Great tips from everyone, thank you!! I checked her over last night and saw lots of pin feathers. No blood either, I was worried about the bullying. Didn't notice any mites or anything like that. Would you have those in the freezing temps anyway?
I have three BO hens, all born April 2018 - so they're 10 months old. One of them (the smaller of the 3), has been losing a lot of feathers lately, mostly around her neck. She has gotten pretty bare on the neck. But she's losing them all over also. When she's out in the wind, you just see the...
Happy day! First time chicken owner, and one of our 3 buff orphingtons laid her first egg!!!
They are 22 weeks old, and whomever laid it did a perfect job and laid it in her nesting area right next to the ceramic egg I had in there as an example!! Proud chicken mama here!! :wee
Ooh excellent ideas!! Safe and I think the girls would love to play on it too.
And yes, the run does have skirting all around it to keep predators out.
I did notice the orphingtons lunging and darting at any of the chicks. It seemed worse in the small brooder. Outside they just seemed to fly and run around. But being outside I don't really see them as often.
Seemed really surprising for our bantam brahma... She was very feisty herself...
Not likely... It's got smaller openings on the lower half of the fence and has a skirt all around to keep anyrhing from digging in.
Didn't see any blood on the first chick who died. The 2nd one today my hubby just thought she looked trampled.
Yes definitely are gnats. I've never experienced buffalo gnats?? Guess I don't know what they look like.
We noticed a bunch of gnats hovering all around the coop. One of the BO's has a scratch on her neck and the gnats wouldn't leave her alone.
Tonight we saw the suggestion on another site for...
Hubby says the one who died today was pretty flat... And it was the two slightly smaller ones (bantams). But it's not like they were tiny... They were six weeks.
They all died outside of the coop in the big pen where they have plenty of room to run and fly. Are chickens that crazy and rough to...
Great thoughts! Waterer is just an open top container that hangs on the fencing. It's been out a few days and I'm sure needs changed... Was planning on doing that today.
The coop is an Eglu Cube... All plastic inside. Just leaving them in the main area, not opening them up to the laying area...
Day 2 outside....and our other bantam (buff Brahma) has died.
Now only 3 full sized BO's are alive. They all seem perfect though. But, so did the others previously..
Hubby said the one today almost looked trampled. No blood found on her, but one of the BO's has a few spots on her neck where...
Thanks for the suggestions. Saw no blood at all... Shouldn't have been anything poisonous...
The others are running around and flying. They are much happier outside.
She was a decent sized bantam... But was timid when the others flew around. It did get really hot today though, in the 80s. We...
Updated below... Now, two of our bantams have died in first two days outside.
(Original post)
Heartbroken..:( last night was our 5 chicks' first night outside. This evening I came home to find our polish bantam dead in the run. The other 4 (3 BOs & 1 bantam brahma) all seem fine. It was just so...