What went wrong with my hatch? And would a broody eat dead chicks?

[gander007]

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Oh it gets me how well they do by them selves but when mommy comes around she is latterly mugged so the little guys haven't forgotten her but she stays for a short time but she did teach them well and it is funny to see all of them back in the coop just before dawn and up and out with the sun going after bugs but I can only catch them at feeding time as they move so fast and when I move it is something like you said with all them eyes watching .....

 

[chooks4life]

lol yes, it's an advantage for sure. It's amazing how positive a mother hen's impact can be socially, when you're comparing chooks raised without one to those raised with one. They can still be great if raised motherless but they fit into society better and faster if hen raised in my experience.

 

[Morrigan]

Watching mom raise her chicks is priceless. I'm glad she has two at least. Right now, she's teaching them how to scratch for grit and the little ones are imitating her. Really, really cute.

I also think I may have stumbled onto the source of my problems. I raise sprouting wheat for my flock as they are not free-range and about 2 to 3 months ago I picked up a bag of what turned out to be red wheat. I've been having the darnest time growing it in this heat without it getting moldy and I know that the chickens have gotten some questionable batches now and then. I'm revamping my whole fodder routine to make sure it doesn't happen again, and can only hope no permanent harm as come about. The chickens themselves all seem perfectly healthy and are laying well, but it wouldn't surprise me if the fertilization process got impacted.

So much to learn.

 

[chooks4life]

Good point Morrigan, it could be mould doing it; aflatoxins, fungi etc have been on my mind a fair bit lately, due to some of the grains I've gotten... better safe than sorry. My concerns are about my sheep more than my poultry right now as they're generally fairly resistant to such concerns but it is cumulative and so subclinical exposure can definitely knock fertility badly long before the cause is found.

Best wishes.

 

[Morrigan]

Good point Morrigan, it could be mould doing it; aflatoxins, fungi etc have been on my mind a fair bit lately, due to some of the grains I've gotten... better safe than sorry. My concerns are about my sheep more than my poultry right now as they're generally fairly resistant to such concerns but it is cumulative and so subclinical exposure can definitely knock fertility badly long before the cause is found.

Best wishes.

Hope your sheep are OK. How many and where are your raising them? I've thought about sheep, but thought I'd try to master small livestock first.

 

[chooks4life]

Hope your sheep are OK. How many and where are your raising them? I've thought about sheep, but thought I'd try to master small livestock first.

Ah, the aflatoxins are one of my least concerns right now... Dog attack killed some, have a dangerous ram I need to replace, really the only permanent sheep I have right now is one pet ewe.

But people here have spilled solid artificial fertilizer where my sheep were grazing, which they ate, which can cause in utero deformities and multiple organ damage especially with repeat exposure --- which they have now had. I'd hoped she was pregnant, since she's been served, but now I'm hoping she's not, because that could be disastrous.

The folks here thought/tried to assure me that 'animals just poop out the excess nutrients' which is unfortunately a massive oversimplification with natural nutrients and almost totally inapplicable to artificial ones. It's not greenie BS either, it's info simply gained from studies and case histories and reading the Material Safety Data Sheets. There's been info available for decades now, yet so many think it's greenie or organic obsessive conspiracy theories... lol...

They reacted unfavorably, shall we say, when I questioned the safety of allowing the animals to eat that. They're my animals, but as long as you live with anyone or allow them near your animals, their ideals of animal keeping will prevail over yours, in my experience, they may know absolutely nothing about animal keeping yet they will still do whatever pops into their heads with your animals.

Whether they're your landlord, flatmate, family member, or simply a visitor or agistee, no matter their connection... They do what they want. Usually with a complete absence of harmful intentions but that doesn't help all my dead and harmed animals now, does it? They think I'm a worry wort but I've lost most of my best animals due to this sort of outside interference. I'm over it. Sorry for the rant.

Chooks are also eating the same crap, it's everywhere now, hard to remove it or restrict them from it without permanently caging them. Aggravating. I'm so sick and tired of living in places other people have already seriously polluted and trashed beyond sanity or any semblance of social responsibility. This place is alright, basically the artificial fertilizer is the biggest concern, but I've lived in some seriously toxic places.

I also wasn't ready for sheep but had a crippled orphan given to me and I'm a big fan of giving them a chance if they're willing and keen to fight for life. Dislike the idea of putting them down when they have curable issues, even though they may be extreme, in my experience the overwhelming majority will recover if just given a chance and some TLC.

Since I was given that orphan (now over 2 years old) it's been a bit troublesome trying to find her a permanent sheep companion never mind a whole flock, I'm in the process now of replacing the ram I have since he's aggressive to both humans and the ewe. Hard to find a decent friend for a pet raised animal, they often get short shrift. Due to some injuries and her pet mentality trying to rehome her would almost certainly be a one way ticket to freezer camp. She can't assimilate with a normal herd yet, ones like her remain permanent outsiders, and she's very, very bonded to humans, hardly considers herself a sheep. Initially she was terrified of other sheep, lol... I'd hoped breeding her would fix that, I still hope so, but looks like here and now is not the right circumstances for it.

I like sheep, goats, cattle etc and would love to have a place of my own, an unpolluted one, soon in the future so I can rear and keep proper flocks. But yeah, right now, it's just making do.

Don't wait to get sheep if you want them, I suggest, much important info is learned from practical experience, best combined with book experience, not just one or the other. Chook keeping will take you a lifetime to master if you're lucky, most folks never master it in the truest sense of the word.

Best wishes.

 

[Morrigan]

Good luck with finding a new ram. It's frustrating about the fertilizer being dumped in their pasture. People care so little about what they eat themselves, it's not too surprising, unfortunately, they wouldn't be all that concerned over what a sheep might eat.

 

[chooks4life]

Good luck with finding a new ram. It's frustrating about the fertilizer being dumped in their pasture. People care so little about what they eat themselves, it's not too surprising, unfortunately, they wouldn't be all that concerned over what a sheep might eat.

Thanks, I'm still looking but have been offered one pending my circumstances resolving into something more conducive to the animals' health.

Yeah, people don't care enough overall, but plenty of it's ignorance too and prejudice; with the scientific studies out there on glyphosate (main ingredient in Roundup) and the damage it causes us and our animals you'd think people would start to worry or at least be more careful, but no... These lovely folks (and I do mean that, they're real decent people) unfortunately don't have a clue about how harmful some things are and literally spray Roundup straight into their raised garden beds to kill weeds you can simply rip out, then plant their veggies straight into that soil. Artificial fertilizer usage is the least of their dangerous habits. They're all chronically ill, as you'd expect, but quite set in their beliefs. As we all are I guess, at least in most ways.

Anyway... Looking forward to that better day.