Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Oh - while I was outside with the camera I attempted to take a picture of the burn barrel. After I downloaded, I discovered that it wanted to focus on the bush up close instead of the barrel so it is way out of focus. However the one of the top of it is sharper. She was under the piece of rusted metal that is semi across the top.





Now is that an eyesore, or what? It is back behind my horse shelter where you have to try to even see it, otherwise it would have been gone long ago.

Here is a pic of her now that she is brooding in a dog house in the hoop coop:

 

[michelleml]

I need you guys help can you tell me if this is a roo or pullet? they are 6 wks old so not sure if it's to early




this little one is smaller and doesn't have a tail like the other

 

[HEChicken]

I need you guys help can you tell me if this is a roo or pullet? they are 6 wks old so not sure if it's to early




this little one is smaller and doesn't have a tail like the other

I wouldn't go by the tail at this age - often the pullets have the more impressive tails to begin. But I would say there is a good chance that top pic is of a cockerel based on the comb. Feather coloring also comes into play with BO's, with the hens staying an even buff color all over, while the cockerels develop some darker shading of the buff in key areas. Photos can be hard to tell because it could just be the light but in this photo, it looks like the top bird is developing the darker shading already.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Quote: Welcome! We are neighbors. I'm in Kechi. I think Hechicken's idea is great. Since your chicks are still young, you can take the nest boxes out if it is an option.

Kuan

 

[tweetybaby2005]

When I am home during the day, I open the gate to the duck run and let my birds free range. In the past, my DH and I have had problems with wild birds getting into my duck run and not being able to figure out how to get out, despite the gate being wide open. We've had wild quail and pheasants in there multiple times. Today was a first. My DH found a turtle dove in the pen. It had apparently exhausted itself trying to figure out how to get out. He caught it, showed it to me, and then released it.





On another note, I have noticed that my drake seems to have bare spots. I know some of you might think mites, but none of the other birds show similar symptoms. I have noticed that my white chinese goose tries to "break up the fight" when my drake services one of his ladies. I hadn't really worried about it before because I figured it was only temporary behavior during breeding season. However, today, I caught one of my embden geese on top of one of my Khaki Campbell ducks pulling feathers out. I ran outside and chased the goose away, but now I'm worried that this could become a problem. The 9 ducks, 2 embden geese, and 1 white chinese goose share an 8'x4' duck house every night. Any thoughts or suggestions on this problem?

Lizzy, very cute dove. I love to see them around here.

Kuan

 

[Trish44]

I need you guys help can you tell me if this is a roo or pullet? they are 6 wks old so not sure if it's to early




this little one is smaller and doesn't have a tail like the other

That top one does have a pretty big comb, my guess would be roo for that one & pullet on the lower one.

 

[jhammett]

my neighbor actually told me that at this age the ones with the longer tail feathers are the hens. My birds are 7 weeks old. I am not sure.

 

[HEChicken]

my neighbor actually told me that at this age the ones with the longer tail feathers are the hens. My birds are 7 weeks old. I am not sure.

Overall, I've found hens to develop both wing and tail feathers faster than cockerels. There are exceptions to every rule and there is always the one that surprises me still but in general....

 

[michelleml]

I have 5 bo chicks. 4 of them look like the top picture and 1 like the bottom. I'm hoping that I have 4 pullets and a cockerel

 

[Ralph Moyer]

I've read where the things that got blamed on cats were most likely crib death. People just weren't aware of it. And yes a cat would love snuggling a baby so it's natural they'd get blamed.
I had quite the busy day. I had to rig up some temporary quarters for baby ducks. I still have lots that haven't hatched yet. May not at this point. I failed to check my water bucket and it was low so my humidity dipped some. I had a bunch of chicks hatch as well so this house is a mega of cheeping and chirping. I had to clean out the goose cages cause they reeked too while I was moving chicks around to make room.
I got some temp information from Dr. Josie chick today. K state identified a bacteria that they believe may have caused my birds' sickness. We decided not to go on with more cultures to see what the bacteria responded to since I have been pleased with the tylan results. The necropsy isn't complete yet but it will be soon. He said it could have come from anywhere but most likely migratory birds. I was quite pleased to hear the word bacteria rather than virus. Not that it was a good thing but a bacteria can be killed where a virus can reinfect off spring. So I feel better just believing that I won't have to cull these birds now that they are over the worst. Thank you, Lord!
I did start treating my entire flock as a precautionary though. It didn't spread outside of the one pen but I wanted to be sure all the birds are protected against it. It took me hours to mix medication and give some to each pen. Sure would have been a lot easier to have a building with a central water system and treat them all at once. Maybe someday!