Arizona Chickens

[Parront]

kicking and screeching when transfering them from their shipping container or trying to clean a pasty butt.

No birds like their butt cleaned! If you have to hold them, put hand over the wings so that they can't flap. For bigger birds, a towel wrapped around the wings is a help. Also cover their eyes with your hand they are calmer if they can't see. They are calmer if you are calm, too. Now that they are home, you can just sit by them quietly and they will get used to you and learn that you bring them the feed! Just try to avoid sudden overhead movements, move slowly around them. Birds are afraid of everything. A big piece of cardboard over their heads makes them feel like a hawk is coming down to eat them! Dylan is a smart old bird and she is afraid of long poles and plywood. It is just an instinct for your chickens to be "chicken"!

 

[MagicChicken]

No birds like their butt cleaned! If you have to hold them, put hand over the wings so that they can't flap. For bigger birds, a towel wrapped around the wings is a help. Also cover their eyes with your hand they are calmer if they can't see. They are calmer if you are calm, too. Now that they are home, you can just sit by them quietly and they will get used to you and learn that you bring them the feed! Just try to avoid sudden overhead movements, move slowly around them. Birds are afraid of everything. A big piece of cardboard over their heads makes them feel like a hawk is coming down to eat them! Dylan is a smart old bird and she is afraid of long poles and plywood. It is just an instinct for your chickens to be "chicken"!

@Bobby Basham - What Parront said. "They are calmer if you are calm, too." Birds are extremely sensitive to the energy of the people around them. Step number 1 is calm your energy before approaching the birds. Every single time. (Edited to add: you will know when your energy is calm enough by your birds' behavior. If they are calm when you approach, your energy is calm enough.)

The overhead issue is major. I keep my hatchlings in a big plastic storage tub with clear sides and a screen over the top, until the chicks are 5-7 days old. Then they go to the outside brooder. They panic much less in the container with clear sides.

The outside brooder has a side door that is screened. I open it during the day so the chicks can see out, unless we are having a hard freeze or it is raining. During the day the chicks can see my feet approaching before I lift the plywood top to access the food and water. If I approach and lift the top suddenly they all panic. But if I do it slowly they either stay in place, or move relatively calmly to the back corner under the Sweeter Heater. Until I try to pick one up. Then it's chaos.

If I need to handle the chicks I do it at night. I turn off the light in the brooder. It's the only way I can catch the little rascals in that big brooder. It's 4' square and 28-30" high.

You will get used to handling the birds over time. Good luck!

 

[SonoranChick]

Hi guys, sorry I've been out of the loop for a while...trying to catch up on everyone's happenings and I wanted to chime in
@Bobby Basham I am so EXCITED your babies have arrived! I know when I got that call from the post office I drove like a bat out of hell to pick up this little beeping box of peeps...the beginning of the most fantastic adventure. I, too, was nervous to touch, pick up, handle, or frighten the chicks at first. I learned that the more I handled them, the better I got at it (and the more they became used to me-) now they are full grown and some act more like puppies than chickens. As someone else stated, it's all about calm energy. Some birds will be more flighty than others, and by about week 4, you will have a good idea of which birds enjoy being handled. Some might get to the point where they won't leave you alone! Pasty butt....ahhhhh the dreaded pasty butt. My baby Delaware had a rough go during shipping and we had many pasty days that followed...I actually got really good at cleaning it (you learn as you go! Something I never knew I would be proud of...cleaning up chickie butts!). I used a baby wipe moistened with warm water. I would hold her with my left hand and work the plug of poo out with the baby wipe using my right hand, very slowly and as gently as possible. Then a tiny, tiny bit of neosporin to help heal & keep things slippery down there. Poor little guys, I couldn't imagine a more uncomfortable feeling. Good luck, they should be over the pasty business within the next week. It is so common with shipped babies. I also want to know how the sweeter heater works out for you! Keep us posted! I'm sick of my old school heat lamp.
@nicollee how is your chicken who was injured a week or so ago? Those pictures were so sad, but it sounds like there was some great advice on here. I hope she's doing better Chickens seem to be more resilient than I give them credit for.
@BlueBaby I can't wait to see these naked neck australorpes You are becoming quite the pioneer of heat-hardy desert friendly birds! I'm trying so hard to be responsible with my chicken math for the time being, but I hope I can go through you next time I'm ready for some additions. Your blue variety of australorpes are just so pretty, they looks like denim jeans to me. Perfect for the desert.

 

[Bobby Basham]

Hi guys, sorry I've been out of the loop for a while...trying to catch up on everyone's happenings and I wanted to chime in
@Bobby Basham I am so EXCITED your babies have arrived! I know when I got that call from the post office I drove like a bat out of hell to pick up this little beeping box of peeps...the beginning of the most fantastic adventure. I, too, was nervous to touch, pick up, handle, or frighten the chicks at first. I learned that the more I handled them, the better I got at it (and the more they became used to me-) now they are full grown and some act more like puppies than chickens. As someone else stated, it's all about calm energy. Some birds will be more flighty than others, and by about week 4, you will have a good idea of which birds enjoy being handled. Some might get to the point where they won't leave you alone! Pasty butt....ahhhhh the dreaded pasty butt. My baby Delaware had a rough go during shipping and we had many pasty days that followed...I actually got really good at cleaning it (you learn as you go! Something I never knew I would be proud of...cleaning up chickie butts!). I used a baby wipe moistened with warm water. I would hold her with my left hand and work the plug of poo out with the baby wipe using my right hand, very slowly and as gently as possible. Then a tiny, tiny bit of neosporin to help heal & keep things slippery down there. Poor little guys, I couldn't imagine a more uncomfortable feeling. Good luck, they should be over the pasty business within the next week. It is so common with shipped babies. I also want to know how the sweeter heater works out for you! Keep us posted! I'm sick of my old school heat lamp.

SonoranChick, glad to see you back. I think I discovered another pasty butt this afternoon. There are supposedly three RIR's, but one has stripes like a chipmunk. Oh Lawd, I hope it ain't a rooster, and looks to be a little bit of a runt. It's eating, drinking and running around with the others, but sometimes it pauses like it's constipated, pushing. Have to put on my reading glass for a closer examination because I also saw that black umbilical cord also.

I'll remove it, close the bathroom door, and take it out to the kitchen and do the duty. I don't want the others to hear the screaming bloody murder from the pits of Hell...LOL! That's what freaked me out.

My sweeter heater was supposed to arrive today, but no luck. I got to move these gals from the bathroom out to the new brooder in the garage this weekend.

 

[BlueBaby]

@SonoranChick [/QUOTE]@BlueBaby[/USER] I can't wait to see these naked neck australorpes You are becoming quite the pioneer of heat-hardy desert friendly birds! I'm trying so hard to be responsible with my chicken math for the time being, but I hope I can go through you next time I'm ready for some additions. Your blue variety of australorpes are just so pretty, they looks like denim jeans to me. Perfect for the desert.[/QUOTE]

Well, you will have to wait because they aren't hatched yet. This cross should also have the good laying ability of the Australorps in them too.

 

[SonoranChick]

SonoranChick, glad to see you back. I think I discovered another pasty butt this afternoon. There are supposedly three RIR's, but one has stripes like a chipmunk. Oh Lawd, I hope it ain't a rooster, and looks to be a little bit of a runt. It's eating, drinking and running around with the others, but sometimes it pauses like it's constipated, pushing. Have to put on my reading glass for a closer examination because I also saw that black umbilical cord also.

I'll remove it, close the bathroom door, and take it out to the kitchen and do the duty. I don't want the others to hear the screaming bloody murder from the pits of Hell...LOL! That's what freaked me out.

My sweeter heater was supposed to arrive today, but no luck. I got to move these gals from the bathroom out to the new brooder in the garage this weekend.

Well the good news is I believe the male RIR chicks look identical to the females, so perhaps you have a female, but some other breed? I would be happy to help you guess with a picture! Stripes are always fun and usually mean you will have a laced or multi colored adult bird.
I used to do my pasty butt duties near the brooder just because the baby delaware wanted to be near her peers. She would cry when I took her to the kitchen, so I just brought my "poop kit" to the brooder (baby wipes, warm water in a dish, & a mini trash can). She hated being separated from the flock but didn't seem to mind the warm baby wipe too much. And the relief once we got the "all clear" was great for both of us!
I love that you play classical music/NPR for them. Mine have always seemed to enjoy and respond to music. I just purchased a ukulele and am learning to play, I am awful but they don't make fun of me. Not to my face anyway

 

[SonoranChick]

@SonoranChick

@BlueBaby[/USER] I can't wait to see these naked neck australorpes You are becoming quite the pioneer of heat-hardy desert friendly birds! I'm trying so hard to be responsible with my chicken math for the time being, but I hope I can go through you next time I'm ready for some additions. Your blue variety of australorpes are just so pretty, they looks like denim jeans to me. Perfect for the desert.[/QUOTE]

Well, you will have to wait because they aren't hatched yet. This cross should also have the good laying ability of the Australorps in them too.[/QUOTE]
Do you ever have issues with aggression regarding your australorpes? I ask because mine is very docile, and I've heard most are. She's not on the bottom of the pecking order, but she's not aggressive at all. Some of my other breeds (RIR, leghorns, barred rock) are being aggressive to the point where I have to monitor treat time. This is why people suggest not having a mixed flock I suppose. I'm wondering if, in the future, I have a flock of australorpes...will there still be aggression due to the nature of chicken pecking orders? Or is an australorp flock more docile in general?

 

[BlueBaby]

@SonoranChick I don't have a problem with mine. Before I chose this rooster, I had grown him and 3 of his brothers out for a bit to observe them. I chose the lowest male in the pecking order between them, as I figured that he wouldn't be aggressive when he matured more. I was right. He was born on New Year's Day of this year, so he will be a year old in a couple more months. Most good breeders won't use an aggressive rooster, as that can be passed on in the chicks.

PS... Sometimes when I toss treats in there for the flock he will even try to feed me too, by facing me and dropping food like he does for the hens.

 

[meetthebubus]

i took some photos tonight during dinnertime for the bubus, most are finishing with their molts, including Roo, who is looking handsome once again! here are some pics i took tonight. featuring:

Roo

Mohawkie fully feathered once again

Most of Callie jumping for whole grain pita bread

and our wild friend who we saved as a tiny baby and joins us for every meal.... Peter rabbit

love the ranch!!!

 

[SonoranChick]

How sweet. They are so gorgeous fully feathered. I love how plush the BOs are. The action shot is great!...anything for pita bread!