Recent content by jesd

  1. jesd

    Bumblefoot and complications

    Hi everyone, We have a chicken that developed bumblefoot. It seemed to appear fairly rapidly - one day she was in good shape, and the next her foot was quite swollen. We brought her inside, cleaned up her foot (there was no obvious wound but a few blisters we had to lance and flush out), and...
  2. jesd

    How long can chickens stay on start/grow feed?

    My goodness, I guess I'm going to have to pick up oyster shells sooner than I thought -- my 17 wk olds (one of them at least) gave us our first egg today!!!
  3. jesd

    How long can chickens stay on start/grow feed?

    Thanks! We'll finish out our start and grow with supplemental oyster shells, then switch whenever we run out. Thanks again!
  4. jesd

    How long can chickens stay on start/grow feed?

    Our girls are just over 17 weeks now, and I know the switch to layer feed should happen sometime in the next month or so. I think we still have 20-30 lbs of start/grow feed left, and I'd really rather not waste it. Can I keep them on that a bit longer than suggested and offer free choice...
  5. jesd

    Dry heaving?

    My husband noticed this morning that one of our 9 week old chickens was doing something he said was similar to dry heaving: she would open her beak and sort of stick her head out, but was not distressed and stopped doing it after a minute or two. (They haven't been fed anything unusual lately...
  6. jesd

    Open beaks?

    Our 7 week old chicks are still in their brooder in the house, and are in a spare bedroom that's warm, but certainly not about 75 degrees. Some of the chicks are sitting around with their mouths open today. I assume this is a sign of overheating, but as it's not too hot up there, I'm wondering...
  7. jesd

    How long to let paint dry?

    Thank you everyone for the replies. For those of you who require further explanation: I know paint - even latex - will outgas for a while after it is dry to the touch. I also know birds have extremely sensitive respiratory systems. Therefore, it seemed possible that any faint lingering paint...
  8. jesd

    How long to let paint dry?

    We are getting ready to paint our coop (standard exterior latex paint), and I'm wondering how long we need to let it air out before the chickens can go in it? It's well-ventilated (outside) and will be warm for the next few days. Any idea?
  9. jesd

    when does peeping change to clucking?

    All of ours (6) are at 6 weeks, and one of them is starting to cluck (adorable!). The others are still only peeping.
  10. jesd

    Do I have to close the coop door at night?

    If you leave it open, you may want to consider using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. We're thinking along the same lines, and are also in the city, so I've given this a lot of thought. My husband and I thought it too likely that rats, or even other birds, could actually get through the...
  11. jesd

    Oooohhhh Frizzles! **photos**

    So cute. I think the little tufted feet are beyond hysterical. I'm going to have to get some eventually.... Need more room! What better reason to move out of the city?
  12. jesd

    Introducing a full-grown chicken to chicks

    Yeah, I have to say, this doesn't sound promising. I was hoping if the young'uns made themselves at home before the full grown one joined them she would come in at the bottom of the food chain. This is further complicated (or perhaps helped?) by the fact that the two I'm removing are...
  13. jesd

    caulk?

    We're getting ready to line our coop (pretty small) with sheets of linoleum (for ease of cleaning). In order to keep everything nice and water-tight, I'd like to caulk the seams, but I'm a little worried about the chickens pecking at the caulk and potentially eating some. Think it's a problem...
  14. jesd

    Introducing a full-grown chicken to chicks

    We have 6 6-wk old chicks and they're getting ready to make the big move outside in about a week or two. I think we're going to give two of them away, and in return, we're getting a year old chicken. Fabulous, since we'll get eggs right away, but not so fabulous in figuring out how to move...
  15. jesd

    Bad eyesight in a 5 week old?

    Great advice - thanks! Luckily mine doesn't sound quite so blind (yet at least -- we'll see how this goes). I'll try the blink test, and see if I can't think of some better way to give her treats. Thanks again!
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