Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!

[It_is_I_Rae]

Wow, peanut butter or raw egg, that's very clever! The other day I noticed that one of my chicks has a cross beak, so I think I will try that!

Thanks, I hope it works for you! It does save us both a lot of stress, I was hand feeding her before I figured that out.

 

[Clumsabella]

We have such a vibrant community here at BYC... tons of active friendly members. Of course, life gets busy, so I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread welcoming some of our peeps we haven't heard from in a while.

If that's you, come say hello and let us know what you've been up to.

(if that's not you, feel free to invite peeps you haven't seen in a while and say hi to those that post here)

It's been nearly six years since I was last active on this site, but I appreciate the reminder to come on back and engage with the community again!

In the time since I last posted, I graduated HS, went to university for a degree in (you guessed it!) agricultural science, and graduated with two bachelors last June. In all the time in between, I've kept up with our backyard flock, hatched five chicks in my bedroom during lockdown, and am now working on shepherding our girls through their "retirement". We've dwindled from 27 chickens down to 11, and lost our beloved rooster Bubbie this last spring. But the birds that are still kicking are as much of a delight as always, and remind me every day why I love the field I chose to dedicate myself to.

In a way, this community is as much a part of my journey as those very first chicks were, all those years ago. Thank you to everyone here for being incredible!! <3

(And, of course, a pic of my beautiful baby girl Kirby for chicken tax)

 

[casportpony]

Thanks, I hope it works for you! It does save us both a lot of stress, I was hand feeding her before I figured that out.

Thanks so much for the tip. I'll let you know how it works.

 

[PatrickBurwell]

We have such a vibrant community here at BYC... tons of active friendly members. Of course, life gets busy, so I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread welcoming some of our peeps we haven't heard from in a while.

If that's you, come say hello and let us know what you've been up to.

(if that's not you, feel free to invite peeps you haven't seen in a while and say hi to those that post here)

The Home Brooder was a disaster. Out of 18 only two survived. But one is a big ol rooster, so all good and one very pretty ngd and brown hen. We have a brooding hen from some Orpingtins I picked up, and two Golden comets, so the brooder is doing the raising. Had to let two aggressive RI Reds go that get injuring the brooder. But they got that bad habit so now the brooder gets the coop to raise chicks by herself and she is pretty happy about that. The rest make breakfast!. We go ~6-8 eggs a day. The rooster is a tad annoying at times so our closest neighbor gets free eggs to compensate. They are happy and so are we.
Did you know ducks make great hen protectors?

My chickens just hide...

 

[casportpony]

It's been nearly six years since I was last active on this site, but I appreciate the reminder to come on back and engage with the community again!

In the time since I last posted, I graduated HS, went to university for a degree in (you guessed it!) agricultural science, and graduated with two bachelors last June. In all the time in between, I've kept up with our backyard flock, hatched five chicks in my bedroom during lockdown, and am now working on shepherding our girls through their "retirement". We've dwindled from 27 chickens down to 11, and lost our beloved rooster Bubbie this last spring. But the birds that are still kicking are as much of a delight as always, and remind me every day why I love the field I chose to dedicate myself to.

In a way, this community is as much a part of my journey as those very first chicks were, all those years ago. Thank you to everyone here for being incredible!! <3

(And, of course, a pic of my beautiful baby girl Kirby for chicken tax)

Welcome back! Thank you for sharing your inspiring journey with us, and congratulations on your achievements. I look forward to hearing more and seeing more pictures.

Kirby is too cute!

 

[casportpony]

I'm still around, as I mentioned on Backyard Herds. Hope to get some pics up, soon!

Welcome back! The coop in your avatar is amazing! It looks like you built it around a tree!

 

[Legolas13]

This sounds like a fun idea! I wonder if you'll get any replies????

Season is finishing now until July. Just sold the last of my pullets and down to my minimum number of birds.

 

[extrailrider]

This is fun I love how everyone is posting about new birds! I just got my meat chicks 2 weeks ago and have 2 meat ducks. My egg ducks and chickens are still doing well except the ducks have been lazy about laying recently

Hi, I'm just curious if you eat the duck eggs...?

 

[Kglassmo]

Welcome back! I'd love to chat with you about dealing with bumblefoot & egg binding.

Happy to help others out there. Bumble foot occurs mostly in heavier breeds, that might be exposed to moist ground on regular basis but sometimes it just happens from soft foot pads getting damaged and allows bacterial infection underneath skin. For treatment, I soak foot in warm epsom salt solution for 5-10 min, sterilize with vetrycin spray or chlorhexidine. This softens black cap of granuloma which can be pulled off gently with tweezers. There will be a white to yellow mass of cheesy pus (dead skin cells) that also needs to be gently flushed or tweezed out. I use an orthodontic syringe like what i use to flush dental abscess for my elderly rabbit. It’s best to not dig too deep, but try to remove as much dead tissue as possible without causing stress to your bird. They do bleed a lot from foot pad area. So, cleanse again with vetrycin spray, apply pressure if bleeding for a couple minutes, pat dry and generously apply Vaseline over open sore. Finally, wrap with stretchy vet gauze, but never too tightly. I try to do the procedure in late afternoon or before their bedtime so I know they will leave their bandage alone overnight. I check first thing in morning. It takes about 3-4 days before healed enough to remove bandage. Then it’s just maintenance and keeping foot clean from debris. And ensuring coop/run stay dry & clean. Hope this helps.

 

[feather16]

Hi! Thanks so much for reaching out

My little flock is doing okay.. we experienced our first dog attack, lost two girls, but managed to save the third girl who got attacked, thank God. And now I’m trying to manage my old man rooster (only 7, but acting old) who is being chased and harassed by my little bantam polish menace of a rooster, he’ll be one in june, so he’s full of hormones - little turd.

Other than that, we are happy campers