Recent content by Skwishface

  1. Skwishface

    my ladies are being fussy eaters!!

    Mine have always been great about eating veggies, bread, meat, whatever. But recently I switched their regular feed from the cornmeal-like stuff to pellets and they're refusing to eat. They peck at the pellets, then seem to decide the stuff can't possibly be food and don't eat it. Any tips for...
  2. Skwishface

    Easter-Egger rooster, or late-blooming tomboy hen?

    Hey y'all! I'm a first-time chicken keeper, as will likely become obvious as you read on, so I seek the opinion of you more experienced folks. I've got a flock of four birds, five months old, three of which are laying happily. The fourth has yet to lay a single egg, but also hasn't crowed...
  3. Skwishface

    Egg-eating and bad timing

    Hey y'all ... if my questions are already answered elsewhere on this forum, please just toss me a link to that spot and pat me on the head. :) Seems I made a rather naive assumption about hens, and I assumed they would only lay eggs to be gathered in the morning-time. Alas, no! I have a hen...
  4. Skwishface

    Should I be worried?

    One of my hens ate a styrofoam packing peanut today. I don't even know where she got it. I've done a sweep of the yard and have found no other such debris. She had the thing in her beak and horked it down before I could get it away from her. Given the totally inedible nature of styrofoam, I'm...
  5. Skwishface

    Bedding Options?

    Hi everybody! So my girls are about 8 weeks old and happily be-boppin' around their A-frame coop/run. All is wonderful, except I'm a little concerned about their bedding. They've got plenty of hay to scratch around in and it looks nice and comfy in the henhouse where they bed down at night...
  6. Skwishface

    New chicks in Austin, TX

    Welcome fellow Austin person! :D Did you get your birds from Buck Moore? Those are the breeds I saw them announcing on Facebook that they just got in. I'm about a month into my first flock of chicks, myself. I got some Ameraucanas, a Wyandotte, a Barred Rock, and a Red Sex-Link from Buck...
  7. Skwishface

    The Mechanics Of Mercy

    Last night, she had to be put down. Her beak had gotten so badly misaligned that every time she tried to eat she would pack food into her eye. Her life would be a short experience of constant hunger and eye infections. I snapped her neck quick and clean. It was over in seconds, and the kids...
  8. Skwishface

    The Mechanics Of Mercy

    Seems my little cross-beak bird is taking a downward turn. Last night, the heat lamp in their brooder went out. The other birds were just fine with the (very moderate) chill of my 75-degree house, woke up all perky and hungry, but the cross-beak just sat there and shivered. I had to warm her up...
  9. Skwishface

    The Mechanics Of Mercy

    Thank you so much! That's very helpful, and reassuring. The hen mentioned in that blog post has a beak about as bad as my little chick's. I'm hoping hers doesn't get any worse as she gets older. Fingers crossed! I love how this thread has gone from "how can I kill this bird?" to "hey, she...
  10. Skwishface

    The Mechanics Of Mercy

    Thanks! Trimming her beak has been an adventure. Holding her beak steady for the file involves plugger her little nose with my giant (to her) fingers. We tried clipping it with small dog toenail clippers, but as soon as she felt the pinch of the clippers on her beak she squeaked like it hurt...
  11. Skwishface

    The Mechanics Of Mercy

    What do you use to file your roo's beak down? Right now, my girl's a little pullet, so an emery board is getting the job done. But if she gets much bigger, I'll have to find other solutions,
  12. Skwishface

    The Mechanics Of Mercy

    My little cross-beak girl is doing better! We filed her beak down a bit, and she had an easier time eating. She's still thinner than the other birds, but she's just as perky and active as they are. I'm hoping she'll pull through, but keeping a realistic eye on her.
  13. Skwishface

    The Mechanics Of Mercy

    Hey y'all! I'm a first-time chicken mama, and it seems I've already got a rough decision to make. One of my chicks has a badly crossed beak. It's gotten steadily worse and worse, and now it's becoming apparent that she's getting thinner. Her feathers are coming in just fine, but the body...
  14. Skwishface

    Early rooster indicators?

    Thanks for the input! :) I certainly hope my girls stay girls, but if they turn out to be boys ... well, my suburban area doesn't have rooster restrictions, and my neighbors would be hard-pressed to make a case that my birds are noisier than their yappy dogs. But keeping these birds would open...
  15. Skwishface

    Early rooster indicators?

    My apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere on the forum - if so, please just point me in the right direction. :) I'm a first-time chicken mama, so I'm just figuring this all out as I go along. I've got a flock of six chicks all about the same age - about 3-4 weeks - and two are starting...
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