdoor outlets. I can unplug the entire thing from one cord inside of the barn if I want to. We moved chicks around a few nights ago so I'm going out every night to make sure they all got inside for the night, I'm so glad the weather is mild. In our 'bachelor pad' pen we have a bit of fighting going on with the bigger ones so I think we may have to take care of a few this week. I have one rooster, the one that I had so much trouble with getting stuck in the corners. I posted pics a while back of him with the dog when he was quite little. I keep trying to put him in with the bachelors but he still ends up stuck in the corner. He's a couple of months away still from being dinner. I have no where to put him that he is okay. He's so chicken. We put him in a big abandoned rabbit cage for now. Since he and the dog get along so well we will leave him in the cage for a few days and then try letting just him free range during the day.


Things have been crazy kind of busy around here. There was Halloween, and we went to Ottawa. Then the next day I had to be up at the crack of dawn to take the kids to the dentist in Burlington. Went by a sign that said Waverly, thought of you Danz. I didn't get home until late in the afternoon and we still had to go pick up the pumpkins that they were done selling. I sent the older kids to do that because I had to make a ton of bread dough for an event Friday, bread for 60. That night my dd got very sick and I took her to the ER and she was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. We got home after midnight and I still had to roll out the bread. I didn't get to bed until 3 am after rolling it all out, I was up for 22 hours straight. Then the next morning I got up at 8am to start baking it all, my bread is a slow rise bread so I normally do let it rise over night. I was so exhausted I couldn't even deliver the bread to the event, I had my daughter deliver it and we didn't even get to attend. The kids were very disappointed but I just couldn't walk another step I was so tired. My dh came home to take care of the evening chores and kids and I fell asleep instantly. My burns are healing nicely and they really aren't hurting anymore. They are still red and very dried. What looked like blisters never filled with stuff, one is hard and dried out like a scab but the pain is minimal now.

I hope you have better luck with your medical insurance! We might have to settle with a bit less than what we wanted. We are going on a week of fighting with our car insurance. I'm going to give them a call today and get a few more things ironed out and hope for the best on our new offering.

You said you want an assignment with breeds, but are you talking about breeding for show, or breeding for meat producing, eggs, etc?? A lot of breeds, once they are crossed aren't really a breed of anything and you can't show them or sell them as a particular breed, other than a barnyard mutt. BUT-- you can certainly come up with something you are interested in, even if you aren't wanting to breed for Standard. What is your interest and what breeds are your favorite? Karen is doing the Alohas-- and those are an awful lot of fun. Sort of a dual purpose bird, but they are pretty. They are a take-off on the Swedish Flower Hens. None of which are in the Standard of Perfection, so they can't be shown. If you have a particular breed you love, but want to work on a "Project" color, you might want to join their club. There will be others working on that color and can give you specifics on how they are doing it and maybe even have a bird shipped to you that is already well into the generations without starting all over with your own F1.... you could get into an F10 or older with someone else's and continue the work. So it really depends on what you are wanting to do! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun, whatever you choose to do!

Glad your burn is feeling better.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Just want to remind you of the bottle rocket launcher. if your in the country just launch a few every once and a while. Works for me. I have never lost a bird to a bird of prey. I encourage screech owls or sparrow hawks to eat my mice. I get a few hawks in the big cotton wood trees just above the pen. I use the bottle rockets then. I hear you can use old CDs on fishing line to scare hawks away. Seems like you could tie about 10 feet between 2 and toss them into a tree so they hang and swing in the wind. I have a covered pen for the day time then a big open pen for half the day not that any of them stay in the big pen.

I don't think the bottle launcher would work here, I would probably get a quick visit from the sheriff. I have been hearing crows around though and have read they keep the hawks away, so I need to figure out how to ensure the crows stay here. What do crows eat?

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Just chased off a coyote at 8a.m.! Chickens were penned up, thank goodness. I could here them squawking up a storm!

Oh no Lori! That would get my heart going! I hope you chased it off with some fire power, it will be back... With this weather and time of year, it should be getting it's belly full at night with rabbits, mice, quail, pheasants etc, out at 8 am it's highly likely it's not healthy, can't catch the regular prey and looking for easy prey, those are the ones that go for baby calves as the cow is giving birth, come after chickens. Healthy coyotes don't come in your yard during the day. Did it look like it had mange?

 

[sarajoy]

Howdy. I'm from SE Kansas - rural Dennis, to be specific. I have two rir's hens, two light brahma hens, and one light brahma rooster. I enjoy the rir's who were very socialized before they came to us. They are a little bossy, the alpha hen actually trying to boss around the light brahma rooster! But with us they are just friendly, and follow my special needs adult son around chattering away. They also are good layers. Definately keepers, as pets, even if they weren't great layers. But I'm in love with the light brahma's. I'm hoping to gather a larger flock of these. Hopefully the three I do have will be prolific, but I'm also interested in expanding this flock sooner rather than later. The rooster is friendly and docile with us, but is rather randy, and giving my two light brahma hens quite a work out. So far the rir's have warded him off. So an additional hen or two would be delightful. Are there any other folks here from SE Kansas? I look forward to joining the conversations here! Sara

 

[Kansas Prairie]

HEChicken,
I'm a complete newbie with turkeys, I did notice when my turkeys were getting their water from a nipple bucket they sneezed more, when I have water out where they can dip their beak down in it while they drink they stopped sneezing. Maybe it's my imagination, maybe it's a coincidence. We are dry here, really dry any maybe that's why it helped.