Recent content by broadwing

  1. broadwing

    Introducing fall chicks to 10-year-old hen in December

    I don't leave them out during the day when we're at work because of the doofus in my avatar pic, who likes to play with them whether they want to or not...but yeah, otherwise they're free-range as often as we can let them, though they tend to stay indoors by choice when it's rainy.
  2. broadwing

    Introducing fall chicks to 10-year-old hen in December

    I don't remember if I started her on organic crumbles or not, but the last several years it's been organic pellets and scratch grains (sorry, I don't recall the brand and the feed store doesn't list their stock on the website...it's not one of the major ones). I throw a couple of handfuls of...
  3. broadwing

    Introducing fall chicks to 10-year-old hen in December

    I would love to do this but we'd need to hire somebody to pull out all the cabinets first (we may end up having to do it anyway to help exclude the rats) and that's really not in the budget at the moment. We really weren't expecting to do this right now; Holly went downhill quickly and we...
  4. broadwing

    Introducing fall chicks to 10-year-old hen in December

    PB (crunchy and smooth), various cheeses, dog kibble/treats (he gets breakfast outside and I've seen them scavenging his crumbs), leftover pasta, bread, commercial gel bait, chicken scratch/pellets, fruit... Edit to add: they've stolen all the above from the traps, including the electric one...
  5. broadwing

    Introducing fall chicks to 10-year-old hen in December

    The snake room temp is above-average but the house naturally stays around 65 and we don't run the heat until it really starts cooling off. The thermometer in the tank near floor level right now says it's a little over 90, but the lamp is at the far end, above the tank top (we tried a regular...
  6. broadwing

    Introducing fall chicks to 10-year-old hen in December

    The run and coop are linear--you have to get through the coop (where the feeder is) to get to the run (where the water is), so there's not really a good way to divide them up. I could maybe cut the coop in half and keep Dahlia in with her own water and food for a little while (she could go...
  7. broadwing

    Introducing fall chicks to 10-year-old hen in December

    Hi all, Been lurking a while but could use some advice on this new trio we just started. My old girl, Dahlia, is a GL Wyandotte whose one-and-only 11-year-old flockmate died this weekend. I put up a Speckled Sussex, Welsummer, and barred Rock in a 20gal tank with a 125w IR bulb in my draft-free...
  8. broadwing

    RAT WAR!!

    PLEASE DON'T USE POISON BAIT! It may solve the rodent problem but it causes sooo many others, not the least of which is the inadvertent poisoning of your neighborhood raptors...which are tirelessly helping to combat your rodent problem day and night, whether you can see them or not. Believe...
  9. broadwing

    Wyandotte Leg Injury

    No worries, and no harm done I looked at her again a bit ago and she wants to use that foot but still limps, sometimes worse than others. She's being mellow, though, and is getting around, preening, doing chook stuff. It might just be pulled. It doesn't appear to be causing her a huge amount...
  10. broadwing

    Wyandotte Leg Injury

    Thanks, DDawn! I know about bumblefoot...I'm also a falconer and that's something we have to worry about too. I'll check her over again later and take a look at her feet.
  11. broadwing

    Wyandotte Leg Injury

    Just about an hour ago, I noticed that my 3yo GL Wyandotte was standing on the patio on one foot. At first I thought it kind of funny but I realized that she didn't want to put the other foot down. When she did move, it was with a pronounced limp, so I went to pick her up, and the affected foot...
  12. broadwing

    PECKING HELP FOR A NEWBIE please

    hmm...hadn't considered mites, but I guess it's possible. I was also under the impression that all would have them if one did. But I've also *watched* the #1 hen sneak up behind the others and yank a couple of feathers out of their butts, so maybe it could be both. Have long been considering...
  13. broadwing

    PECKING HELP FOR A NEWBIE please

    Yep, we do that too: we don't bag the grass when we cut it, and they run around like kids at an Easter egg hunt to find the best clover bits... If it weren't for the cats that run loose through the neighborhood, I would consider letting them roam all day in the yard while I'm at work. Recently...
  14. broadwing

    PECKING HELP FOR A NEWBIE please

    re: pine tar... The anti-pick stuff I have has pine tar in it, and they certainly didn't like tasting themselves when they tried to clean it off, but I don't know if it's detracting the other(s) from picking her/them. I was away for most of this weekend, so I didn't have much time to observe...
  15. broadwing

    Confirmed Case of Asian Bird Flu in Arkansas

    Just an FYI: just because you hear "bird flu," it does not mean that it's the Asian strain. The strain of bird flu that has been causing all the mass culls in Asia is *NOT* the same strain reported in the link regarding the AR birds. There are many different strains of avian influenza, most of...
See more
Back
Top Bottom