tweety, I'll try to get some pics later when I go back out of the kitties. So far they're hanging out down by the turkey & chick pens where I left their crate. I opened it up when I went out & just let them come out on their own then left the door to the crate open so if they feel safe in there they can go back in. The little calico is a little different, but her momma had some different markings too. This one has grey tiger stripes on her face & the rest of her is calico, it gives her some character & right now she has blue eyes that I'm sure are going to turn greenish later on, she will be medium haired I think, she's a cutie. They had told me the mother was long-haired, but honestly I couldn't tell because she looked so rough. The girl told me she quit taking care of herself when she was pregnant with the kittens, but they must have taken a toll on her too because she was skinny. But then this heat is really taking a toll on the animals because even my GP pups look all scraggly right now & they didn't before it got so hot. Yeah, I was thrilled to get that hardware cloth, believe me, it's so expensive & I couldn't even believe this gal was selling it so cheap. It had been part of a pen for a dog I think & she just wanted to get rid of it & I was glad to grab it up. Also, I'm glad your hen was OK, I have had them do things like that to me too. In fact yesterday I was out & one of my young speckled sussex came out the run door & kind of just sat there all weird looking & when I started towards her she got up & ran over to the bushes I just had sprayed with water. I don't know if she was just really hot & was resting a minute or what, but it scared me because it looked like she had collapsed & after that one chick I watch them close.
The Swedish Flower Hen chick is improving, but still shaky & can't walk well at all. It is eating well & drinking, so I'm hoping it just is weak & needs to recuperate & then it will get the legs back. It kind of just waddles over to the water & food. There is a little shakiness still in it's head, but it is alert & peeping in there & it's starting to poop, so I know that's working now too. I sure hope it recovers completely because it is a pretty bird.
I took the tiny little Cream Legbar chick out & put it in with the other little Swedish Flower Hen chicks in the crate & so far it's holding it's own eating & drinking fine. It was pretty small when it hatched, so it looks like a midget next to those week old chicks. You forget how fast they grow once they hatch until you see the new one next to the others. I sent a PM to the guy I got the eggs from & let him know I got one chick & he was glad to hear I at least got one out of that bad experience. This gives me 4 pullets & 2 cockerels, so when they get bigger & I see which ones I think are the best for breeding I will probably sell a trio if I still have them all. It will be awhile & the same for my Swedish Flower Hen chicks, they have to grow out for awhile so I can see which ones I like the best. That's going to be the hardest I'm sure because they're all so pretty. Of the biggest ones so far I only have one crested & I think it's a pullet. I'm hoping I end up with some more cresteds in the younger batch. But even if I don't they're so pretty, I can see why they named them what they did. I read that they are pretty rare in Sweden now, that by them being imported here we can help save the breed because they are numbered over there. I can't see why anybody wouldn't want these beautiful chickens.
medawinks, I can totally see why you would be worried about going back to school with this heat the way it is. Can you get some of those plastic ice things that you put in lunch boxes to put in waterers? I think they hold the cold probably better than frozen bottles. I bought 5 of them at the store yesterday to try out here & see how they work for me. I had seen where someone puts plastic zip lock bags over them & then you can keep them clean to put back in the freezer. I'm going to try that after while.
I went out & watered all the birds when I got up & came in just soaked already, it's going to be a furnace out there today, ugh. I just went ahead & sprayed down the Ameraucanas while I was out there & made the wet place under the bush for the chickens. I soak the bush so that it drips down on them for awhile & wet the ground underneath so they have some cool ground to sit on. You can see them from the back side of the bush all crowded under there because the bush grows almost to the ground in the front, so it's really shady there. It's a spirea bush & that just got huge on the side of the driveway by the garage door & it's their favorite bush to sit under really year round, but especially in weather like this or a windy day.
Oh & congrats Danz on your Swedish Flower Hen chicks! I think you will love them as much as I do. They're just very unique & friendly little birds.
Everybody stay cool & be careful out there!
and Score on the hardware cloth! That's a great deal! I was shocked at how expensive that stuff what when we bought ours.
