California - Northern

[debs_flock]

Quote: Cats will usually leave Large Fowl chickens alone. I did read of a large Feral Tom that would get one each night as the hens went up into the coop. It seems rare--LF hens can really hurt a cat.

Ron

Yeah, that would be why I said, "chicks, serama & quail". All very tiny, much smaller than a big rat.

Deb

 

[lawatt]

We have an outdoor cat that adopted us, Odie. He eats squirrel, moles, gophers, rats, mice, lizards, snakes...all that. But he lays among the ducks, geese, chickens and snoozes. Completely content. If he gets hungry he goes away and hunts, drags it back to show us sometimes and then eats. LOL He's a good boy. Wish I knew how old he was.

exactly the same as my two -- they catch and eat almost everything imaginable -- but they haven't made any moves in the direction of the chickens.

and funny, if slightly gruesome, story: yesterday when i let the girls out of their coop in the afternoon, they came across the remains of a small bird that someone had killed and eaten most of, just leaving the head, the feet, and some miscellaneous bits behind -- and the chicklets immediately had a tussling match over the feet! each of my two light sussex girls, who are much smaller but faster, grabbed a leg and took off, with a string of larger chickens chasing wildly after her! i SO wish i had my camera with me!

 

[ronott1]

Quote: Cats will usually leave Large Fowl chickens alone. I did read of a large Feral Tom that would get one each night as the hens went up into the coop. It seems rare--LF hens can really hurt a cat.

Ron

Yeah, that would be why I said, "chicks, serama & quail". All very tiny, much smaller than a big rat.

Deb
Quail! Next on my list.

I have predator proof brooders for my chicks. One of my cats is at least part Maine Coon Cat--he looks like a small dog and weighs between 20 and 25 pounds.

. He has the markings but not the fluffy tail.

One of my incubators has a claw mark on it--the cat heard the chirping before the chicks hatched. I keep the incubator in a large closet now....

Ron

 

[Papa Brooder]

BB died Sunday morning and has already been buried by the chicken sitter. Is it too late to take her to UCD?

probably too late i would think. usually they recommend cooling them under running water, towel drying then placing in the fridge until you can get them to the lab. i think buried 4-5 days would be too much but i'm not sure.

 

[AnonAMauze]

We welcome everyone here!

In Sacramento, the have several thing that that are called Northern California Center ....

It all depends on if you break the State up int more than North and South. Some even Break the north into parts and call Redding Far Northern, when several East Coast States fit between Redding and the Oregon Border.

It is great to see you here! What do you have for chickens?

Pictures please

Ron

Lol. I have but two chickens left. I have a Black Tailed White Japanese roo and an Americana hen. The roo is my avi, and my hen seems to be camera shy. I'll try to get pics of her later.

 

[Papa Brooder]

well it's hard to see as with any photo and I don't have a color scale but the smaller egg, second from the top is one of hers. less speckles, richer, darker color. even end of the season this egg is darker than any of the other eggs i have hatched from 3-4 different breeders and I started hatching them early in the season like april. i had a hatcher hatch some of these eggs from me in the spring and she said they were the best marans eggs she had ever seen in years! so, i think highly of them.

 

[debs_flock]

Quail! Next on my list.

Ron

A few minutes ago I had my first quail hatch from eggs laid by the quail eggs that I hatched.

That was quite the endeavor, since they are bobwhite. (23-24 days incubation & 5-6 mos to POL & wilder than a madhatter).

Coturnix on the other hand, amazing turn around. I'm only a few weeks away from eggs on them and it seems like they JUST hatched! (16 days incubation & 6-7 weeks to POL & sweet and friendly).

Deb

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Ok, here's my most massivest multiquote ever!

It's kind like how you get rid of Coyotes, bobcats come, and if you get rid of the bobcats you get weasels and if you get rid of weasels you got a rodent problem...

In our area, when the coyotes left, it was because a mountain lion moved in!

Great question! Likely to order the dozen. That will cost only 45 dollars for the extra six.

Actually, I need to check with the guy that has a waiting list for the Blue Egg Layers from Arkansas....Have you heard of those?

Ron

Yes, I just found that thread last week, but have only read part way through it. Only 40 pages, not like the 600 for the Heritage LF thread. I have a stack of library books to read too!!!

The Marans are 22 weeks old. The Cls I am not sure about. They are from the second hatch, which I started a week before the first CLs hatched, since only two were developing the first time. When I get access to my hatching binder I will look up the dates to be sure. I am pretty sure Orlando is why Animal Control was called. It does seem like the little ones are the noisiest....

You are going to be at the heritage festival on Tuesday? I would love to get some hatching eggs from them. Let me know which day and I will take it off from work.

I am looking forward to going. Also, I love the Bee hive in the picture with the Marans!

Bye,

Ron

Referring to the Heirloom Festival in Santa Rosa? Fowlman (aka Walt) will be judging and speaking on tues, so if you're going for the chickens, that's the day to go. I'll be there.

I'm back home in California!

We saw some beautiful places and had some wonderful adventures (like boulder-ing, hiking and shooting) but it's great to be home.

I am really sad that one of my silkie chickens died Sunday morning (26th). BB was found dead in the coop when the sitter was getting the cockerels out (to take in the house at 6:30 AM). There wasn't any blood or injuries to her so I'm guessing she was egg bound? I wish I had been home to observe her...We might have noticed something because we are often outside with the chickens. She had only layed about 10 eggs in the previous two weeks. Her first egg was layed on August 9 and the sitter said she had layed 2 eggs at the begining of our vacation (around the 20th and 21st) but hadn't layed any since. The other 10 chickens (6 large fowl and 4 silkies) were all perfectly fine, fortunately. Our other blue silkie, Mysty Blue ironically gave us her first egg this Wednesday. It had a lot of blood on it so I gave her a soaking bath and put A&D ointment on her vent. Then I gave her some scrambled eggs with spinach, garlic and olive oil for breakfast. Now we are worried about Mysty Blue becoming egg bound. What are the signs of a chicken being egg bound?

Oh, Buffy, our Buff Orpington is broody again so I put 4 of BB's eggs under her..........just in case they are fertile! Might as well give Buffy something to sit on. The 2 silkie cockerels are crowing and starting the mating dance but we haven't actually seen them mate. It would be awesome if BB left us some fertile eggs before her death.

Has anyone ever had a pullet attack them? Our 17 week old Welsummer, Ginger, ran up to my son today and pecked and scratched him with her claws and beak. It was really strange. She does not attack me and has never done this before (our vacation). We wondered if Ginger was upset because he hasn't been around to give her treats (mealworms) or if it was a pecking order thing?

It's really nice to be back in beautiful California which cannot be beat for its forests, lakes and rivers. And, I sure missed my BYC friends.

Welcome home and sorry about your chicken. I have a Welsummer (hatchery chick) and of my 11, she is by far the most standoffish and rarely comes near even for a treat. She is the only one not yet laying also. Maybe she'll get friendlier after the eggs come.

just an interesting note, i've got two cats that are voracious predators, little Henry has been known to catch as many as 3 gophers in a single hour -- and i'd never trust baby chicks around either cat -- but they are turning out to be great with the chickens, haven't lifted a paw to swat or chase any of them, not even the two light sussex chicks when they were only 6-7 weeks old so more cat-snack-sized. in fact, the two cuckoo marans have started chasing Henry, as a game, rather than the other way around!

someone pointed out to me, early in my chicken adventure, that barn cats have been coexisting with chickens for centuries...

here's my other cat, Sophie, hanging out with the two silver pencilled rocks i got from Cheryl:

Hi Laura! When I was a kid we had a cat that was a birder. Never touched a rodent. He'd hunt quail and towees and jays. Got a robin once. The barn swallows hated him and would dive bomb his head. He even ate my parakeet, which is a long sad story. We could never break him of this, so mom just fed him up until he got too lazy to hunt. He never did bother the chickens- the dogs and the roosters would have put a stop to that! All other cats we had over the years were strictly mousers (rats, gophers, moles, voles, and sadly, the occasional shrew.)

Can you drop off the dead one to UCD? It is free and you will not have to guess what she died from.

Mine earlier this month was like that and it was Mareks Cancer. Yours is a bit young for that but you never know.

I checked for egg bound once, but it wound up being mites. It is mite season too. There are so many things going on.

Necropsy is free and a great way to see what happened and what the general health of your flock is.

Let me know if you need the contact information.

Ron

Ron, when I looked on the UCD website, it said $100 for chicken necropsy! Is there a secret password or something?

i think i'd have to agree with you. we live in paicines ( ok, all together now !!! WHERES PAICINES ??? ) gosh, if i had a nickle for every time i heard that. well, it's in between the coast and the central valley. so we live in central cal. not coast, not valley. yea, i guess that would explain it. ok, i think i did it right this time

You are in the middle of the middle!!! Welcome to the thread!

I have seen posts in the past here on BYC where double yokers did hatch out two live chicks, but it is very unusual. I just set some eggs for a friend (Golden Cuckoo Marans, Bresse and bantam BLRW) and one of the Bresse eggs is huge and I am thing it has a double yoke. That would be neat if I hatch twins!

There is a Cream Legbar breeder close to me and I am very tempted to buy some eggs from her! Good thing my incubator is full.

Look at the size of the other Bresse eggs (marked PB) compared to the big one on the end. It looks even larger out of the incubator!

Cool.

That would be quite a surprise to put 8 eggs in your incubator and find 9 chicks one day. Will you be able to tell from candling if the one is a double yolker or if two embryos are forming? If one embryo absorbed both yolks, you could get a SuperChicken! Now I have to go look up Bresse. Another new thing for me!

~Lynda

 

[ronott1]

Ok, here's my most massivest multiquote ever!
Quote: For the UCD Necropsy, you were looking at the commercial link.

Here is what you are looking for:
Backyard flock (Chickens, turkeys, waterfowl, squabs) <1000 birds on premise (must state # at site) No charge >1000 birds at site, $100 for 1-8 birds on same day
l

If you are under 1000 birds on site, it is free.

Pack up the bird like the instructions say and either Use Fedex or bring it in to one of the labs.


UC DAVIS

http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/index.cfm

You can send dead birds here for necropsy testing. I hope you don't need it, but Debi/PetRock suggested this addition and it's a good one. Thanks Debi and Ron, for the link.

UC DAVIS FEDEX INFO: Their account # is 364343981. If you use their account number you will get to use UC Davis's discount which is up to 70% off. They said that they will bill you for the shipment after you get the report (or at the same time.) Also, FedEx and UPS both ship to the actual lab every day... the Postal Service doesn't.



CAHFS - Davis Laboratory
University of California
West Health Sciences Drive
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: 530-752-8700
Fax: 530-752-6253
[email protected]

CAHFS - San Bernardino Laboratory
Branch Chief: Dr. Hailu Kinde
105 W. Central Avenue
San Bernardino, CA
92408-2113
Phone: (909) 383-4287
Fax: (909) 884-5980
[email protected]

CAHFS - Tulare Laboratory
Branch Chief: Dr. Patricia Blanchard
18830 Road 112
Tulare, CA
93274-9042
Phone: (559) 688-7543
Fax: (559) 686-4231
[email protected]

CAHFS - Turlock Laboratory
Branch Chief: Dr. Bruce Charlton
1550 Soderquist Rd.
Turlock, CA
95381-2204
Phone: (209) 634-5837
Fax: (209) 667-4261
[email protected]


Ron

 

[jbirds2012]

Quail! Next on my list.

I have predator proof brooders for my chicks. One of my cats is at least part Maine Coon Cat--he looks like a small dog and weighs between 20 and 25 pounds.

. He has the markings but not the fluffy tail.

One of my incubators has a claw mark on it--the cat heard the chirping before the chicks hatched. I keep the incubator in a large closet now....

Ron

years ago when i moved to copertino it was the first time i had my own back yard in years, so the first two things i did was start a garden and get some chickens. i made a pen for the chickens and would let them out when i was home. soon after i brought them home i found my cat sneaking up on one and i told her that "what ever happins to them happins to you" i had a six foot fence and the next thing i knew i saw sandy my cat chasing off the other cats from the nieghborhood. i guess she didn't want to get blamed for something she didn't do. she turned out to be a good watch dog cat.