2018 Newbie Chat!

[Anna Ranieri]

It is now 07:30 and having finished poop picking, cleaning in run, replenishing food/water etc I am now sitting watching my birds while relaxing before cleaning out the duck pools and although it isn't fully light outside yet, the weather is such that it feels as though it were May not January! Having read you guys post about your weather and how warm it is here too, I really don't have a clue what is happining with the strange weather we are having. I hope this doesn't mean we will end up having snow in August or something crazy like that!

 

[No More Empty Nest]

My son's wedding went very well, we had so much fun! It was good seeing my brother from Texas again. My sister-in-law now wants chickens! Only problem is they live in a condo.
I put a higher perch up in the run the other day. They love to fly so much when I let them out I thought they'd like a higher place to fly to in the run. They do love it, but I realized I put it in the wrong place...right above the ramp into the coop. Instant piles of poop on the ramp, lol!!!
Those chickens sure are hardy, or foolhardy, I don't which, haha. They are outside every day, rain, snow, wind, whatever. They do have a covered run, but rain still blows in at least part way. It's reassuring though, at least I know the weather isn't uncomfortable for them.
Jade and Opal's combs are getting pretty red. As small as those little pea combs are. 19 weeks old today! And of course Diamond's comb has been red since she was 7 weeks, lol, so who knows with her.
Hope everyone has a Happy New Year and a safe happy healthy year ahead without any chicken or human illnesses!

 

[llombardo]

I always try to spend time with all the animals daily. Each group may get more time on one day versus another. Today it was chicken day. They seem so happy and I'm happy they are happy. Prince tilts his head when I sing to him.

The rest love when I talk to them. I get this look from Rain

Precious says the heck with this, the roost is free and its mine

The others just kind of scratch around looking for goodies. Rose has been roosting with the two older girls at night and Prince sticks with the other 3 younger girls. Dorthy is molting

Prince is very interested in the camera

The ducks are pretty happy too. One of the runners laid an egg today for the first time. It's so small compared to Lucys. They are just over 5 months now

 

[Anna Ranieri]

My son's wedding went very well, we had so much fun! It was good seeing my brother from Texas again. My sister-in-law now wants chickens! Only problem is they live in a condo.
I put a higher perch up in the run the other day. They love to fly so much when I let them out I thought they'd like a higher place to fly to in the run. They do love it, but I realized I put it in the wrong place...right above the ramp into the coop. Instant piles of poop on the ramp, lol!!!
Those chickens sure are hardy, or foolhardy, I don't which, haha. They are outside every day, rain, snow, wind, whatever. They do have a covered run, but rain still blows in at least part way. It's reassuring though, at least I know the weather isn't uncomfortable for them.
Jade and Opal's combs are getting pretty red. As small as those little pea combs are. 19 weeks old today! And of course Diamond's comb has been red since she was 7 weeks, lol, so who knows with her.
Hope everyone has a Happy New Year and a safe happy healthy year ahead without any chicken or human illnesses!

So glad your sons wedding went well and you all had a great time
Happy new year and all best wishes to you and all yours

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I always try to spend time with all the animals daily. Each group may get more time on one day versus another. Today it was chicken day. They seem so happy and I'm happy they are happy. Prince tilts his head when I sing to him.
View attachment 1629604

The rest love when I talk to them. I get this look from Rain
View attachment 1629607

Precious says the heck with this, the roost is free and its mine
View attachment 1629608

The others just kind of scratch around looking for goodies. Rose has been roosting with the two older girls at night and Prince sticks with the other 3 younger girls. Dorthy is molting
View attachment 1629611

View attachment 1629613

Prince is very interested in the camera
View attachment 1629614

The ducks are pretty happy too. One of the runners laid an egg today for the first time. It's so small compared to Lucys. They are just over 5 months now

View attachment 1629617
View attachment 1629619

Awwwwww Prince clearly enjoys your singing - all your birds look really happy and settled being in with you
Congrats on the new egg - both my ducks are laying now, both lay a blueish green eggs, not sure where that comes from other than Runners are known to lay either white or blue eggs and my girls are Khaki Campbell x Runners, so I'm guessing its from the Runner strain in them, both lay eggs roughly the same size as the chickens.

 

[llombardo]

Awwwwww Prince clearly enjoys your singing - all your birds look really happy and settled being in with you
Congrats on the new egg - both my ducks are laying now, both lay a blueish green eggs, not sure where that comes from other than Runners are known to lay either white or blue eggs and my girls are Khaki Campbell x Runners, so I'm guessing its from the Runner strain in them, both lay eggs roughly the same size as the chickens.

I was hoping to get a different color so I could tell them apart. Doesn't look like that will happen. I figured on Mid-Jan for them to lay. I'm guessing the other one will lay shortly.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I was hoping to get a different color so I could tell them apart. Doesn't look like that will happen. I figured on Mid-Jan for them to lay. I'm guessing the other one will lay shortly.

I can tell the ducks from the chicken eggs but I can't tell which duck has laid which egg as they are identical in colour, shape and size. I can tell which chicken laid which egg b'cos all three are different, colour and size. Jellybean's is a pale olive colour, Lilah's a very light brown, almost beige and Pedro's a darker brown with an orangy tint to it.

 

[llombardo]

I can tell the ducks from the chicken eggs but I can't tell which duck has laid which egg as they are identical in colour, shape and size. I can tell which chicken laid which egg b'cos all three are different, colour and size. Jellybean's is a pale olive colour, Lilah's a very light brown, almost beige and Pedro's a darker brown with an orangy tint to it.

My chickens are all very similar except for Rose. I think Rain has some speckles on hers, Precious is the same as Rains without the speckles. Roses are blue. The brahmas and faverolle are like a pinkish tint to the light brown color. I could be completely wrong except for the blue, I know where that one is coming from.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Tired of all the firework debris in my garden, so scared I'm gonna miss some and one of birds ingests it - New Years eve is one night, yet fireworks have been going off for weeks, last night woke my grandson who was petrified, took my daughter over an hour to calm him he was so scared and he likes fireworks so imagine how hard it must be for animals. Last night I could hear my neighbour trying to coax her dog out to the garden to go potty, he was too scared to out even though the fireworks hadn't started yet, that's what comes of these nights of explosions, cracks, flashing lights and bangs which animals can't possibly understand, nor can feel safe about. The ducks seem unscathed by it but my girls are tiny little nervous wrecks who at the moment are "scared of their own shadow" and very flighty too - same happens on bonfire night, we had about 4 weeks of fireworks then and Lilah stopped laying for a couple of days b'cos of fear. Just hoping its the end of it now and my flocks have a chance to calm down.

 

[llombardo]

Tired of all the firework debris in my garden, so scared I'm gonna miss some and one of birds ingests it - New Years eve is one night, yet fireworks have been going off for weeks, last night woke my grandson who was petrified, took my daughter over an hour to calm him he was so scared and he likes fireworks so imagine how hard it must be for animals. Last night I could hear my neighbour trying to coax her dog out to the garden to go potty, he was too scared to out even though the fireworks hadn't started yet, that's what comes of these nights of explosions, cracks, flashing lights and bangs which animals can't possibly understand, nor can feel safe about. The ducks seem unscathed by it but my girls are tiny little nervous wrecks who at the moment are "scared of their own shadow" and very flighty too - same happens on bonfire night, we had about 4 weeks of fireworks then and Lilah stopped laying for a couple of days b'cos of fear. Just hoping its the end of it now and my flocks have a chance to calm down.

I have learned a long time ago to acclimate every animal to loud noises, fireworks, thunder, etc. As pups I would stand out there in the rain waiting for thunder while we played fetch(as long as lightning wasn't involved) I have two that have gotten more nervous as they got older(7-8). I will give them some melatonin early in the evening so they are relaxed. Did not do that last night, but we were ok. As for the chickens and ducks? They have also been acclimated--lawn mowers, blowers, weed wackers, drills, saws and now even vacuums.

I am not a fan of the debris. I worry about both ingestion and Fire.