2018 Newbie Chat!

[Anna Ranieri]

I’m even more aggravated today. Talked with my neighbors late last night when they finally arrived home. I was met with resistance and anger. They claim it’s the country, their chickens can go where they please. After asking them about the negligent conditions of their coop they responded with “They’re just chickens, they’ll find their own food and water if they want it that bad.” I’m appalled.
On a lighter note, my single egg incubating died. Upon candling it last night I found a blood ring in it. So seven more eggs in the bator.

So proud of you for sticking up for yourself and for the chickens, such a shame they have this attitude, it saddens me when people regard these beauties as though they are nothing - same goes for all animals.
Let's hope you hit the jackpot with your 7 eggs this time

 

[emrya]

Oh no! It's so hard to imagine someone neglecting their chickens like that, especially when I'm out there, scooping the poop board and giving some greens every day, no matter the weather.

I don’t scoop every day, we do a modified DLM here, but they get some attention every day, water hauled multiple times a day in cold weather, and goodies. I am horrified by those conditions.

 

[llombardo]

I would tske

Awwwww hun it's the guilt that gets us every time but like Chooks said, we all have the best intentions.
Napoleon is about 75 - 80% water proof again so we are making progress. I had the ducks outside all day as it's warmer than has been in a while, we are back in the minus as of this evening so I have them sleeping in again tonight.
We let the chickens in for a short while, they were curious about where the ducks have gone so we let them in to investigate, they gave us their approval before heading on out again to eat their pre- bedtime mealworm snack.
I tried them with scrambled egg again, no one is interested. I already knew my chickens won't eat a chicken egg so opted to scramble some duck eggs for them, Pedro ate a little but that's it, nothing more, I left it out for them just in case the wanted to go back to it but no one has.
I scrambled some chicken eggs for the ducks, the weren't interested either, my duck hens took a bite then spat it out - didn't think my cooking was that bad

Try some garlic on the eggs

 

[llombardo]

So it's about 50 degrees today. How do we go from -50 to 50 within a couple days? I'm not complaining but the theme song for the day is

Welcome to the river we've got lots of poop and water and the dogs wanna play...
Welcome to the river we take it day by day...

 

[Anna Ranieri]

So it's about 50 degrees today. How do we go from -50 to 50 within a couple days? I'm not complaining but the theme song for the day is
That is crazy weather!ours is swinging like that too but not to the extreme yours is. Ours went from -2°c to 3°c in one hour!
Welcome to the river we've got lots of poop and water and the dogs wanna play...
Welcome to the river we take it day by day...

 

[emrya]

So it's about 50 degrees today. How do we go from -50 to 50 within a couple days? I'm not complaining but the theme song for the day is

Welcome to the river we've got lots of poop and water and the dogs wanna play...
Welcome to the river we take it day by day...

Yeah we had a barrel race canceled due to swampy parking lot. It’s crazy mucky here.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Yeah we had a barrel race canceled due to swampy parking lot. It’s crazy mucky here.

Sorry, could you explain what a barrel race is please? Bummer that it got cancelled - fun is fun even if I don't know what a barrel race is.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Temps are up here now, we got blustery weather at present so I'm sitting in the run with the chickens to ensure no one beats up on Roo. Had the ducks out earlier but winds are high now so have them back indoors untill winds drop. Napoleon is about 80-85% waterproof now, I don't think we are going to get any better than that however, he should go back completely waterproof after his early spring moult but if he doesn't then it will be a trip to the vet to find out why. Ducks will be sleeping indoors for one more night as we will be in the minuses again tonight but after that our temps are set to rise and as long as we have no freak weather, will continue to rise and stay in the plus until next winter, so ducks will be out full time after tonight as it will be warm enough for Napoleon even though he gets wet.
Having problems with Pedro and Jellybean, they've upped their attacks on Roo to actual violence. Since laying Roo no longer runs when Jellybean pecks her but will lay in submission seems to get Jellybean angry and she starts pecking Roo on the back of her neck, the lower Roo lays the more violent Jellybean gets and I believe the only reason no blood is drawn is because her feathers are so thick. Having observed them all we have come to the conclusion that Jellybean wants Roo to run off scared like she used to ( Jellybean always gets a smug look on her face when Roo runs ) but because she doesn't, Jellybean gets riled up then turns violent.
About a week ago, while eating bedtime treats Lilah jumped on Pedro, doing like the cockerels do when they flog, and she pecked Pedro a couple of times, Pedro ran away and kept away the whole time the other three ate their treats (Pedro ended up going without) since then Pedro now does that to Roo, she jumps on her like the cockerels do when they flog and will peck her, so far when Roo has run off Pedro hasn't gone after her and the attack stops, but then a couple of days after Pedro did it again and now she does it about once a day and I am fed up with it so I have decided I am going to house both Pedro and Jellybean indoors for at least 5days, after which I will reintroduce Jellybean first, then after a couple of days more I will reintroduce Pedro. Hoping with all my heart this will work - unless any of you have any better ideas? Not prepared to part with any of them as they are pets so just need to find a solution. Any and all advice will be greatly received.

 

[CannedMonster]

Temps are up here now, we got blustery weather at present so I'm sitting in the run with the chickens to ensure no one beats up on Roo. Had the ducks out earlier but winds are high now so have them back indoors untill winds drop. Napoleon is about 80-85% waterproof now, I don't think we are going to get any better than that however, he should go back completely waterproof after his early spring moult but if he doesn't then it will be a trip to the vet to find out why. Ducks will be sleeping indoors for one more night as we will be in the minuses again tonight but after that our temps are set to rise and as long as we have no freak weather, will continue to rise and stay in the plus until next winter, so ducks will be out full time after tonight as it will be warm enough for Napoleon even though he gets wet.
Having problems with Pedro and Jellybean, they've upped their attacks on Roo to actual violence. Since laying Roo no longer runs when Jellybean pecks her but will lay in submission seems to get Jellybean angry and she starts pecking Roo on the back of her neck, the lower Roo lays the more violent Jellybean gets and I believe the only reason no blood is drawn is because her feathers are so thick. Having observed them all we have come to the conclusion that Jellybean wants Roo to run off scared like she used to ( Jellybean always gets a smug look on her face when Roo runs ) but because she doesn't, Jellybean gets riled up then turns violent.
About a week ago, while eating bedtime treats Lilah jumped on Pedro, doing like the cockerels do when they flog, and she pecked Pedro a couple of times, Pedro ran away and kept away the whole time the other three ate their treats (Pedro ended up going without) since then Pedro now does that to Roo, she jumps on her like the cockerels do when they flog and will peck her, so far when Roo has run off Pedro hasn't gone after her and the attack stops, but then a couple of days after Pedro did it again and now she does it about once a day and I am fed up with it so I have decided I am going to house both Pedro and Jellybean indoors for at least 5days, after which I will reintroduce Jellybean first, then after a couple of days more I will reintroduce Pedro. Hoping with all my heart this will work - unless any of you have any better ideas? Not prepared to part with any of them as they are pets so just need to find a solution. Any and all advice will be greatly received.

Yeah unfortunately you don’t have a rooster to step in and break up fights.
Roosters don’t like the hens fighting and will put a stop to it.
Separating them for a few days may help.
The lowest bird (Roo) May gain confidence to defend herself and the bullies may have some wind taken out of their sails.
You can just try it and see.

 

[emrya]

Sorry, could you explain what a barrel race is please? Bummer that it got cancelled - fun is fun even if I don't know what a barrel race is.

its a person on a horse going around three barrels set in a triangle. It is a timed event. My daughter is in the peewee class, so she cannot go faster than a trot, but some of these people (mostly women) go CRAZY fast. You cannot knock over a barrel or break pattern or you are disqualified.