Consolidated Kansas

[KNHKLUCKERS]

We worked all 70 of our girls yesterday. We caught them...checked them for parasites and to see who was laying and who hasn't started yet. Luckily nobody sick and no obvious problems. We banded all of our leghorns including this little girl (#84). We would work them and then let them out side the coop. Just as we finished we opened all the doors and she flew in and landed on my shoulder!!! At first I was a little scared...thought she might want revenge for being caught, violated and banded but I guess she just wanted to thank me for the new "bling" that I put on her ankle!!

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Where do you order your broilers?? I purchased 50 from a local farm store this last spring...they were great however expensive!!

We order from a variety of hatcheries - Hoovers is one of my personal favorites.

 

[KNHKLUCKERS]

We order from a variety of hatcheries - Hoovers is one of my personal favorites.

Thanks...I will check them out...

 

[Trish44]

Tweetybaby - I'm behind on posts and just now responding. Do you use sand in your coop, both the run and the coop? I was thinking of trying sand but read that in colder climates it's hard on the birds feet as wood chips are warmer in the winter. But, I've been curious what others do with raised coops and never got around to asking.

edit - just saw you'd already responded. So, I think the pending question is how do you do winters? Does the sand stay warm enough?

I'm not tweety, but one thing I like about using pine shavings & doing the deep litter method is that during the process of it composting down as you keep it turned it does help provide some extra heat in the winter. I have not had sand in my coop, I have had it in my run, but like tweety said you do have to add to it. I eventually just gave up on the sand. I did like it at first, it was easy to scoop out the droppings for awhile but then the sand kind of just got displaced to outside the run so I just haven't wanted to hassle with getting any more. It's just easier to rake out the run every so often & use the fork to dig it out if I need to once in awhile or turn it over.

KNHKLUCKERS, I have also used Hoover's Hatchery, they're cheaper for cornish cross than a lot of other places. I just don't think I'm going to do that breed again, they're just nasty, stinky birds. I have never had birds stink like those did. I had to use a rototiller & till up the inside of the pen after they left & it still smelled for awhile. It was really bad when we had all that rain & it was wet in that pen.

I started building a pen for the ducks for them to stay in at night this evening. I got it about 3/4 of the way done. I want to get some pvc pipe for extra support for the fence & I need to put one more piece of fence & close in the front with a door yet. The ducks saw it tonight & weren't quite sure about it yet. At least they won't be able to fly out of this one.

 

[KNHKLUCKERS]

Ok this is a little embarrassing

, but I am having some trouble telling the difference between my RIR's and my production reds...I am also having a little trouble with the Australorps and Black Sex Links. Some of the Black Sex Links have pretty dark feet and some of the same coloring as the Australorps. I thought that I would be able to tell the difference by the combs, but that can also be a little tricky. Some of the Black Sex Links have obvious red plumage but not all. I am wanting to band the rest of the girls and would really like to get it right. I purchased the majority of the girls around the first of April and yesterday we collected 28 eggs.

That is out of the 68 hen/pullets that we have. We get more and more eggs every day. That makes me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!

On another note we moved to our new farm the first of July. On July 3rd my favorite cat George O'Malley escaped from the new house and disappeared.

The new house is surrounded on 3 sides by corn fields, filled with coyotes, so we were fairly sure after a couple of weeks that he was a gonner for sure!! Last night my Mom and I went to town to get a few things and when got back to my house and pulled in the drive, there he was, right over by the barn!!! I called his name and he started walking to me and under the yard light, I thought I was seeing a ghost. He was very timid and a little wild and wouldn't let me carry him in the house, and ran back toward the corn field. I ran in the house and told my DW and she came running out calling his name and he went right to her. She scooped him up and carried him in the house. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Other than being a little under weight and loosing his voice a little he seems just fine. He was gone for almost 2 months. So I am so very happy to have my Mow Mow back...LOL. I will be calling the vet today and the DW is going to, most likely be taking him in for a check up.

 

[HEChicken]

Ok this is a little embarrassing

, but I am having some trouble telling the difference between my RIR's and my production reds...I am also having a little trouble with the Australorps and Black Sex Links. Some of the Black Sex Links have pretty dark feet and some of the same coloring as the Australorps. I thought that I would be able to tell the difference by the combs, but that can also be a little tricky.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but....if you purchased these from a hatchery, there really isn't any difference between a RIR and a Production Red. The hatcheries have so diluted the RIR in order to turn them into better layers that in many people's opinion, a hatchery RIR IS a Production Red. To be honest, that is what I call them. If you were to look at photos of a hatchery "RIR" and those owned by a decent breeder, you would not believe they are the same breed at all. There is a BYC user by the name Robert Blosl, who has the best RIR's I'm aware of. Here is a link to a thread he started dedicated to this breed: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/407294/the-heritage-rhode-island-red-site

As for the BSL/Australorp dilemma, I suspect something similar is going on for you but I don't have much knowledge about Australorps and don't know specifically of a good breeder to direct you to for the differences, as I do for RIR's.

Unfortunately, hatcheries have done similar damage to most every breed they touch since they are about quantity, not quality, and they are geared towards giving people what they want, which is a bird that lays "an egg a day". In striving towards that latter goal, they tend to give up the characteristics of the bird that make it that breed. Don't get me wrong - I've had plenty of hatchery birds over the years myself, and I've had some that I was very fond of. One breed that has gotten a very bad rap thanks to the hatcheries is the Barred Rock. People think of them as "mean" and "bullies" (much like hatchery Production Reds' reputations). But that is not their true nature at all. When I tell people I am breeding Barred Rocks, I see the look on their face but then they come out here and they see my birds in the flesh and its fun to watch the look of amazement on their face as they say "THAT'S a Barred Rock? OMG, I've never seen anything like that before". I got my breeder pair from a breeder known for his quality earlier this year, and am now raising my first generation from this pair. In addition to being stunning to look at, there is a huge difference in the nature of these birds compared to hatchery BR's. My breeder-quality birds are gentle and stately and I've never seen them look crossly at another bird.

Congratulations on your kitty showing back up - it makes you wonder where he was all this time, doesn't it?

 

[chicken danz]

Tweetybaby - I'm behind on posts and just now responding. Do you use sand in your coop, both the run and the coop? I was thinking of trying sand but read that in colder climates it's hard on the birds feet as wood chips are warmer in the winter. But, I've been curious what others do with raised coops and never got around to asking.

edit - just saw you'd already responded. So, I think the pending question is how do you do winters? Does the sand stay warm enough?

I've only used sand on top of existing dirt. Like Trish it eventually just disappears. I have tilled it in the dirt to get more drainage but it is short lived. I use DLM in my coops also.

Does any one here have any experiance with noregian Jaerhons?

I don't have experience with them but they sure remind me of a cream legbar. Personally if I were you I wouldn't get them just because of that. It could get very confusing if you hatched chicks. They are pretty and I've read they are docile however.

I started building a pen for the ducks for them to stay in at night this evening. I got it about 3/4 of the way done. I want to get some pvc pipe for extra support for the fence & I need to put one more piece of fence & close in the front with a door yet. The ducks saw it tonight & weren't quite sure about it yet. At least they won't be able to fly out of this one.

You are sure getting quick about building. I am still in one of those talk about it and think about it for months stages before I get things done.

Ok this is a little embarrassing

, but I am having some trouble telling the difference between my RIR's and my production reds...I am also having a little trouble with the Australorps and Black Sex Links. Some of the Black Sex Links have pretty dark feet and some of the same coloring as the Australorps. I thought that I would be able to tell the difference by the combs, but that can also be a little tricky. Some of the Black Sex Links have obvious red plumage but not all. I am wanting to band the rest of the girls and would really like to get it right.
Your RIR should be a really dark red color and eventually larger than your production reds. Same way with Austrolorps. They should be much bigger.
On another note we moved to our new farm the first of July. On July 3rd my favorite cat George O'Malley escaped from the new house and disappeared.

The new house is surrounded on 3 sides by corn fields, filled with coyotes, so we were fairly sure after a couple of weeks that he was a gonner for sure!! Last night my Mom and I went to town to get a few things and when got back to my house and pulled in the drive, there he was, right over by the barn!!! I called his name and he started walking to me and under the yard light, I thought I was seeing a ghost. He was very timid and a little wild and wouldn't let me carry him in the house, and ran back toward the corn field. I ran in the house and told my DW and she came running out calling his name and he went right to her. She scooped him up and carried him in the house. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Other than being a little under weight and loosing his voice a little he seems just fine. He was gone for almost 2 months. So I am so very happy to have my Mow Mow back...LOL. I will be calling the vet today and the DW is going to, most likely be taking him in for a check up.

That's amazing after that length of time. We lost one of our long term cats shortly after we moved here as well. We never found anything to indicate what happened to him but I know it had to be owls that got him. We had tons of them around here and no other animals at the time. We never even found a tuft of furr. He didn't run away. He just disappeared after going out one night to hunt.
We've lost a couple other cats that adopted us here as well. Seems if they roam they don't last at all. You are very lucky he survived. I have my remaining couple of cats that stay indoors most of the time and one that stays in the shop. I suppose at some point when the older ones die I will have to get some barn cats.
There is an old Tom that lives way out in our South barn and lives on mice and such. We can't get near him. He is pretty feral.
I had a usual busy day yesterday but took a couple hours to go to a card class late afternoon. It was nice to just get away from home,animals, and everything for a little while. I rarely do that.
I'm hoping to get started building a divider on a pen and extending another one today. I probably won't get either project completed but I need to get the breeds separated.
I have some eggs to set I have put off so need to get those ready for the incubator as well. They may be getting too old. I really need to go buy some more fencing panels. Orscheln's has them on sale again. But until the truck is fixed I don't have a way to haul them. I am always needing more gate panels. Plus I am broke as well.
I realized yesterday I haven't sent in the propane contract yet either. I need to get that done as well. That will be a huge chunk of change. I haven't even checked to find out what the current price is.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Hechicken, sorry to hear that you lost birds to the hawk. The funny thing was, my coworker took a picture of all the hawks standing (some flying around) a cable line on her way in to work this morning. It sure was fun to see in the picture but not so much if they go after the birds.

'

Trish, you sure are fast to get a new coop up. It is a skill I still need to learn.

Tweetybaby - I'm behind on posts and just now responding. Do you use sand in your coop, both the run and the coop? I was thinking of trying sand but read that in colder climates it's hard on the birds feet as wood chips are warmer in the winter. But, I've been curious what others do with raised coops and never got around to asking.

edit - just saw you'd already responded. So, I think the pending question is how do you do winters? Does the sand stay warm enough?

May be my situation is a tad different. I converted one of the horse stalls to become my chicken coop (I also did one for the ducks). It is dirt floor and I put in about 3" of sand in there (could be more, just not sure). One side of the wall is solid because that's next to the barn storage room. All other 3 are open air with hardware cloth. Since it is on the dirt floor, I think it provided some heat so the sand is not too cold. This is purely my speculation. The birds didn't seem bothered by the sand at all so it must not be too cold for them. They roost at night so they are off of the ground. During the day, they were out foraging. They even went out in the snow so I would assume walking on the snow and wet ground in winter were much colder than walking on the sand?? I have sand in the coop and sand in the covered portion (about 20'x8') of the run. The fenced foraging area only has grass, weeds, etc. If they get out of the fenced in area, they have several acres to roam about.

Oh, since it is a converted horse stall, sand disappears when I clean the coop and tracking. I figure I need a load of sand trucked in every 6 months or so to top off. HTH.

Ok this is a little embarrassing

, but I am having some trouble telling the difference between my RIR's and my production reds...I am also having a little trouble with the Australorps and Black Sex Links. Some of the Black Sex Links have pretty dark feet and some of the same coloring as the Australorps. I thought that I would be able to tell the difference by the combs, but that can also be a little tricky. Some of the Black Sex Links have obvious red plumage but not all. I am wanting to band the rest of the girls and would really like to get it right. I purchased the majority of the girls around the first of April and yesterday we collected 28 eggs.

That is out of the 68 hen/pullets that we have. We get more and more eggs every day. That makes me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!

On another note we moved to our new farm the first of July. On July 3rd my favorite cat George O'Malley escaped from the new house and disappeared.

The new house is surrounded on 3 sides by corn fields, filled with coyotes, so we were fairly sure after a couple of weeks that he was a gonner for sure!! Last night my Mom and I went to town to get a few things and when got back to my house and pulled in the drive, there he was, right over by the barn!!! I called his name and he started walking to me and under the yard light, I thought I was seeing a ghost. He was very timid and a little wild and wouldn't let me carry him in the house, and ran back toward the corn field. I ran in the house and told my DW and she came running out calling his name and he went right to her. She scooped him up and carried him in the house. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Other than being a little under weight and loosing his voice a little he seems just fine. He was gone for almost 2 months. So I am so very happy to have my Mow Mow back...LOL. I will be calling the vet today and the DW is going to, most likely be taking him in for a check up.

You have a good name for your cat. Mow Mow in Chinese means cat. So glad to hear that your cat is back after being gone for so long! A check up at the vet will definitely give you guys a peace of mind. He may have picked up something while he was out in the wild. Must be a pretty scary ordeal for him.

 

[HEChicken]

Trish, I totally missed that you had already done 3/4 of the duck pen - I'm glad the others quoted it. I agree - you are a fast builder! I'm still talking about my second hoop coop but haven't even started it yet

You asked about the goats - they are doing great! Its strange because I haven't really made much effort to befriend them, other than giving them a little scoop of grain once a day but they have become really friendly anyway. Smoky, the boy, is especially friendly and really loves to be rubbed. He will follow me around and when I sit down, I'll find a spot on him and start scratching and he just stands there like he's in heaven getting that attention. Gem, the girl, is a little more skittish so I don't try to touch her, but let her approach me on her own terms. She has got to the point that she will come over and nibble on my clothing and gently head butt my hand seeking attention, and I can give her little pets but usually she won't take much petting before she moves away - she doesn't seem to love it like Smoky does. They're still really small - I hope they start to grow soon....

 

[cherwill]

On another note we moved to our new farm the first of July. On July 3rd my favorite cat George O'Malley escaped from the new house and disappeared.

The new house is surrounded on 3 sides by corn fields, filled with coyotes, so we were fairly sure after a couple of weeks that he was a gonner for sure!! Last night my Mom and I went to town to get a few things and when got back to my house and pulled in the drive, there he was, right over by the barn!!! I called his name and he started walking to me and under the yard light, I thought I was seeing a ghost. He was very timid and a little wild and wouldn't let me carry him in the house, and ran back toward the corn field. I ran in the house and told my DW and she came running out calling his name and he went right to her. She scooped him up and carried him in the house. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Other than being a little under weight and loosing his voice a little he seems just fine. He was gone for almost 2 months. So I am so very happy to have my Mow Mow back...LOL. I will be calling the vet today and the DW is going to, most likely be taking him in for a check up.

I'm so glad he showed up, and what a great name!

I'm not tweety, but one thing I like about using pine shavings & doing the deep litter method is that during the process of it composting down as you keep it turned it does help provide some extra heat in the winter. I have not had sand in my coop, I have had it in my run, but like tweety said you do have to add to it. I eventually just gave up on the sand. I did like it at first, it was easy to scoop out the droppings for awhile but then the sand kind of just got displaced to outside the run so I just haven't wanted to hassle with getting any more. It's just easier to rake out the run every so often & use the fork to dig it out if I need to once in awhile or turn it over.

KNHKLUCKERS, I have also used Hoover's Hatchery, they're cheaper for cornish cross than a lot of other places. I just don't think I'm going to do that breed again, they're just nasty, stinky birds. I have never had birds stink like those did. I had to use a rototiller & till up the inside of the pen after they left & it still smelled for awhile. It was really bad when we had all that rain & it was wet in that pen.

I started building a pen for the ducks for them to stay in at night this evening. I got it about 3/4 of the way done. I want to get some pvc pipe for extra support for the fence & I need to put one more piece of fence & close in the front with a door yet. The ducks saw it tonight & weren't quite sure about it yet. At least they won't be able to fly out of this one.

We like the pine shaving deep litter method a lot. It's easy to scoop out the whole coop and add that to the compost pile. We don't use it in the chicken yard because we often put straw in there. The chickens eat all the seeds and chop the straw up, then we rake that out and put it in the garden.

Goodness, you ARE a speedy builder!