California - Northern

Last spring my rooster Ray died at the ripe old age of 10+ years. He had a favorite and her wing tops were bare. I was surprised that they didn't heal after he died and that her back looked even worse. I was even more shocked when I saw my top girl chase this one down and mount her. She grabbed her comb the whole 9 yards. I think you are right. one of your girls thinks she is a boy.
My head hen and her two enforcers do this. Last year they picked on my big buff brahma. Poor Sass looked terrible until after her molt ended. It is interesting but now that Zoro reigns in the back yard, Precious and her cronies are not doing this at all. Sass tolerates Zoro's attention because it is way better than being jumped three times in a row by the other girls.
 
Spring is coming!

One of our Mini Nubian does had a beautiful doeling yesterday. So excited for this year's kidding season! We've got more does waiting.
clap.gif

Adorable!

-Kathy
 
[COLOR=000000]I think maybe I've got someone pretending to be a rooster...[/COLOR] Quiche has a not-bald ('tis fuzzy, but the outer feathers are gone--I know it looks like skin in the photo, but she moved) spot at the top of her neck, just under her skull, and Curry's back feathers are just fluff. They are the only 2 that have any broken feathers--then again, 2 out of 5 is 40%... The 3rd photo is to show that she used to have feathers all the way back... Now for just fun photos! My 10-year-old holding Omelette. 10-year-old being a monkey, 5-year-old copying (she's the one that brought the stool over) and Omelette appearing to think they're nuts;)
Amy, are you coming to the party in May at Karen's? I have a 10 year old daughter as well. She was getting a kick out of the pics of your girls and their chickens. My daughter Autumn is a crazy chicken lover like her Mom and will be at the get-together.
 
this is a pretty nice little book, and has a good list of "chicken resistant plants" (p. 141) -- but a lot of the trick is the have the ratio of plants to chickens right, so even if they nip a few leaves, they move on to nibble something else, rather than staying and chowing down.
http://www.timberpress.com/books/free_range_chicken_gardens/bloom/9781604692372

other plants my flock ignores: scented-leaf geraniums, calla lilies, foxglove, thyme, oregano, borage, love-in-the-mist...

edit: all the plants in my garden are also ones that deer don't like to eat, since they are a far bigger plant-predator around here than the chickens are!
Oh! I have that book...it is really nice and she does have some pretty good ideas in there.. I met the author at the SF Flower and Garden Show. She is a landscape architect and you summed up her premise perfectly! Your garden will flourish with chickens if your ratio is right...I obviously haven't found the right ratio! LOL! But I recommend the book as well!
 
Should I try to watch and see who it is? I'd have to be sneaky, though--they come running when they see me, because I might just have snacks! Heck, if the garage door opens when they're out and about, they're guaranteed to get a handful of BOSS flung into the driveway... Anyway, are there likely to be any problems other than fuzzy areas on some hens? Egg production definitely isn't affected--I'm getting between 30 and 34 eggs a week from my 5 girls! Curry's back's been like that for a couple of months, I think, and I first noticed Quiche's thin spot 2-3 weeks ago, maybe longer.

Actually, it might be Souffle--her former name was Spurs, for self-explanatory reasons, and her comb's the biggest.

Edited because I can never remember how to spell "Souffle" until after I hit "Submit"
hide.gif

I dont know... I added a cockerel and the girls stopped kinda like what Pet Rock experiended VVVV
My head hen and her two enforcers do this. Last year they picked on my big buff brahma. Poor Sass looked terrible until after her molt ended. It is interesting but now that Zoro reigns in the back yard, Precious and her cronies are not doing this at all. Sass tolerates Zoro's attention because it is way better than being jumped three times in a row by the other girls.
 
Does anyone have any advice for me regarding my earlier post about the hatching eggs having yolk on them?

I would wash them. Water needs to be a bit warmer than the egg and just remove the egg goo.

The egg goo will rot and build up bacteria.
 
Amy, are you coming to the party in May at Karen's? I have a 10 year old daughter as well. She was getting a kick out of the pics of your girls and their chickens. My daughter Autumn is a crazy chicken lover like her Mom and will be at the get-together.
It's just a bit too far for me--I'm in Crescent City, which is on the coast, only 19 miles from Oregon, and the party's over 8 hours away.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom