fivebabybirds
In the Brooder
So my little darlings- five of them. Bigger girls are eight months old and baby girls are about four months old. My concern is as the heat becomes more brutal here in south Texas- how much shade or water do they need? I noticed Peggy (buff ameraucana) had a very dark running tar colored stool. No white. Very disturbing.
I found a thread of chicken poo pictures and started comparing them. Wow lame?! I love these girls too much... But I did not see one exactly like the black tar poo poo. So I got concerned and they hadn't laid eggs for four days
so I switch from scratch and organic veggies back to the egg layer pellets. We had two eggs today! Looks like Nugget (Dark Cornish) did not lay an egg. They have only been back on the pellets for 24 hours. So maybe not long enough. The babies haven't started laying yet.
They can at times look HOT like they are panting like my puppies. It's very scary because I am so familiar with dog care. Been there done that. But this chicken thing is very challenging. Are they too hot are they too cold? Do they need to be inside in harsh weather? So many questions. I googled a lot of these questions and I still have concerns. They girls have a baby pool so they can get wet at least once a day. They always have plenty of water and food.
They are inside a coop in the backyard. I am way too nervous to let them free range without supervision. There are neighborhood cats and we have hawks that fly around the houses at times. We are not in the country, we just have a moderate sized backyard and are up against a huge fenced in field behind all the houses on our block. So the snakes, raccoons and other critters love the open space and the hawks love the critters.
The girls come out almost everyday under supervision and roam around the yard for an hour or so. But is this enough outside time for them? I wouldn't keep my dog in a cage all day and only let them play for an hour... It seems so mean. But then again the dogs live inside. I also wouldn't want the dogs outside all day in the heat or rain. So should I stop comparing my chickens to dogs??? They are both pets to us. I want them to have a good life.
Any advice on poo, hydration, heat, heck prettying anything would be awesome!!! I'm so thrilled to find this community of like minded chicken lovers!!
Thanks in advance!
I found a thread of chicken poo pictures and started comparing them. Wow lame?! I love these girls too much... But I did not see one exactly like the black tar poo poo. So I got concerned and they hadn't laid eggs for four days
so I switch from scratch and organic veggies back to the egg layer pellets. We had two eggs today! Looks like Nugget (Dark Cornish) did not lay an egg. They have only been back on the pellets for 24 hours. So maybe not long enough. The babies haven't started laying yet. They can at times look HOT like they are panting like my puppies. It's very scary because I am so familiar with dog care. Been there done that. But this chicken thing is very challenging. Are they too hot are they too cold? Do they need to be inside in harsh weather? So many questions. I googled a lot of these questions and I still have concerns. They girls have a baby pool so they can get wet at least once a day. They always have plenty of water and food.
They are inside a coop in the backyard. I am way too nervous to let them free range without supervision. There are neighborhood cats and we have hawks that fly around the houses at times. We are not in the country, we just have a moderate sized backyard and are up against a huge fenced in field behind all the houses on our block. So the snakes, raccoons and other critters love the open space and the hawks love the critters.
The girls come out almost everyday under supervision and roam around the yard for an hour or so. But is this enough outside time for them? I wouldn't keep my dog in a cage all day and only let them play for an hour... It seems so mean. But then again the dogs live inside. I also wouldn't want the dogs outside all day in the heat or rain. So should I stop comparing my chickens to dogs??? They are both pets to us. I want them to have a good life.
Any advice on poo, hydration, heat, heck prettying anything would be awesome!!! I'm so thrilled to find this community of like minded chicken lovers!!
Thanks in advance!
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