Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Bummer. I will have to see what is up with that. Weird it worked for HEchicken?

Ooops sorry...I should have mentioned it didn't work for me either but by the time I found and looked at it I forgot the original link didn't work. I could see from the link that it was linking to a blog post from 12/8/10 so I just went looking for it and found it.

 

[mommahen10]

Josie, it really sounds like you are very prepared. I used blankets on the bed incase of spit up or messes, they're easier than changing the sheets. I mean like a baby quilt. I just laid it on my bed though where the baby slept. Also, for leaking milk in bed. Shhh. They have cool waterproof pads, they're like flannel on rubber. We use those at messy times, I even still get those out every now and then when the younger ones are having potty issues. For instance, my 4 yo got sick and I got tired of changing the entire bed and cleaning the mattress. I put that down with a comforter on top of it and nothing seeps through it. Will you have carpet in your new house? I think carpet cleaners are a must have with not just babies but kids. They also work great for cleaning mattresses. I don't like a lot of disposeable stuff but I did like those little sticky placemats for when we ate out. That way I could still put finger foods on the table like normal. You should do whatever it takes to make breastfeeding convenient. I was always very self conscious about nursing in public. Don't get me wrong, if my baby was hungry I didn't care where we were because I couldn't ever let a baby cry. I always would go to town and before we would ever get out of the van I would give the baby a chance to eat if they would, that would give me more time in the store. I'm kinda high strung that way. When I was nursing older babies I would make them wait until we got back to the van though.

 

[JosieChick]

Ooops sorry...I should have mentioned it didn't work for me either but by the time I found and looked at it I forgot the original link didn't work. I could see from the link that it was linking to a blog post from 12/8/10 so I just went looking for it and found it.

So resourceful!!! I would never be able to find that without the link!

Here it is again: http://speedkin.com/2010/12/08/the-new-fresh-air-chicken-coop-2/

If it doesn't work this time, I don't know what is wrong?

Josie, it really sounds like you are very prepared. I used blankets on the bed incase of spit up or messes, they're easier than changing the sheets. I mean like a baby quilt. I just laid it on my bed though where the baby slept. Also, for leaking milk in bed. Shhh. They have cool waterproof pads, they're like flannel on rubber. We use those at messy times, I even still get those out every now and then when the younger ones are having potty issues. For instance, my 4 yo got sick and I got tired of changing the entire bed and cleaning the mattress. I put that down with a comforter on top of it and nothing seeps through it. Will you have carpet in your new house? I think carpet cleaners are a must have with not just babies but kids. They also work great for cleaning mattresses. I don't like a lot of disposeable stuff but I did like those little sticky placemats for when we ate out. That way I could still put finger foods on the table like normal. You should do whatever it takes to make breastfeeding convenient. I was always very self conscious about nursing in public. Don't get me wrong, if my baby was hungry I didn't care where we were because I couldn't ever let a baby cry. I always would go to town and before we would ever get out of the van I would give the baby a chance to eat if they would, that would give me more time in the store. I'm kinda high strung that way. When I was nursing older babies I would make them wait until we got back to the van though.

I am a total spaz, I know. I get obsessed with reading and figuring things out. I like to feel ultra prepared for things even though I know when it all happens I won't feel like I am prepared at all! All the carpet should be gone from the house by the time baby comes. It will all be hardwood floors. We have too many pets to stand carpet, besides my DH is an allergic mess and he does much better without carpet! I am afraid to be self conscious too so I was thinking a cover would be really nice for public. The waterproof pads remind me of pooch pads. They are reusable absorbent potty pads for dogs that have incontinence issues and can be washed up to 100 times before they are not waterproof anymore. Would it be terrible to use pooch pads for a baby?!

I am always throwing towels and blankets down for critters so I think a baby is going to be a lot like that for a while too!

 

[mommahen10]

You're so funny. Ya know, if it's clean who cares what it's called. I usually think that you're never really ready for a baby until you have one. Then you take it as it comes and do what you have to. It all works out, and the 'stuff' isn't what's important.

 

[mommahen10]

The coop looks awesome! It looks so neat and clean, and orderly.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

ty i got 5 girls i'll be hatching there eggs from this year and i would like to hatch the same time so they can all be the same ageis a hovabator 2363N with turner ok to use ? this will be my first hatching so i might need alittle help

The 2363N is a good styro incubator and if you get it directly from GQF they stand behind their products very well and you will not be paying a middle man. If you have a problem with it they will take care of it with no hesitation. The temp control is much easier to use than the Little Giant control. They are taller than the LG so the chicks have more room and you can hatch goose eggs in it also. There are some tricks to using a styro, but they are used by a lot of people and hatch out a lot of chicks.

 

[JosieChick]

You're so funny. Ya know, if it's clean who cares what it's called. I usually think that you're never really ready for a baby until you have one. Then you take it as it comes and do what you have to. It all works out, and the 'stuff' isn't what's important.

Kudos to that!!!

The coop looks awesome! It looks so neat and clean, and orderly.

Here is another link to a cool metal coop. I guess imagine a long row of these and a big pen that they take turns free ranging in.
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k607/redhotchick1/chickencoop018.jpg

 

[Trish44]

Josie, I was finally able to see the coop, I actually like the 2nd one you posted better for chickens, it seems more secure & you could cover the top with plastic if you needed to for winter. The first one I like for something we could build pretty easily for the goats I want to get. We wouldn't have to get that elaborate with the front for them, but I like the design. That looks really fairly easy to build & you can find recycled galvanized sheets if you watch.

 

[sharol]

All this talk about open coops, and last night I caved in and plugged the SweeterHeaters into a 35 degree thermocube instead of the 20 degree one. Everyone in the coop (except for the roo) is in some level of molt, and those poor half naked birds were COLD. I am such a sucker for trying to keep them comfortable. When I checked in on them about 10, the heaters were on and the girls (and Butch) were cuddled together directly under the heaters on the roost.

On the breastfeeding issue, you all are lucky you are having babies now. In 1975 when my daughter was born, I had to search for a pediatrician who was supportive. No one thought it was a good idea, so I joined LeLeche League in Wichita, and dug in my heels. (I have, on occasion, been accused of being just the tiniest bit stubborn.) My DH was not supportive, so I took his farm magazines out of the bathroom and left pro-breastfeeding/pro cloth diapering propaganda where he would read it. He came around. My daughter is breastfeeding her second (month old) baby right now, and as I watched her with Benny, I realized that her support system is much more complete than mine was. Virtually all her friends breast feed (fed) their kids, and her husband and his family are all supportive (ex-hippies, all). I can't even imagine how awful it would be to have to get out of a warm bed in the middle of the night to heat up formula (I know, I wasn't supposed to bring her to bed to nurse, either, but it worked for me).

That is not to say it was intuitive or easy. I had WAAAAYYYYY too much milk from the beginning and about drowned the poor little thing. Once we (my daughter and I) figured out a way around that, it was easy. She would never take a bottle (of expressed breast milk), so we were pretty much attached at the hip for 6 months, but I wouldn't change a thing.

When I was at my daughter's when Benny was a week old, I successfully fed a baby from a bottle for the first time. She pumps milk and freezes it, and miracle of miracles, Benny will take it from a bottle. That will free my daughter to be gone for a while when she has help at home.

Life is good.

 

[HEChicken]

I am a total spaz, I know. I get obsessed with reading and figuring things out. I like to feel ultra prepared for things even though I know when it all happens I won't feel like I am prepared at all!

That link works great now. That sounds like me - I have to read and read and read about any new thing until I start to feel comfortable. Flexibility is good though. There were never any doubts for me that I wanted to breast-feed but it wasn't without initial difficulties. I kept thinking something so natural should be more intuitive but there was a learning curve to getting baby to latch on properly so that I didn't end up sore. And, in the beginning, as others have said, your own body doesn't quite know how to regulate production. I still remember poor DD gulping desperately trying to swallow without drowning, then giving up and letting go and watching milk spurt in all directions. The thing to remember at this time is that producing milk takes a LOT of calories and fluids. Drink water or herbal tea by the gallon - I was constantly thirsty in those first few weeks. And, as if giving birth isn't tiring enough, add in breast-feeding and you REALLY need to rest up until your body catches up and gets used to it, so don't take on any big projects at that time and allow anyone who offers help, to cook and clean for you so you can rest and feed baby. Seriously. I never was self-conscious about it but perhaps that's because my mother breast-fed all of hers and had several while I was in my teens so I was pretty used to seeing it whipped out and took it in stride when it was my own turn. I never had anyone approach and tell me to put it away like I've heard was other's experience, but I raised my little ones in Australia where pretty much everyone breast-feeds.

There are some tricks to using a styro, but they are used by a lot of people and hatch out a lot of chicks.

Well said!

Kudos to that!!!
Here is another link to a cool metal coop. I guess imagine a long row of these and a big pen that they take turns free ranging in.
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k607/redhotchick1/chickencoop018.jpg

I like that one too and I guess its kind of what I was picturing when I suggested putting up a sheet of plywood on that first one. I must say I'm pretty happy with my sheet-metal coop. I don't have to worry about sun damage, rain, hail, or high winds. Vented properly it wasn't too hot in summer, yet last night a bowl with only 2" of water in it didn't freeze inside the coop, even though the thermometer said 17 when I woke up this morning.

On the breastfeeding issue, you all are lucky you are having babies now. In 1975 when my daughter was born, I had to search for a pediatrician who was supportive. No one thought it was a good idea, so I joined LeLeche League in Wichita, and dug in my heels. (I have, on occasion, been accused of being just the tiniest bit stubborn.) My DH was not supportive, so I took his farm magazines out of the bathroom and left pro-breastfeeding/pro cloth diapering propaganda where he would read it. He came around. My daughter is breastfeeding her second (month old) baby right now, and as I watched her with Benny, I realized that her support system is much more complete than mine was. Virtually all her friends breast feed (fed) their kids, and her husband and his family are all supportive (ex-hippies, all). I can't even imagine how awful it would be to have to get out of a warm bed in the middle of the night to heat up formula (I know, I wasn't supposed to bring her to bed to nurse, either, but it worked for me).

Good for you for sticking with it and joining LLL. It's so sad there was a whole generation of women - the mothers of the baby boomers in particular - who were told they couldn't nurse because their milk was too thin. The stupid medical profession was comparing breast milk to cow's milk and because it looked thinner, told women it wasn't good enough. I can't believe it never occurred to any of them that we're feeding a baby, not a calf, and the milk is PERFECT for a BABY HUMAN. My former MIL was among those and when I had my kids she sadly told me many times how much she had wanted to nurse but couldn't "because her milk was too thin".

I love the part about replacing your DH's magazines with the material until he came around