Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Anniebee]

>..............because Pipper was raised like a spoilt brat indoors for 16 weeks and spent more of her time following me around the house in a chicken nappy so she wasn't alone all the time, than she spent in her own brooder. Of all of my chickens, Pipper is the closest to a family pet. Seeing her like this is harder than it usually is for me.

I hope everyone else's days are going better...

In other news, the Golden Girls are looking better. I need to treat their feet again today. We ended up naming them Gandalf, Brian Blessed, and The Butcher. When I got them, I was warned that they were "bad layers" and indeed probably weren't even laying at all.

They've been with us for 5 days and between the 3 of them have laid 14 beautiful green eggs. Bad layers my ***.

They're calming down and becoming more sociable. Gandalf sometimes lets me touch her, briefly, before giving me that skittish Araucana growl and running off. Brian Blessed, true to her name, calls me names, curses at me, shrieks chicken obscenities, and then runs away while flaunting her magnificent beard. The Butcher, obviously the boss, spends most of her day digging tunnels to freedom.

I've been keeping an eye on my thin rooster, Hoban Washburne (Wash) watching his feeding behaviours. Sure enough, the morning after I added more food sources he immediately went to feed and was immediately attacked by my head rooster (the moment his back was turned). He sought out a second source but was again attacked the moment he tried to eat. Well that'll do it.

Tandykins .... I have left in only the bits I want to reply to here.

I doubled over with laughter envisaging a chicken with a nappy on ? What on EARTH is a chicken nappy ( I can only imagine ) and how do you get it to stay on a chicken ?

So very glad to have read your latest posts that Pipper is ok again. Definitely sounds as though she cramped or hurt herself under that narrow coop space.

........

The description of your 3 golden girls also brought big smiles. .... and your rooster Wash - good to hear he is eating again without interference from your other rooster. Any way you can make sure it continues, by separating them altogether ?

.......

In another of your posts, you mention vinegar - how good it is in the garden. .... I agree. Succeeded in getting rid of toadstools almost entirely this year, by pouring vinegar wherever I had dug them out last year. Must've killed the spores, except for a couple of places I must've missed. Last years Winter - they were absolutely everywhere ... not good for chickens, not good for dogs. Morning routine with small shovel and large bucket, and not too many happy feelings.

Also use vinegar a lot for cleaning indoors - especially washing wooden floors. Excellent stuff.

Cheers ....

 

[tandykins]

Tandykins .... I have left in only the bits I want to reply to here.

I doubled over with laughter envisaging a chicken with a nappy on ? What on EARTH is a chicken nappy ( I can only imagine ) and how do you get it to stay on a chicken ?

So very glad to have read your latest posts that Pipper is ok again. Definitely sounds as though she cramped or hurt herself under that narrow coop space.

........

The description of your 3 golden girls also brought big smiles. .... and your rooster Wash - good to hear he is eating again without interference from your other rooster. Any way you can make sure it continues, by separating them altogether ?

ZERMAHGERD how have you not heard of chicken nappies? It's pretty much what it sounds like, a little fabric pocket that goes over their bums. I make pads for them out of a stash of my son's old nappies. I cut the pads into thirds and then stitch them closed to keep the absorbent gel from leaking out. I use them primarily for injured chickens who have to stay indoors (especially chickens with bumblefoot who need a dry bandage). Pipper actually kind of got potty trained. I wondered if it was possible so I let her wander around without a chicken nappy on and as soon as she'd poop she went back in the brooder. It got to where she would go far longer and longer between each poop.

Now, Pipper can be trusted to wander around in the house for -at least- an hour without a nappy on. It occurred to me that if broodies will consciously hold their poop, it would probably be possible to at least partially toilet train a chicken. It seems to be.

I have seen her occasionally dropping the wing she'd been dropping yesterday but it certainly seems to be bothering her far less. I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she's not being picked on - but so far she's more interested in trying to dominate me. I'm going to start my training on her that I usually use on aggressive roosters (100% success rate thank-you-very-much) and that should get that sorted. Sassy girl. That's what happens when you spoil them too much as babies and they don't get to practice social behaviours until they're adults.

Actually as soon as the Golden Girls are cleared for quarantine I'll be moving Wash into what's normally the quarantine area (since they're the only ones in it) and they'll be his flock. That will be his home until the breeding enclosures are built. We've got designs drawn up but we're deciding where in our yard is the smartest and safest place to put it while simultaneously not making our neighbours want us to die - particularly as one of them is a notably surly police officer. Once we move Wash I forsee his status improving. He's easily the bottom of the pecking order as far as roosters go - and to be completely fair to everyone else he might gain some popularity if he weren't kind of a jerk and if he tidbitted now and then. He's not big on the courting, preferring to ambush hens. He's not popular with the ladies and is incredibly highly strung. I think that being on his own with his own flock will boost his confidence a little, which might be all he needs. He's recently begun making more of an effort to court the ladies and seems bolstered by the confidence their response has brought.

I'll never forget though, the day the fox attacked. I found 15 chickens in my front yard, had one missing entirely, two roosters aggressively defending their hens, and where was Wash? Not in my yard. Running down the sidewalk as far and fast away as he could get. When the chicken poop hit the fan he NOPED right out of there. XD

 

[appps]

Yeah I've never tried integrating new chicks until at least 8 weeks old and then I feel like it's a bit early.  I generally try at around 12 weeks.  I'm trying to figure out what the heck I'm going to do with Queenie and her babies, though - because I sincerely doubt that 12 weeks is necessary for hen raised chicks.  I also have the added problem of Queenie being quite fearful of humans, she was always quite poorly socialized and screams when you hold her.  Her chicks are easily the poorest socialized I've ever hatched.  I've been wondering if I'd be better off taking them away from her and finishing raising them myself but that feels like an absolutely horrible thing to do to all involved. :/  It's tricky knowing when, how, where, and under what circumstances to move new babies.

By 12 weeks she is going to be over mothering them anyway. They seem to give up on the mothering bit anywhere after 6 weeks or so so you might still have some time then with them perhaps.

 

[tandykins]

By 12 weeks she is going to be over mothering them anyway. They seem to give up on the mothering bit anywhere after 6 weeks or so so you might still have some time then with them perhaps.

That's fair enough really, I'd forgotten about that. To be honest, I can't quite wait for her to bugger off so I can get a close look at the chicks without getting mauled by her. I just keep reminding her that while I greatly admire what a fierce mother she is, I am also the one who feeds her. Then she calls me names and tries to bite my face off. Mostly I just stay away unless feeding/watering them or cleaning their brooder.

 

[appps]

That's fair enough really, I'd forgotten about that.  To be honest, I can't quite wait for her to bugger off so I can get a close look at the chicks without getting mauled by her.  I just keep reminding her that while I greatly admire what a fierce mother she is, I am also the one who feeds her.  Then she calls me names and tries to bite my face off.   Mostly I just stay away unless feeding/watering them or cleaning their brooder.

Lol. That's why I keep picking penny to be my broody mum (not that it worked this time). She actually called pepper over and taught her to eat out of my hand with all her little cluck cluck noises so we ended up with a very tame chick. Some of my others wouldn't be quite so friendly while broody

 

[sjturner79]

This is what the legs of randy look like after a few days of treatment. I ended up having bits thicker than his legs coming off.
Should I be trying to cut off the damaged scales or wait for them to come away on thier own?

 

[Anniebee]

ZERMAHGERD how have you not heard of chicken nappies? It's pretty much what it sounds like, a little fabric pocket that goes over their bums. I make pads for them out of a stash of my son's old nappies. I cut the pads into thirds and then stitch them closed to keep the absorbent gel from leaking out. I use them primarily for injured chickens who have to stay indoors (especially chickens with bumblefoot who need a dry bandage). Pipper actually kind of got potty trained. I wondered if it was possible so I let her wander around without a chicken nappy on and as soon as she'd poop she went back in the brooder. It got to where she would go far longer and longer between each poop.

Now, Pipper can be trusted to wander around in the house for -at least- an hour without a nappy on. It occurred to me that if broodies will consciously hold their poop, it would probably be possible to at least partially toilet train a chicken. It seems to be.

I have seen her occasionally dropping the wing she'd been dropping yesterday but it certainly seems to be bothering her far less. I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she's not being picked on - but so far she's more interested in trying to dominate me. I'm going to start my training on her that I usually use on aggressive roosters (100% success rate thank-you-very-much) and that should get that sorted. Sassy girl. That's what happens when you spoil them too much as babies and they don't get to practice social behaviours until they're adults.

Actually as soon as the Golden Girls are cleared for quarantine I'll be moving Wash into what's normally the quarantine area (since they're the only ones in it) and they'll be his flock. That will be his home until the breeding enclosures are built. We've got designs drawn up but we're deciding where in our yard is the smartest and safest place to put it while simultaneously not making our neighbours want us to die - particularly as one of them is a notably surly police officer. Once we move Wash I forsee his status improving. He's easily the bottom of the pecking order as far as roosters go - and to be completely fair to everyone else he might gain some popularity if he weren't kind of a jerk and if he tidbitted now and then. He's not big on the courting, preferring to ambush hens. He's not popular with the ladies and is incredibly highly strung. I think that being on his own with his own flock will boost his confidence a little, which might be all he needs. He's recently begun making more of an effort to court the ladies and seems bolstered by the confidence their response has brought.

I'll never forget though, the day the fox attacked. I found 15 chickens in my front yard, had one missing entirely, two roosters aggressively defending their hens, and where was Wash? Not in my yard. Running down the sidewalk as far and fast away as he could get. When the chicken poop hit the fan he NOPED right out of there. XD

Tandykins .....

** I am now in stitches, but I feel awful for laughing. Nope - never heard of them before ... so figured I would have a squiz at what they look like - and how they are attached. Brought up some images - sensible for sure - I can obviously see the point of having them on a chicken .... but many were just so funny ( and cute ) to see.

My grandmother - on the farm - used to leave the kitchen door open, and they would wander in and around the kitchen - pooping where they liked, although there was never a lot.of that .
No food on offer ? .. they'd leave again. No nappies for those chooks. Mind you, my mother used to have conniptions about it all .... chooks in the kitchen were not her thing.

** Potty training a chicken ? .... guess it's much the same as training a puppy. Have done plenty of that.

** Sounds like a plan for Wash .... his duties with his own girls, might calm him down a bit. His escape up the path away from the fox, while it sounds like good sense on his part, makes for a very funny visualisation. He needs to grow up a bit methinks. !!

Well done for all of your efforts for your chickens.

Cheers ...........

 

[tandykins]

This is what the legs of randy look like after a few days of treatment. I ended up having bits thicker than his legs coming off.
Should I be trying to cut off the damaged scales or wait for them to come away on thier own?

I usually prefer to take the longer road when treating their legs and wait for the damaged scales to slough off unless they're becoming a problem themselves (such as a large piece hanging but threatening to tear if not cut off). I'd rather take longer to treat it than cause undue trauma to the bird - it's very difficult to remove the damaged scales without causing bleeding and it can be a bit unpredictable.

 

[tandykins]

Tandykins .....

** I am now in stitches, but I feel awful for laughing. Nope - never heard of them before ... so figured I would have a squiz at what they look like - and how they are attached. Brought up some images - sensible for sure - I can obviously see the point of having them on a chicken .... but many were just so funny ( and cute ) to see.

My grandmother - on the farm - used to leave the kitchen door open, and they would wander in and around the kitchen - pooping where they liked, although there was never a lot.of that .
No food on offer ? .. they'd leave again. No nappies for those chooks. Mind you, my mother used to have conniptions about it all .... chooks in the kitchen were not her thing.

** Sounds like a plan for Wash .... his duties with his own girls, might calm him down a bit. His escape up the path away from the fox, while it sounds like good sense on his part, makes for a very funny visualisation. He needs to grow up a bit methinks. !!

My non-chicken-having-friends cringe if they see a chicken poop on my kitchen floor (which is immediately cleaned up, of course) and I give them the "Oh you must be new here" look. They should see the things I track in on my shoes on a bad day. I long for the day when a neat little poop was the worst of my problems. No one ever told me when I got chickens that I would have to mop so often. >.>

Yes, Wash does rather need to grow up. He definitely suffers from little roo syndrome but he has been making strides. It used to be torture to get him to come near me even to eat out of my hand but now he follows me around the yard and allows me to pick him up. He's calming down rather a lot.

Welp...I ended up finding a cache of 16 eggs yesterday and another cache of 9 eggs today. My garage is impassable, my yard really having been the only relatively unaddressed result of my previous years of hoarding that I hadn't really tackled. The clutter wasn't just making it easy for the hens to find hidey holes, it was making it hard for ME to find them. So today everything is getting yanked out of the "garage" (originally a little stable/barn) and the "shed" (originally an old wash house) and is being tucked back away at least as well as I can muster in the two fairly derelict buildings. The caches are getting frustrating. The mess is getting frustrating. It will feel good to finally tackle one of the last bits of my hoarding.

 

[Fancychooklady]

This is what the legs of randy look like after a few days of treatment. I ended up having bits thicker than his legs coming off.
Should I be trying to cut off the damaged scales or wait for them to come away on thier own?

No don't cut anything off. Anything that doesn't sloth off when rubbed should be left alone. Depending on the extent of damage some of the scales will be forced outwards. Just rub them with Vicks or what ever it is you are using and make sure you have good coverage. The legs may not return to smooth but the important thing is to rid them of the mites.