California-Southern

[sol2go]

That is an amazing recommendation and sounds worth the drive. We've become so attached to our babies and losing 2 in 2 weeks (raccoon and our own poodle!!!!) has been devestating. It has become very obvious that we love them and want the best life and best care for them. Omg do you live in PV?? a beachside farm is my dream.

Hi, sorry I edited the original note in case it was too stressful to read about all that. I'm glad you thought it was helpful.
Yes, there are unusually rural options tucked into the peninsula.
Hope some of the safety issues can be resolved. I think most people go through a bit of trial and error and sadness too. Sometimes it's a simple fix, other times, not so easy.

 

[chick-habit]

I didn't mind your original post. It actually is encouraging to know not all injuries are fatal. We won't let our dog around the chickens anymore and if we do in the future she'll have a muzzle. She was guarding her food when the attack happened.
The day our roo was attacked by the raccoon my husband and I attached hardware cloth to the entire bottom of the coop, added extra soil, and placed blocks around the coop. A raccoon had slipped it's paw into a slight gap that had been created from the chicks digging for bugs. It grabbed our boy while he was sleeping. Now the coop is essentially totally wrapped in hardware cloth and no little paws should be able to get in. Hoping for a safe future for our girls!! Thanks again for your comments.

Hi, sorry I edited the original note in case it was too stressful to read about all that.  I'm glad you thought it was helpful.
Yes, there are unusually rural options tucked into the peninsula.  
Hope some of the safety issues can be resolved.  I think most people go through a bit of trial and error and sadness too.  Sometimes it's a simple fix, other times, not so easy.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

Oh, Chick-Habit! I'm so sorry! Your babies were so beautiful, too. I'm glad you have a fortress for them. If you're ever down in North San Diego County I found a great 24 hour emergency all-animal vet who specializes in chickens. But the first guy I went to in Murietta turned out to be a hack. It was an emergency and I didn't check reviews. He neutered the wrong dog among other horrible things! But no one could save my boy anyway Lots of us can understand how you feel. Hugs from San Diego.

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

We have a rooster box.

Where did you get it?  And how well does it work?  My problem is that roosters crow all day long, and I can't keep them in a box 24/7 - that defeats the purpose of having a roo.  

Roosters are not allowed at ALL within my city limits.  Hens are, if you are zoned for farm animals.  There are some exceptions to the zoning rule - for hens.

I have tried the no crow collars, but I can't seem to get the results that I see on all the videos.  I was using it on a silkie, so I made a smaller width one - still they were much louder than the hens.  And my hens can get pretty loud when they are fighting for a favorite nesting box....

We built ours. We call it "The Cock Pit"

We were going to totally build from scratch, but we were lucky enough to find a small well-built coop that was never really used for free (the owner had it custom built, but it was too big for her run). So we insulated it and added another layer of exterior wall to hold the insulation material (carpet, because it was free). We also modified it to have 2 doors and made a removable divider inside, so there are 2 apartments.

 

[chick-habit]

You are so sweet. Thank you!! Someone wrote that chicken keeping involves trial and error and some sadness. It gives me a little comfort to know we aren't the only ones who didn't get it right at first.
I am so lucky to have such beautiful babies, their personalities make them even better!

Oh, Chick-Habit! I'm so sorry! Your babies were so beautiful, too. I'm glad you have a fortress for them. If you're ever down in North San Diego County I found a great 24 hour emergency all-animal vet who specializes in chickens. But the first guy I went to in Murietta turned out to be a hack. It was an emergency and I didn't check reviews. He neutered the wrong dog among other horrible things! But no one could save my boy anyway Lots of us can understand how you feel. Hugs from San Diego.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

We built ours. We call it "The Cock Pit"

We were going to totally build from scratch, but we were lucky enough to find a small well-built coop that was never really used for free (the owner had it custom built, but it was too big for her run). So we insulated it and added another layer of exterior wall to hold the insulation material (carpet, because it was free). We also modified it to have 2 doors and made a removable divider inside, so there are 2 apartments.

Smart!! Nero loves his dog crate but I can't keep carrying him inside at night. The place I was going to build a duck coop would work well for a darkened "cock pit." Hmm plans.... Any pics?

 

[Sylvester017]

After a chicken tragedy and a sucky vet we realize we need chicken doctor recommendations. We are in LA very close to dtla. Please tell me who you take your chickens to within a 20 mile radius of dtla. Thank you!!

Exotic Animal Care in Pasadena http://exoticanimalcarecenter.com/ Dr. Tiffany Margolin Avian Vet
There is another avian vet in Eagle Rock as well but do not know the name

We actually took our roo to her first before heading to the second one (bad experience at 2nd location. Vet made us wait an hour to see our roo that had life threatening raccoon injuries) We were too panicked to get a good opinion of her but it's good to know others like her. Thank you!!

Seems unlikely that she deliberately made you wait, more likley she just had other animals to see as well.

This vet may be a long distance from Bellflower but maybe other chickeneers on this thread will find his location suitable. My vet is on the Duarte-Azusa border but he is qualified for dogs/cats/exotics/birds and has been the vet for my hens for 5 years. He is not a referral vet but does his own surgeries. He has done light nasal surgery on one of my little Silkies and treats her every year when she gets a serious CRD issue - she's my problem child! She has cost me so much vet money over the years that we figured the value of each of her eggs has been roughly $15 each egg ~ LOL! There have been times that the front desk didn't have an appt available for 1 or 2 days but if I'm sure my problem is an emergency they will squeeze me in if I can come in immediately. Doctor was preparing for kidney stone surgery on a dog when I called once with an emergency on my little Silkie and he managed to see me within a few minutes after I arrived. I have never been denied emergency visits since issues with little 2-lb Silkies can mean life-or-death to wait too long before they are treated. Doctors are only one person and sometimes patients can overwhelm one doctor's schedule in a day. Still, this one does his best to accommodate our emergencies. I have seen guinea pigs, lizards, and even turtles and starlings at his office. On one visit he told me he had to surgically amputate someone's Leghorn's mangled wing that day. He truly loves all animals and has previously worked in the poultry industry himself. A patient's first visit has been traditionally free but medications/prescriptions/lab tests are not. If you see him for a second opinion exam it is free. He's slightly less expensive than traditional avian-only vets. We called an avian-only vet in Pasadena and they were $20 more for standard office visits. All doctors can be overwhelmed with patients in one day and seems you wait forever "in line" on some days so why pay $20 more for an office visit?

Dr. Zabihi, DVM - dogs, cats, birds, exotics
Duarte-Azusa Animal Hospital - Emergency Veterinary, Surgical & Critical Care
2714 E. Huntington Dr. (and Las Lomas Avenue)
Duarte, CA
626/357-2251

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

We built ours. We call it "The Cock Pit"

We were going to totally build from scratch, but we were lucky enough to find a small well-built coop that was never really used for free (the owner had it custom built, but it was too big for her run). So we insulated it and added another layer of exterior wall to hold the insulation material (carpet, because it was free). We also modified it to have 2 doors and made a removable divider inside, so there are 2 apartments.

Smart!! Nero loves his dog crate but I can't keep carrying him inside at night. The place I was going to build a duck coop would work well for a darkened "cock pit." Hmm plans.... Any pics?

I'll have to dig it up. Had to archive. Too many chicken pics on phone

And it was over a year ago. I have in progress pics too. Hmm, maybe I should do as blog post. Enough ppl I meet/talk to ask about it. Lol.

 

[chick-habit]

Thank you so much for your comment. The doctor sounds amazing!! Where are your silkies from?





This vet may be a long distance from Bellflower but maybe other chickeneers on this thread will find his location suitable.  My vet is on the Duarte-Azusa border but he is qualified for dogs/cats/exotics/birds and has been the vet for my hens for 5 years.  He is not a referral vet but does his own surgeries.  He has done light nasal surgery on one of my little Silkies and treats her every year when she gets a serious CRD issue - she's my problem child!  She has cost me so much vet money over the years that we figured the value of each of her eggs has been roughly $15 each egg ~ LOL!  There have been times that the front desk didn't have an appt available for 1 or 2 days but if I'm sure my problem is an emergency they will squeeze me in if I can come in immediately.  Doctor was preparing for kidney stone surgery on a dog when I called once with an emergency on my little Silkie and he managed to see me within a few minutes after I arrived.  I have never been denied emergency visits since issues with little 2-lb Silkies can mean life-or-death to wait too long before they are treated.  Doctors are only one person and sometimes patients can overwhelm one doctor's schedule in a day.  Still, this one does his best to accommodate our emergencies.  I have seen guinea pigs, lizards, and even turtles and starlings at his office.  On one visit he told me he had to surgically amputate someone's Leghorn's mangled wing that day.  He truly loves all animals and has previously worked in the poultry industry himself.  A patient's first visit has been traditionally free but medications/prescriptions/lab tests are not.  If you see him for a second opinion exam it is free.  He's slightly less expensive than traditional avian-only vets.  We called an avian-only vet in Pasadena and they were $20 more for standard office visits.  All doctors can be overwhelmed with patients in one day and seems you wait forever "in line" on some days so why pay $20 more for an office visit?

Dr. Zabihi, DVM - dogs, cats, birds, exotics
Duarte-Azusa Animal Hospital - Emergency Veterinary, Surgical & Critical Care
2714 E. Huntington Dr. (and Las Lomas Avenue)
Duarte, CA
626/357-2251

 

[Sylvester017]

I only have 4 hens and 2 of them are Silkies. The oldest is a 5-yr-old Partridge which I got "free" from a friend who paid good money for her hatching eggs just so I could have Silkies while she was hatching her own birds in the Spring of 2011.

In April 2011 I picked up 2 Partridge at day-old from my friend but one grew out a sweet little cockerel that I had to give back - 6-months here:



This is my little Partridge hen sneaking into the house with her "friends" - a Blue Breda and the little Black Silkie - 2016


My only two Silkie hens - 2015


The little Black Silkie is my problem child - she is an OCD hen who scratches too hard and has lost toesnails and even half her two outer toes making them bleed she scratches so hard. She's spunky, funny, very tame. We made an appt with Wes's Pets and Feed in El Monte and in March 2012 he had a private breeder bring in 12 juvenile Silkies in various colors - I was going to pick a Partridge pullet to replace the Partridge male we had to re-home but we fell in love with this little Black stinker instead - she's the reason my DH loves Silkies so much and won't part with them so I can keep only smaller docile large fowl around them! Silkies are laying machines when in their egg cycle and lay the largest bantam egg - ours are 1.25 to 1.5-oz



2016 - This is the spunky little Black Silkie with debris in her "hair" after a romp outdoors - on her feet her missing outer toes are evident - the vet was not concerned that those toes were half-missing - he said the outer toes were not as critical as the other toes.


I never had a chicken that took "showers" until the little Black figured how to work the water nipple valves - she hits them and stands under the dripping water to get her head, chest, and back all soaked on especially hot days!


All our hens use the 5 different dog houses around the yard to hide/snooze in






DH hands out treats - we lost the Blue Wheaten Ameraucana last month

(on the left) and have another Breda pullet on order from NoCalif - just waiting for temperatures to go down before the breeder ships her to me - we found the Breda and our Ameraucana have been docile breeds to have around our two Silkies. I won't get any more Ameraucanas nor Easter Eggers because they are too heavily underdowned for our humid summers! Silkies are fluffy but not heavily underdowned and fare better in our humid summers.


I've had to re-home all other dual-purpose heavier breeds because at maturity they started to bully the gentle smaller breeds. A Marans cannibalized the Partridge Silkie a few years ago and even chewed off her comb before we realized the poor Silkie was NOT molting! I don't keep dual-purpose or heavier breeds around the Silkies any more. The Partridge grew back her crest and body feathers but of course the comb was permanently gone!



In future my sources for new Silkies will be Wes's Pets and Feed where a local breeder brings in older juveniles that are easily identified males or females. Or I will travel to Norco, CA to Amber Waves Silkies where they have DNA-sexed Silkie chicks in the most standard color varieties - Black, Blue, Buff, Partridge, White. Amber Waves got recognition when Tori Spelling's reality TV went to the farm to select her White Silkie. I won't get unsexed Silkie chicks anymore because it was too heartbreaking to have to re-home our Partridge cockerel since we aren't zoned for crowing roos!