Maine - Page 342

Quote:

Originally Posted by MustardTiger 

Update: I sat and watched them for a little while longer and she was interested in food, she ate pellets and some scratch. She seemed to be acting pretty normal aside from being slightly less active than usual (it is hard to tell just yet what is "normal" since they are so new to us). They are all 8 week old pullets. I have heard some other random sneezing but nothing else that worried me. I think I am going to see how they are doing tomorrow morning and if she has not improved I will isolate her. I just don't want to pile on more trauma prematurely.

Any other info is welcome.

Mustardtiger- you got yours from empire acres, right? we picked some up this weekend from there too ( two barred rocks, which are about 6 weeks old and an easter egger and 2 buff orpingtons that are 8 weeks old) I noticed that our new easter egger had a bit of a sneeze going on too, and it was a little yuckier sounding than my other chicks sneezes....I did notice though, they were in wood shavings at the farm, and I have hay in my coop, so maybe that had a little to do with it- today though I have not noticed her sneeze once- I have not been around as much, but in the 15 min. I was out there tonight, no sneezing!    

  SOmething that is sort of funny- I suppose my original flock is quite spoiled...and fat! they are 6 weeks old, and are almost as big as the 8 week olds we just got..and the 6 week old barred rocks are quite small in comparison. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mainechick168 

Mustardtiger- you got yours from empire acres, right? we picked some up this weekend from there too ( two barred rocks, which are about 6 weeks old and an easter egger and 2 buff orpingtons that are 8 weeks old) I noticed that our new easter egger had a bit of a sneeze going on too, and it was a little yuckier sounding than my other chicks sneezes....I did notice though, they were in wood shavings at the farm, and I have hay in my coop, so maybe that had a little to do with it- today though I have not noticed her sneeze once- I have not been around as much, but in the 15 min. I was out there tonight, no sneezing!    

  SOmething that is sort of funny- I suppose my original flock is quite spoiled...and fat! they are 6 weeks old, and are almost as big as the 8 week olds we just got..and the 6 week old barred rocks are quite small in comparison. 

I did indeed get them at Empire Acres. I have pine shavings in my coop so I don't know that the sneezing can be attributed to the change in litter. I have calmed down a little and will just watch to see what happens. She seemed to improve in the short time I watched her so perhaps all will be well.

Hoppy, thank you for the advice!

I use pine shavings. Hay seems to get wet and the mites like it.

When adults and started birds seem "puffy" and sneezy, I dose them with  Duramycin (in their water).

Most feed stores, Farmers Unions or even Aubuchons have it.

http://maine.craigslist.org/grd/3069881212.html

Is anyone into heritage?  There is a great Barred Rock roo free near me.  I could bring him to a swap if someone was going to continue to breed heritage, or reply here yourself

np25g-3069881212@sale.craigslist.org

Just thought I'd share some pictures of my babies. They are two weeks old today. All arrived alive and healthy from Ideal. It was love at first sight! Started them out in a tote in the house, but they grew out of that way quicker than I thought they would. They are now living in the garage in a nice big wooden box. They all love to be held, and love going outside. Got 11 total. 3 barred rock pullets, and a barred rooster, 3 white rock pullets, 2 buff rocks pullets, and  2 rhode island red pullets.

Their outdoor screen room and new temp coop in the garage. Havent finished their coop yet. but hopefully they wont get too much bigger before it's done.

Napping after their first meal

waiting for their shavings to be changed and watching the cat watch them...

just hanging out...

Upon Hoppy's advice I picked up some vets rx. Rubbed down the chickens with it and put a tad in the water. They are all doing much better. No more coughing or rattling! I think they were just stressed from the move.

I did, however, find some ticks on them. ugh I HATE those monsters. I pulled them off from their heads and eyelids. I don't think they are poultry ticks....do those even come this far north? I think they were dog/deer tick nymphs. I added some DE to the coop and the area where they dust bathe. I hope that helps keep the ticks away. I have enough to deal with keeping them off the puppy (who by the way gets along well with the chickens so far - so long as they are in the run. She isn't all that interested)

Everything is NOT well in chicken land!   my original flock are being quite mean to some of the new flock- specifically, my two sweet white rocks are picking on the buff orpingtons...A LOT. I had to remove one of the buff last night because she had a little blood on her rear- upon closer inspection, its very minor...but she's inside for the day. Any suggestions on how to get these guys to just get along???   for those of you who did not see my orig. posts- I had 5 six week olds, and last weekend added 5 more- 2 six week olds and 3 eight week olds....and if this matters, my original 6 week olds are as big as the new 8 weekers.....   how long should I expect this disharmony in the coop? my coop is large-ish- 5x10, big enough for me and my husband to stand in, with many perches, and I have been giving them treats, and letting them out in the pen every now and then....??

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mainechick168 

Everything is NOT well in chicken land!   my original flock are being quite mean to some of the new flock- specifically, my two sweet white rocks are picking on the buff orpingtons...A LOT. I had to remove one of the buff last night because she had a little blood on her rear- upon closer inspection, its very minor...but she's inside for the day. Any suggestions on how to get these guys to just get along???   for those of you who did not see my orig. posts- I had 5 six week olds, and last weekend added 5 more- 2 six week olds and 3 eight week olds....and if this matters, my original 6 week olds are as big as the new 8 weekers.....   how long should I expect this disharmony in the coop? my coop is large-ish- 5x10, big enough for me and my husband to stand in, with many perches, and I have been giving them treats, and letting them out in the pen every now and then....??

Chickens are very fussy about who is "FLOCK".....they seem to recognize their hatchmates and consider any other birds as outsiders or prey :(

Newly hatched chicks are not so bad, but they start to do this flock thing too, quite quickly.

You may have to separate these guys, even if it is just by fencing.

I find that my older roosters keep the peace with hens and new pullets, but any blood means prey and that's a problem!

i've been extremely fortunate this yr in that my "new in feb"rooster who is an adult, does not mind when i add anyone, boy or girl to the coop. I've had no issues at all from any of the hens either and I truely expected big problems from my lav  orp hen as she is ALWAYS the boss, she's been very accepting for some reason. might have something to do with the other orpington getting snatched by ??? a few weeks ago, i've been adding since then. maybe she was lonely.I also have a bunch of broody hens so she may be very lonely. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mainechick168 

Everything is NOT well in chicken land!   my original flock are being quite mean to some of the new flock- specifically, my two sweet white rocks are picking on the buff orpingtons...A LOT. I had to remove one of the buff last night because she had a little blood on her rear- upon closer inspection, its very minor...but she's inside for the day. Any suggestions on how to get these guys to just get along???   for those of you who did not see my orig. posts- I had 5 six week olds, and last weekend added 5 more- 2 six week olds and 3 eight week olds....and if this matters, my original 6 week olds are as big as the new 8 weekers.....   how long should I expect this disharmony in the coop? my coop is large-ish- 5x10, big enough for me and my husband to stand in, with many perches, and I have been giving them treats, and letting them out in the pen every now and then....??

MaineChick168, I had the same problem a few weeks ago. I bought 2 leg horns to go with my 5 wyandottes and 1 easter egger. They were supposed to be 2-4 weeks older (12 weeks at the time), but were quite a bit smaller than the others. Since the originals were not nice, I had to seperate them from the flock with a little bit of fencing and made gaps on the sides it so it was big enough for them to get in and out of the main area if they wanted to, but a small enough gap to keep the others out of their "safe area". After about a week or two they are all happy with each other and I took the fencing down. Hope this helps!