Arizona Chickens

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: La Leche League can help her find ways to keep her supply up. If you look at the formula recipes from back when I was a baby in the mid-fifties, their contents are a lot scarier than are the current commercial formulas. Have you considered asking at a health food store? Or asking a naturopath?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: And there are also things that will decrease it, so you need to check those out to (for avoidance).

 

[pdx2phx]

I am so bummed....we lost two of our teenage chicks today, and I don't know what got 'em. One was a beautiful tiny EE/Serama pullet with gorgeous green eyes, and the other was her half brother, a Duckwing OEGB/Serama cockerel, who was also gorgeous. They were both so sweet and affectionate, too. Their other two siblings are walking around peeping loudly looking for them and keep running to me to have me help find their family (they used to do this all the time as chicks when any of them got separated from the foursome). I am so sad, and it's obvious that they miss their nestmates.

I found the cockerel on the ground somewhat near his sister, and could tell he'd been gone a little bit longer as he was in rigor. The pullet had run/been drug into a small space between the back of the shed and the side of the house. I sorta wonder if she had been dragged back there by something, but couldn't find marks or obvious injuries on either of them. She was still pretty pliable. I'm guessing if there was an attack that he defended his sister and died first, being the good little boy that he was.

There was a corncob and a bit of orange rind behind the shed, and my DH said that he saw a squirrel drag a piece of orange back there yesterday. It is a very small space!! I wonder if the squirrel could have drug her back there? Has anyone heard of such a thing? Would/could a squirrel kill a serama pullet and cockerel?? Maybe it was scorpions, but I didn't see any dried mucus around their beaks(?) I don't think a cat could fit back there.

What do you think?? Any ideas anyone?







You can see Little Roo and Baby Bandit (eyeliner!) snuggled together in the middle of the picture in younger days. RIP sweet babies.

 

[parentwarrior]

She looked like a Coturnix to me, but I could be wrong.

After looking at pictures of quails, I think she might be a Northern Bobwhite but it is hard to tell from the pictures. She does not have any of the fancy feathers sticking up on her head. I know she is not a button quail because I had one that came with her as a rescue. Those are tiny little things. She is a rescue and not planned. I am just letting her live out her days in my outdoor chicken cage so she has company and not alone. I don't eat her eggs even.
Kris

 

[itsredcandy]

So, everyone keeps talking about quail. Are they really worth keeping? The ones in my area that run wild, and we have a lot of them, just seem so small. It seems like each bird would only feed a single person in my house. Wouldn't it be time consuming to process them that it would negate the benefits? I mean, a single chicken can feed my entire family.

That might be a way to get my wife started with the idea of keeping fowl.

I have only processed one. It was my first and I did it based on youtube videos and web searches. I did it in less than 4 minutes. I personally could probably eat two. From what I understand quail have great laying production. You have to incubate the eggs as they don't normally go broody. It takes Cotounix 6 weeks to mature for processing and/or eggs. I think this will be a much cheaper way to feed my family than purchasing organic chicken.

 

[itsredcandy]

I had heard that about Bill Gates and his world-wide vaccination scheme. I am very against vaccinations and am even more convinced the more I read that they are what's causing a large amount of our health problems. I've never been vaccinated, my wife's two girls are not being vaccinated further and my newborn will never receive the shots. But that's a whole tangent that I could write a book on. My latest endevour has been trying to find natural, healthy formula since my wife's supply is decreasing since she went back to work. The commercial formulas are almost as scary! The crap we give our precious little ones...

Anyway, I'll have to look in to the mosquito fish. I've never heard of them, but I don't have problems with mosquito, either. My pool generally stays a beautiful blue and there is no stagnant water on my property. It's amazing what mother nature provides for us.

Originally Posted by Arizonachicken

There are teas and things that will increase lactation, I don't know if you've checked that out yet, but it might be worth a try!

Beer works great too. Obviously not too much. The darker the better increase in production.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

pdx2phx, I'm so sorry.

That sounds like a traumatizing scene to find. I wonder if you have rock squirrels? I know it sounds weird but they do eat small birds they can catch and nestlings; I've never heard of them eating chickens though. Your little ones might have been small enough for them to take a chance on. One could have definitely dragged it back into that space. What are the other options? It wasn't all that hot today (at least here) and it seems highly unlikely that two would succumb to scorpions in one day. Cat? Dog? Usually you'll see more damage with them, at least in terms of lost feathers everywhere. Plus it's just the two. I'm assuming others were out too?

 

[Demosthine]

There are teas and things that will increase lactation, I don't know if you've checked that out yet, but it might be worth a try!

We've tried one of the teas and the fenugreek capsules, plus lots of water and a great diet. It's helped some, but she works six days a week and averages about 60 hours, so she loses out on a lot of the hormonal exchange between her and the baby. We just started Kaylee on solid food, so hopefully that'll help the supply issue. If not, I'll be ordering the ingredients to make my own formula out of raw cow's milk. It's expensive up front, running about $175 plus $10 a gallon for milk, but it's worth it. In the end, it averages out to about 10c an ounce, versus the commercial formula at 17c ounce. The raw cow's milk formula is also the closest to breast milk in terms of nutrition. The commercial versions go way overboard on certain things, not to mention, you can't pronounce anything in them.

Here in about a week, she's doing a nurse-in and will be staying home for three days with Kaylee permanently attached to her. Well, for as long as the two can handle it. That's said to bring it up, too. And she has an order in for "lactation cookies." Guess those will make you explode, too. It's all a new experience for both of us. Her first two wouldn't breastfeed at all.

 

[pdx2phx]

pdx2phx, I'm so sorry.

That sounds like a traumatizing scene to find. I wonder if you have rock squirrels? I know it sounds weird but they do eat small birds they can catch and nestlings; I've never heard of them eating chickens though. Your little ones might have been small enough for them to take a chance on. One could have definitely dragged it back into that space. What are the other options? It wasn't all that hot today (at least here) and it seems highly unlikely that two would succumb to scorpions in one day. Cat? Dog? Usually you'll see more damage with them, at least in terms of lost feathers everywhere. Plus it's just the two. I'm assuming others were out too?

I kinda think it's the squirrel. DH thinks scorpions, but it just doesn't seem to fit to me. We do have plenty of scorpions, but the chances of both of them getting stung seem kinda slim, and it just doesn't look like they were stung to me, based on what I've seen in the past. No dogs, and the space between the shed & house wall are tiny so I don't think a cat could have drug her anywhere. No feather scatter or other evidence of a big fight. All of our Ladies free range together and get along, and we do have several full sized girls who keep an eye on things. I have seen a cat from time to time, but it hasn't shown a real interest in the Ladies, and we have steadfastly *discouraged* it's presence in our yard. I haven't seen it in quite a while. We've got block walls and are in a subdivision...

I am mad now....that squirrel is going down!!!!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I kinda think it's the squirrel. DH thinks scorpions, but it just doesn't seem to fit to me. We do have plenty of scorpions, but the chances of both of them getting stung seem kinda slim, and it just doesn't look like they were stung to me, based on what I've seen in the past. No dogs, and the space between the shed & house wall are tiny so I don't think a cat could have drug her anywhere. No feather scatter or other evidence of a big fight. All of our Ladies free range together and get along, and we do have several full sized girls who keep an eye on things. I have seen a cat from time to time, but it hasn't shown a real interest in the Ladies, and we have steadfastly *discouraged* it's presence in our yard. I haven't seen it in quite a while. We've got block walls and are in a subdivision...

I am mad now....that squirrel is going down!!!!

Surprisingly, I think it's the squirrel too. Didn't the earlier scorpion victims suffer for a while? If it was scorpion, both went very fast. Then you have to ask why the one was found in the odd location--a spot that would be entirely consistent with a place a squirrel would take something to eat, like they do. I'm usually a live and let live kind of guy when it comes to wildlife, but after seeing the devastating damage they inflicted on my neighbor's property I wouldn't tolerate one on my property. If I thought they were eating my young birds, fuhgettaboutit.