Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

I have 2 runs and 2 flocks that free range together in a fenced yard when I'm home.

When I was out of town for a week, my DH took care of the chickens. The last night (I got home about 9 that evening) one of the older hens from the original flock and run got put in the run with the younger Orpingtons. Over night she was pecked pretty badly on the head and neck. There was a fair amount of blood in several places in the coop and she was a mess. I brought her in the house for the day and treated her (cleaned and blu-kote) and put her back with the hens in the original run that night after dark. No more problems, but having her trapped with the newer chickens made her a victim. She is quite alpha and the oldest of my hens.

Chickens hate change, and change can cause their behaviors to adapt. Little raptors they are.

 

[Trish44]

I have 2 runs and 2 flocks that free range together in a fenced yard when I'm home.

When I was out of town for a week, my DH took care of the chickens. The last night (I got home about 9 that evening) one of the older hens from the original flock and run got put in the run with the younger Orpingtons. Over night she was pecked pretty badly on the head and neck. There was a fair amount of blood in several places in the coop and she was a mess. I brought her in the house for the day and treated her (cleaned and blu-kote) and put her back with the hens in the original run that night after dark. No more problems, but having her trapped with the newer chickens made her a victim. She is quite alpha and the oldest of my hens.

Chickens hate change, and change can cause their behaviors to adapt. Little raptors they are.

I agree with you there sharol, chickens don't like change, they're very picky about it in fact. Just one change of any kind can throw them off laying. I decided about 2 weeks ago to move a hen into my BR pen that has been in my laying flock. Not only is she not laying but now the other two aren't laying either. Sometimes it can take months after a move to another pen for the hens to start laying again, case in point my New Hamps. I moved them after getting some other pullets to another pen & they haven't laid since. Hopefully these hens will all eventually get acclimated & start laying again.

It's raining like crazy here right now, I sure am sick of this stuff. I hope it gives me a break this afternoon so I can go out & feed my birds & animals without getting soaked. The birds & animals are sick of this crap too.

 

[sharol]

I agree with you there sharol, chickens don't like change, they're very picky about it in fact. Just one change of any kind can throw them off laying. I decided about 2 weeks ago to move a hen into my BR pen that has been in my laying flock. Not only is she not laying but now the other two aren't laying either. Sometimes it can take months after a move to another pen for the hens to start laying again, case in point my New Hamps. I moved them after getting some other pullets to another pen & they haven't laid since. Hopefully these hens will all eventually get acclimated & start laying again.

It's raining like crazy here right now, I sure am sick of this stuff. I hope it gives me a break this afternoon so I can go out & feed my birds & animals without getting soaked. The birds & animals are sick of this crap too.

It is raining here too, 33 degrees. I just wish it would melt some of the 3/8" of ice off the netting over the runs. I really don't want to have to replace it. It isn't so much the cost (though it is that, too) as it is the sheer work of doing it. Manhandling 50x50 netting is not easy.

I vote for this ice to go away now. Anyone else in that with me?

 

[chicken danz]

You are so right Sharol. @Champeaux I have tried to balance my feed by season. Corn is great during winter because it contains more fat and it is also harder to digest. So in turn the chickens create more heat digesting it. I like using predominately milo with a lower degree of corn in the summer because corn can contribute to overheating. Just some more thoughts for future feeding. The one thing I haven't figured out is how to make sure they get an intake of enough bugs during the winter months. I have found that meal worms cause diarrhea. I know several people who never feed their chickens. They simply let them scavenge for all their food. These people however, have livestock and the chickens get bits of grain from whatever is spilled and they also spend their days going through piles of horse or cattle poop eating seeds and bugs.
I also read that the type of chicken you have makes a difference in dietary needs as well. This information from a veterinarian site. Heritage breeds and modern hatchery breeds require much different levels of nutrients, because the hatchery breeds are genetically altered to lay more or produce meat faster.
Trish it's been raining all day here. Some is freezing, some is not. I haven't been out to feed yet. Decided to clean the floors first in hopes it would stop.
I really don't feel like doing much of anything.

 

[chicken danz]

More rain today but at least it isn't freezing. I am so over this stuff.
I spent a good deal of time last night out in the rain and the mud. Britt was having her puppies. We had to move her to the "puppy" house and get her all set up with a sweeter heater and a heated water bowl etc. We've gotten over 6 inches of rain and you just sink up to your boot tops in the mud. I hope DH hauls in some gravel or something to the kennel so Britt won't have to walk through mud. I haven't been out to check her yet this morning and get a final count.
We had a "fire" in one of the hoop coops. I had an power cord attached to a heated water bowl and apparently when the rain was coming from the north it shorted out the cord. The cord and the cord to the water bowl were both melted. I need to get another tarp over that hoop coop cause it's a muddy mess out there.
My entire yard is a lake. We have water sitting everywhere. The geese and ducks are having a grand time but every thing else is miserable. I don't even see the chickens out this morning. No place to walk that isn't a puddle.

 

[sharol]

@Danz glad the fire was only the bowl and cord.

We had about 3/8" of ice on everything, more in some places. It is finally almost all off the coop netting, and amazingly enough, the only damage was the hole I poked in it when it was frozen. I may have to tighten it up, but it is pretty much sort of back to normal. Everything is swimming in water, but we really needed the moisture.

We lost a couple of big branches out of older trees that couldn't afford to lose them, too. No harm to the birds though.

Congrats on the puppies. Let us know how they are doing.

 

[Trish44]

I'm with you sharol & danz, I'm so sick of this wet stuff & mud I could scream. I'm so afraid I'm going to slip & fall again. I have boots with really good traction but even with those I fell the other day. The sheep & goats are really not happy having to stay in the pens & walk around in poop soup. There isn't much I can do about it. Tomorrow it's supposed to clear up here & warm up a bit, I sure hope so.

Congrats on the puppies danz, let us know how they're doing.

 

[Frizzled Pink]

More rain today but at least it isn't freezing. I am so over this stuff.
I spent a good deal of time last night out in the rain and the mud. Britt was having her puppies. We had to move her to the "puppy" house and get her all set up with a sweeter heater and a heated water bowl etc. We've gotten over 6 inches of rain and you just sink up to your boot tops in the mud. I hope DH hauls in some gravel or something to the kennel so Britt won't have to walk through mud. I haven't been out to check her yet this morning and get a final count.
We had a "fire" in one of the hoop coops. I had an power cord attached to a heated water bowl and apparently when the rain was coming from the north it shorted out the cord. The cord and the cord to the water bowl were both melted. I need to get another tarp over that hoop coop cause it's a muddy mess out there.
My entire yard is a lake. We have water sitting everywhere. The geese and ducks are having a grand time but every thing else is miserable. I don't even see the chickens out this morning. No place to walk that isn't a puddle.

FINAL COUNT---SQUEEEE!!! Does that mean puppies are here?????

 

[TakenBackBre]

Puppies!!

 

[chicken danz]

Well eight was the final count. I haven't bothered her enough yet to see what we have in girls vs boys. I'm a little disappointed because right now they look all white. I was really hoping that some of Marshmallows badger ears would show up in there. I'm happy just the same.