Any one want to join me in waiting for eggs, posting and comparing notes?

[Melabella]

Red, that's amazing.. and very artistic! I am so happy to see your posts again! Please stick around! How is Lemon doing??

MB

 

[Redangler]

Lemon is doing better. She lost a little weight after being chased by Pepper. He kept separating her from the flock for some reason. I think she did not want to mate with him because he had worn a bald spot on her back and the pin feathers were growing back in. We have been giving her special treats everyday including her own portion of fodder, which she really loves! She seems to be gaining the weight back and her egg laying has not been affected, in fact her eggs have been getting bigger consistently! She does have bumblefoot on her left foot pad. I tried to do surgery about 10 days ago and apparently it was unsuccessful as it has returned. I wasn't real confident on the first attempt. I will try it again this weekend and I think I will have much better results. She did not seem to be affected by the surgery at all.

MB, Make sure you check out my previous post on the fodder as I have edited the post. I sure am glad I have a little time to get back into the swing of things again.

Red

 

[countrygirl74]

Okay, Melabella -

I don't know if you remember a while back we were discussing the light brown vs. the darker brown eggs and I thought that my two BR girls were laying the 2 light ones since it seemed like I got more of those and assumed that my RIR was laying the darker brown... Well, this is really weird.
I saw my BR lay a dark brown one! So, is it possible that one of my BR and my RIR both lay light colored and one of the BR lays dark? I am so confused!!

Also, ditto on the taxes - I have to get mine done in the next couple days or my tax guy won't have time to finish them up.

 

[Melabella]

Okay, Melabella -

I don't know if you remember a while back we were discussing the light brown vs. the darker brown eggs and I thought that my two BR girls were laying the 2 light ones since it seemed like I got more of those and assumed that my RIR was laying the darker brown... Well, this is really weird.
I saw my BR lay a dark brown one! So, is it possible that one of my BR and my RIR both lay light colored and one of the BR lays dark? I am so confused!!

Also, ditto on the taxes - I have to get mine done in the next couple days or my tax guy won't have time to finish them up.

Yes, entirely possible! I have been seeing the colors changing quite a bit through the course of a week, then they skip a day, and seem to store up on printer ink again! I also have someone whose eggs seem to be getting smaller... what's up with that?

So happy to have someone who understands about the taxes stuff... It brings me such stress!

MB

 

[nakstk]

My Welsummer, Phoebe used to lay dark brown eggs and now for some reason she is laying eggs the same color as my SS, light brown. I would not have known it was her laying them if I didn't catch her on video that day.

 

[countrygirl74]

So today, the two BR's laid light colored and my RIR went back to her dark brown. I guess I will not always know for sure who's doing what unless I catch them. LOL

 

[kdwag]

Don't put it in their feed, too much calcium is bad for their kidneys. Just offer it free choice. What I did was bought an 8 ft piece of PVC pipe 2 inch inside diameter (I think is what it is) and two 90 degree elbows, two end caps and a roll of ducting hanger tape stuff. I cut one piece 1 foot long and the other 20 inches the 1 foot piece I used a Dremel tool and cut a rectangular hole in it and rounded and sanded the edges. Then just put them together in the L shape they work fine. I have them in the coop one has grit and one has oyster and egg shells.

Went out and took a pic please excuse their mess.

I added the crushed egg shells in with the oyster shell. I bought 2 cups that were made for cages, I think small animals cups are what they are called, made of metal with hooks on the back. I hang them inside their run since I don't have room inside the coop, covered and out of the weather, one has oyster shell the other has grit. It works well, they used to knock them off every once in a while but now they just eat out of them when they want some and leave them alone. I noticed my partridge plymouth eats more oyster than anyone else.

 

[kdwag]

So today I spent most of the day nursing a sick german shorthaired pointer--our baby-- he's 10 1/2 and had a horrible morning. So, took him to the vet, x-rays, etc. He has some pretty bad arthritis in his spine so thinking a pinched nerve, etc. Anyway, he's on some meds now and sleeping like a baby. This evening I got to spend some time with the girls outside who have decided to live in harmony today for a change. No wind, nice evening, warm--finally. Anyway, as I was planning the area to move their coop/runs to, I started to think about how I was going to keep them cool this summer. ?? We have a very large yard but little shady spots so where I am moving them to is going to be sunny most of the day. I have a few ideas on how to create some shade but was wondering, how do we keep them cool and comfortable in the hot/humid summer days & nights. Everyone laid 4 eggs today, that's 2 days in a row now.

 

[Spikes Chooks]

I started to think about how I was going to keep them cool this summer. ?? We have a very large yard but little shady spots so where I am moving them to is going to be sunny most of the day. I have a few ideas on how to create some shade but was wondering, how do we keep them cool and comfortable in the hot/humid summer days & nights. Everyone laid 4 eggs today, that's 2 days in a row now.

I have become quite adept at this problem as Australia suffered serious heat waves here during my very first summer of keeping chickens. (mostly around 30C/90F, but several days got to 44C/112F). It's a relief in many ways we are now cooling into a mild autumn. Here's my top tips:

Shade is really important. If you don't have any tree or natural shade areas, try sails or tarps to keep the sun off them from the hottest direction. It is best to have a gap betwwen the shade and their run/coop, which could hold the heat in otherwise. Some people put short pieces of timber up to prop the shade away from the run. Or try a freestanding shade structure.

Keep their water in the coolest, shadiest part, and have several containers. Freeze large drink bottles of water and lay then in the containers (last a lot longer than ice cubes). Replace with new ones through the hottest part of the day. Replace any water that has got warm - they won't drink it, even if they are dehydrating and close to death, apparently.

Freeze protions of fruit and veg and give them that as a cold treat. I use grated carrot, zucchini, applesauce, watermelon chunks. Give it to them still frozen - they'll be curious and take a little, then eat more as it begins to thaw.

Cut down on corn as you enter late spring - I have heard this several times, as it tends to give them more fat in their body, which is what gives them potentially fatal heat stress.

Hose down their run, coop, surrounding area. Better still, install an overhead mister. I found one 4 metres long, enough for running down the centre of the roof in their run, which cost about $90. (about $94 US dollars). It uses 1 litre of water an hour, which is good, I think. During the heat wave it was on for at least 8 hours. And, yes, once they got used to the slight hissing noise, they deliberately came out and stood under it.

You can hose them, but better to just wet their feet and lower bodies, especially if they are panting heavily and showing signs of stress.

Contain them. I felt sorry for them one day - they hate missing their free-range afternoon - and let them out. They still ran around chasing each other's bugs and quickly began panting heavily. Back into the run for a misting, girls!!!

It sure kept me busy this summer - and I'm lucky I mostly work from home and I also only have four chickens to look after. I am a member of an Aussie facebook chicken group and lots of people had deaths this year from heat stress. So sad

Interestingly, I found the breeds varied as their heat tolerance. The Australorp handled it the best - they are just one tough chook as they are very cold tolerant too. My RIR suffered the worst through the heat and I kept a closer eye on her.

I only did all these things during the very worst heat waves - mostly shade, replacement cold water and keeping an eye on them should suffice. When you start complaining about the heat, I'll be moaning about the cold. Funny old world, huh?!?

All the best
Katrina

 

[countrygirl74]

That is great info!!! It's interesting that you mentioned the RIR because out of all my chickens right now, on warm days, she's the only one who is panting and holding her wings out. My kids joke that she's airing out her armpits -
I didn't think about freezing the watermelon, etc. That's a great idea - it will thaw fast in this AZ summer heat.