Recent content by eveliens

I feel sorry for him because the hens do pick on him, as chickens do, and since he's an only child the aggression is pretty concentrated even though the pullets are only a few months older than him. They're being hormonal too and very cranky/broody with their first eggs. He spends most of his...

I can see how it'd look that way without context. The first time he nailed me, he was asking to be picked up to go inside. He got me when I tried to do so. He's been picked up to come inside since he was 3 days old, so I think he feels he HAS to come to me to come inside not that he wanted to be...

I guess being a teen boy is the same for all animals. I know in dogs, males (and some females) go through a "fear period" in their teen years. If something traumatic happens to them, it can be really hard to deal with the results because they're primed to make those associations. It appears...

Little guy came up to me and allowed himself to be picked up without pecking this evening. He thought about it really hard and tensed but decided to make good choices LOL. Hopefully in a few more days he'll stop biting/pecking all together.

What a witch! That's definitely a situation where you need to be the Top Bird - I'm glad it worked out for you. Hens can be really obnoxious too sometimes but drawing blood definitely crosses a line. Thank you for the advice - this is pretty close to what I've been doing. I actually did don...

TL;DR: serama cockerel was watched by a sitter for 2 weeks and was handled too roughly - now he bites when you try to pick him up More detail: Lucky Duck is a 4 mo old cockerel who's hormones hit 3 days before I went out of town. Usually I rehome cockerels well before the hormones hit but he...

Hello, you are probably not going to have much luck finding chicks or eggs at this time of year. Breeding season for gamebirds like Gambels runs from late spring to late summer. Good luck on your search and beware of scams!

Well it's been a baffling few months, but I'd like to close this thread out on the positive: little fellow is about 85% recovered and appears to be improving slowly but surely. He still has some balance issues, his automatic foot responses are slow (like grabbing things when hopping up on...

Haven't updated because it wasn't looking good - he suddenly completely lost the use of a leg and had his toes locked in a curl. I nearly euthanized but as a last try I gave him some of the neuro supplements I take for my health issues. To my surprise, the ALA seemed to work - I looked it up...

Well, he's still going along, but I think it is less because he's doing better and more he's learning to cope with things. Unfortunately, he had something that looked like a seizure this morning - I've seen the tail end of these fits before and didn't know what had happened (he looks dazed with...

He's had rooster-tude since day 1. Definitely thinks he's Tuff Stuff haha. Funny because his dad was a total wimp.

Update: well, I have no idea what happened, but he is almost recovered! Running around on little peg legs but he is running and the body shaking/trembling has stopped. He and his mom had a jail break and I found them flopping around in the dirt across the yard this morning. They spent the day in...

Update: not a lot of change but his appetite has returned. If I hold him up to eat he'll gobble but I have to make sure he gets food/water because he can't stand up long enough by himself to do it. It is so baffling because it does look like some kind of joint problem but the joints aren't...

Update: Little bud is looking a bit better. Got a big, tasty roach first thing this morning. He's still flipping/rolling but his tail is back to being upright, his neck isn't floppy, and his full body trembling/shaking has decreased. Still not eating as much as I'd like him to and very easily...

Yes, a complex - the deficiencies that showed up when I researched said B1/thiamine and B2/riboflavin are the ones that cause the most problems, particularly the latter due to UV sensitivity and low % in the feed to begin with. His problems don't match 100% to the symptoms of vitamin deficiency...