2018 Newbie Chat!

[Anna Ranieri]

I know they're still very young, but I'm giving this girl the "please don't be a cockerel" side eye. She's 17 days old and a Blue Orpington. She's always been bigger than my two Buff Orpingtons, has a bigger comb, and has the start of wattles. Nothing is pink or red yet, but she's still getting the side eye from me. You're so pretty! Please be a pullet! View attachment 1545066

Soooooo cute!

 

[Anna Ranieri]

It's completely dark out there, I go to check on him and I hear movement in the coop. I briefly shine the light in the coop and Rose the EE is moving in the complete dark down the ramp and jumps up to the roost. If chickens can't see at night, how did she manage that without issue? This is the third time I've witnessed them moving in the dark as if it was day time. I don't know how they are doing it but they are.

I'm not convinced they can't see, I gave up trying to teach my two hens to roost because they'd just get down and go back into the nest area any way. Secondly when I had my two newest hens indoors with us, they were in the room next to mine and their cage against the wall my bed is against and I regularly heard them moving about, sometimes chattering and I heard them scratching and pecking at the food, in the dead of night.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I actually think he’ll be more wary of swallowing anything even close to too big now.
Close calls like that stay with you.
I’m SO glad he’s okay.
My friend Kat recently acquired a SL Wyandotte roo that she’s going to put with the hens I gave her.
He’s a very nice roo and let us pet him even though he’s spent most of his life alone in a cow pasture.

Angus won’t take food from my hand since he attacked DH and was kicked for it.
He wasn’t injured by it but I think he has more respect for us and our larger size now.

I've seen a chicken swallow a whole medium sized mouse in one go and until I read about Prince I wasn't even aware that chickens can choke that easily and it is very scary seeing as I wouldn't have a clue what to do

 

[Anna Ranieri]

@ChooksNQuilts I had a rethink about keeping Roo indoors at night b'cos I realised it won't be long before our weather turns cold and if I keep her indoors for too long she won't have time to acclimatise for the winter. It is still quite mild here at the moment so I thought it best to get her out there now while the weather is still warm so she will be out there as it gradually turns cold.
Tonight is her first night.
She cried for ages when I put her in the hutch, she didn't want to go in there and didn't want me to leave her even though she is with Lilah. It took everything in my not to scoop her up and bring her back indoors.
Although she eventually settled and is asleep, I am a bag of nerves and my stomach is so knotted it hurts and I am too anxious to sleep and it doesn't help that a short while ago I realised I've forgotten to put her teddy bear in with her and I feel awful about that too.
I hope with all my heart I've done the right thing.

Pedro and Jellybean still haven't quite gotten over the shock of waking one morning to finding Lilah in there and are still very cautious of Lilah. Jellybean stays in the nesting area until she is absolutely sure Lilah has gone, Pedro comes out into the main area where Lilah (and now Roo also) are when she hears me coming to let them out but she is always very anxious and weary of Lilah and doesn't take her eyes off Lilah then as soon as I open the door she shoots out, just in case Lilah does something to her, although Lilah never does. I am hoping this will go in my favour and that both hens will be so focused on Lilah they won't take notice of Roo.

I can't be sure if Lilah did this on purpose or not but tonight when I put Roo in, Roo headed for the nesting area a couple of times but both times Lilah stood in front of the entrance so Roo couldn't go in and on the second occasion had left a bit of a gap but when Roo went to poke her head through the gap Lilah moved forward so she couldn't. I am hoping with all my heart that Lilah did this purposely to stop Roo venturing into where JB & Pedro are.

If you think I've done the wrong thing please please tell me and I'll go get her and bring her back in.

 

[llombardo]

I've seen a chicken swallow a whole medium sized mouse in one go and until I read about Prince I wasn't even aware that chickens can choke that easily and it is very scary seeing as I wouldn't have a clue what to do

He looked pretty surprised when I put my finger in his mouth....

 

[Anna Ranieri]

He looked pretty surprised when I put my finger in his mouth....

He's so fortunate that you had the head to know what to do, I wouldn't have a clue.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

The past 3 nights my 5 1/2 week old chicks have settled down for the night bunched together in a corner. The corner they picked is right in front of the door, I don't have a door that closes so they're right in the draft. I've been moving them back under the MHP and I raised it up in case they were too warm. Diamond still is not fully feathered. They do remain under it the rest of the night. Tonight I blocked that corner with their food and water. So they settled for night right in the doorway. I moved them again, it's raining and cold out.
Is this something anyone else has encountered? Should I keep moving them to the MHP or should I move them to a different corner even though Diamond isn't feathered?

 

[Anna Ranieri]

The past 3 nights my 5 1/2 week old chicks have settled down for the night bunched together in a corner. The corner they picked is right in front of the door, I don't have a door that closes so they're right in the draft. I've been moving them back under the MHP and I raised it up in case they were too warm. Diamond still is not fully feathered. They do remain under it the rest of the night. Tonight I blocked that corner with their food and water. So they settled for night right in the doorway. I moved them again, it's raining and cold out.
Is this something anyone else has encountered? Should I keep moving them to the MHP or should I move them to a different corner even though Diamond isn't feathered?

I haven't any experience so can not advise you, however I'm thinking if they were too cold surely they would move? My reckoning is that at 5 1/2 weeks they know enough to know what they do and don't like so surely they'd move if they are too cold or don't like it and the fact they keep going back to the spot, maybe they prefer it?

 

[PNW_Peepers]

The past 3 nights my 5 1/2 week old chicks have settled down for the night bunched together in a corner. The corner they picked is right in front of the door, I don't have a door that closes so they're right in the draft. I've been moving them back under the MHP and I raised it up in case they were too warm. Diamond still is not fully feathered. They do remain under it the rest of the night. Tonight I blocked that corner with their food and water. So they settled for night right in the doorway. I moved them again, it's raining and cold out.
Is this something anyone else has encountered? Should I keep moving them to the MHP or should I move them to a different corner even though Diamond isn't feathered?

Can you create something to block the door? Either from the inside or outside? Block the door and you won’t have to worry where they sleep. Once they are old enough start putting them on the roost late at night when they can’t see anything. After awhile they will roost on their own and you can remove the “door” for good.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

Yeah, I definitely am blocking it tonight because I won't be home this evening. I also trimmed back some pine tree branches that were rubbing against the window near the roost, just in case it was spooking them. Plus moved the food to the other side of the coop. They eat right before they sleep. Maybe they eat too long till its so dark they crash by the food?