Let me start off by saying taking care of living creatures has always been my thing. Keeping a plant or a garden alive - yeah not so much. But I've successfully had dogs and they've lived long, healthy lives. I've kept guinea pigs, rabbits, reptiles, amphibians, gerbils and bred and raised dwarf hamsters all successfully.
But these chickens are getting the better of me. I just feel like I'm not doing well with the whole thing.
We have seven Rhode Island Whites - two are clearly roosters and the other five are hens. I estimate their ages to be around 8-9 weeks. They were yellow chicks with just the slightest hint of white feathers at the tips of their wings on March 29th. But the store we got them from didn't know the age at the time.
We are currently waiting on having a large area fenced in specifically for them. It was supposed to be done two weeks ago and we're still waiting. Meanwhile they are in a much smaller area with a small coop. They are crowded in the coop at night but have plenty of room during the day. When we get the larger area fenced we will be providing a much, much bigger coop.
Here are the problems thus far:
Flies - there are a million of them. I'm changing the bedding under the coop every other day, raking the pen area and still I can't keep up with the flies. It's insane.
Poop - Several of the chickens have diarrhea. I'm trying to figure out what's going on and they are all eating and drinking well. But it is very runny poop.
Despite the large pen area, they all stay under the coop the majority of the day. And because of that they look filthy. I know a lot of that is because they are white but the underside of them looks muddy and nasty. Which makes me feel like I'm not taking very good care of them. Though their feathers themselves are shiny and bright on their backs, necks and wings.
I know I need to get rid of one of the roosters, and that would probably help.
I'm on the verge of just finding them new homes before I mess them up anymore. I'm just afraid we're not going to get the bigger area built and ready for another month and I hate that the coop is so crowded now. I may leave the coop open tonight so they can go underneath if wanted (they are inside yet another fence in our backyard and we have three dogs and a large security light so am not horribly worried about predators).
Is there something I can do? What am I doing wrong? At this point I'm finding it more stressful trying to keep them clean, happy and healthy that I'm having a difficult time enjoying them. :-(
But these chickens are getting the better of me. I just feel like I'm not doing well with the whole thing.
We have seven Rhode Island Whites - two are clearly roosters and the other five are hens. I estimate their ages to be around 8-9 weeks. They were yellow chicks with just the slightest hint of white feathers at the tips of their wings on March 29th. But the store we got them from didn't know the age at the time.
We are currently waiting on having a large area fenced in specifically for them. It was supposed to be done two weeks ago and we're still waiting. Meanwhile they are in a much smaller area with a small coop. They are crowded in the coop at night but have plenty of room during the day. When we get the larger area fenced we will be providing a much, much bigger coop.
Here are the problems thus far:
Flies - there are a million of them. I'm changing the bedding under the coop every other day, raking the pen area and still I can't keep up with the flies. It's insane.
Poop - Several of the chickens have diarrhea. I'm trying to figure out what's going on and they are all eating and drinking well. But it is very runny poop.
Despite the large pen area, they all stay under the coop the majority of the day. And because of that they look filthy. I know a lot of that is because they are white but the underside of them looks muddy and nasty. Which makes me feel like I'm not taking very good care of them. Though their feathers themselves are shiny and bright on their backs, necks and wings.
I know I need to get rid of one of the roosters, and that would probably help.
I'm on the verge of just finding them new homes before I mess them up anymore. I'm just afraid we're not going to get the bigger area built and ready for another month and I hate that the coop is so crowded now. I may leave the coop open tonight so they can go underneath if wanted (they are inside yet another fence in our backyard and we have three dogs and a large security light so am not horribly worried about predators).
Is there something I can do? What am I doing wrong? At this point I'm finding it more stressful trying to keep them clean, happy and healthy that I'm having a difficult time enjoying them. :-(
. They love dirt, bugs, and get their poop and other's poop all over them. I'm like you and love all different species and keeping them for their own unique needs. I think the tricky thing with chickens is that it's so easy we tend to over think it.
