ALABAMA!!

[Razadia]

My beautiful rooster is dead!

He's still outside.... his comb and wattles are purple. I'm afraid I killed him.

I bought him a rooster collar, to stop his crowing.... and well, it was helping a little, but not enough. So I tightened it a little more early this afternoon...... My poor beautiful rooster and he was so sweet! I had no idea it was too tight.. he didn't seem bothered.

Never again. I'm returning it!

Don't blame yourself. Accidents happen sometimes when we don't mean for them to.

 

[bamadude]

Raz tell me more about quail if u dont mind. Do u have any pics of urs?

 

[Tomtommom]

We figured out he choked on his food... His whole mouth was full with it. It must've kept food from going down.

Stupid collar. He crowed some yesterday, he could get the first part out loudly, but made a gaggy sound at the end of the crow... so I figured I had it ALMOST tight enough. I undid it, redid it, just a hair tighter, which is how it's supposed to work.. Neck cant expand to get those loud crows out, just soft one. He was out and about all day. I was too. He was still warm when I found him, although already stiff... so 30 minutes?

I never cried for a dead chicken.. but I did for him. I had gotten attached to him. He was no longer running from me, and he let me carry him inside every night. He wasnt happy about sleeping in a box indoors, but he was ok with it.


So yeah... don't use rooster collars

 

[Razadia]

Raz tell me more about quail if u dont mind. Do u have any pics of urs?

I don't, but I can get some. I have Coturnix quail. They tend to come in a lot of cool colors.

 

[BexB]

I have 7 chicks tonight. I was so wrong about how many eggs the 3 girls have., got a rough estimate as I was stealing the chicks, there are at least 30 more. I was going to move 1 girl with the hatched chicks , untill I seen all them eggs. Thats way too many for 2 girls.
I need some opinions on how to proceed, I don't want to lose all them eggs. And the chicks that hatched were under all three hens. I was thinking if I left them each hen would take a couple and leave the rest of the eggs.IDK what to do. I'd prefer the hen raise them, it's so much easier to integrate them if she does it.

 

[Tomtommom]

I have 7 chicks tonight. I was so wrong about how many eggs the 3 girls have., got a rough estimate as I was stealing the chicks, there are at least 30 more. I was going to move 1 girl with the hatched chicks , untill I seen all them eggs. Thats way too many for 2 girls.
I need some opinions on how to proceed, I don't want to lose all them eggs. And the chicks that hatched were under all three hens. I was thinking if I left them each hen would take a couple and leave the rest of the eggs.IDK what to do. I'd prefer the hen raise them, it's so much easier to integrate them if she does it.

Borrow a brooder? Candle them and let them keep the ones that look furthest along?

 

[Tomtommom]

And by brooder I mean incubator >_<

 

[Wisher1000]

I would take the one hen that seems most interested in the chicks to a separate place, preferably out of hearing so the other hens won't go looking for the chicks. Then I would candle the remaining eggs and mark them if they are developing, toss them if not. Check the eggs daily, if more chicks hatch, put them with the other chicks, the hen will accept them for a few days. Once about half the remaining, marked eggs hatch, move the second hen, then let the last hen hatch the remaining eggs. They will likely hatch over several days, so you will have to be prepared for her to leave the last few unhatched eggs. It looks like you may want to buy an incubator.

Next time you have a broody, as soon as you notice her, decide how many eggs you want her to hatch and mark them from day one. Collect all unmarked eggs daily. That will avoid this problem. Even if there are two broodies, you can mark their eggs differently and keep them separated according to when they should hatch.

You can use a pencil or sharpie marker to mark the eggs. I like to put a ring around the middle of the eggs so I can see the mark without picking up each egg. I also put the date they should hatch and the breed on each egg. My hens are used to being lifted off the eggs (I pick them up by their "shoulders" grasping firmly right where the wing meets the body. I can pick them up with one hand, once they are used to it, by slipping my index finger under one wing pit and my thumb under the other.) My nests slid out like a drawer so I can lift them straight up. They will also sit still on the floor by the nest for a little while if I have to have both hands.

Good luck!

 

[kaseythomas86]

This I probably a crazy question but can a rooster tell when a hen is about to lay her first egg? My rooster was trying to breed one of my pullets today that should be laying any day now is he just being a rooster or does he know something I don't?

 

[Wisher1000]

He's just being a rooster.