First Time Chick Parents, Spring 2016

[athomas718]

All three are getting close. One of my cuckoos is at the exact same stage. But she has been like that for about a month so I think they might take longer for their eggs to come once their hormones kick in.

So about the no crow collar. We had one on our main rooster and I spaced checking how tight it was for a few weeks because he wasn't acting like it was bothering him. It was a mistake. It chocked him out and we lost him in a matter of minutes. I heard the noises and thought it was them just making a fuss about roosting for the night but knew it was an odd noise. Right after we finished dinner I went to tuck them in and he was dead on the floor. Do not forget to check it if they are not fully grown!! Becoming complacent is so easy to do because you know we all have a million and one things to do. But it's worth taking the time ever other day to check it. I took it off my bantam because honestly his crow isn't extremely loud and won't be putting it on my other rooster for as long as possible.

That's one of the main reasons I haven't put the collar on him either. I just don't want him to die. I'd feel so awful! None of my chickens are particularly friendly. I try to pet them at night when I tuck them into the coop and they are pretty receptive because they are tired and already perched on their roost, but out and about they don't really want me grabbing at them or petting them lol. So it will be hard to get him caught too. His crow isn't bad, but we don't live far from neighbors either, so I just don't want my neighbors to make a fuss about it. His crow isn't any worse than a dog barking in the neighborhood. And if their window to the coop is closed at night (in cold weather it is), his morning crow is not audible.

I'm just trying to hold off as much as possible. It seems he crows about three times a day. Morning, mid day and evening.

 

[vadgoo]

Do chickens do better with a rooster? He seems to pick a t them alot, I am trying to decide if I should get rid of him but I read that hens like having a rooster around?

 

[Blooie]

Actually in most instances they couldn't care less. They don't need one for laying eggs, they can find food and find their roosts all by themselves, and if their environment is secure they don't need him for predator protection either. In reality he is more an early warning system against predators and will defend the flock if he's doing his job, but even the best rooster can be overpowered or ignored by a determined predator. So in the end, it's totally your call!

 

[Jensownzoo]

It's been a while since I've visited, I've been so busy! Just finished a major cleaning of all the poultry areas. Plus constructed actual roosts for my two layer pens instead of having 2x4s propped up on whatever was handy. Finally got some fruit trees planted that I've had for at least 2-3 months (got them 75% off) and I used the dirty shavings from the garden coop to mulch them.

Have had a few sad events. Cab Calloway, my big white Silkie roo killed Eduardo (White-faced Black Spanish roo and a personal favorite) and I think he may have squashed Captain (Silver Sebright) trying to mate with her. He had responded brilliantly to the correction I gave him for attacking me, but as I don't need any Silkie boys and there are other bantams in that coop...he got tossed over the fence from the garden side to the layer side...and promptly got his butt whooped by the two big Olive egger boys and all the guineas. Taught him a bit of humility. Actually a little too much, since he refused to be penned at night with anyone and instead stayed out with the goats. Past two nights he has gone in reluctantly...I think he missed the fermented feed!

I had to put down Snowflake, my New Hampshire Red that survived a predator attack (punctured eye, punctured eardrum, scalp wound) and mostly healed except she was "special" and tended to keep to herself. She suddenly redeveloped the vertigo she had when her eardrum was injured. I gave her a bit of time and nursing care, but when it was obvious she was suffering...well. She's buried under a crabapple tree planted in ber honor.

Also lost Dinah, my Buff Orpington lap chicken. Saw that she was keeping to herself and had pale combs, so isolated her. Thought by the lesions on her combs and wattles that she might have fowlpox, which they can recover from, but also was feeling something weird and hard in her belly (I felt it to make sure she wasn't egg-bound). She was doing okay for a few days, but then rapidly got worse and died one day. I opened her up to find a bunch of sand in her crop (she hadn't been outside for days) and a bunch of masses in her intestine. Unfortunately, thanks to the weekend, it would have been 3-4 days until it could have reached the diagnostic lab and I didn't have a way to preserve the tissue or it would have definitely been sent. If another chicken so much as looks at me funny, I'll be jumping in the car with it and driving the 2 1/2 hours to the lab so testing can be done...the main causes of tumors in chickens being Marek's disease or lymphoid leukosis is making me very twitchy.

Annnnnd because the bad news doesn't stop? Accidentally stepped on one of the three chicks that I had given Mimi, a persistent broody, to raise. Snapped her neck. She ran right under my foot as I was stepping over something and I couldn't stop. Felt awful, but at least she went quick. Since I had been looking at a lot pictures and YouTube videos on doing chicken necropsies (so I knew what to look for in terms of normal/abnormal), I decided to convert my lemons and did a slow dissection of the chick, taking lots of pictures, so I had a thorough understanding of what a 4-6 week old chick should look like on the inside. She had 6 small earthworms in her crop along with seeds and plant matter (good hunter!), was a girl since I found an ovary, and was young enough so the Bursa of Fabricius (main spot for antibody production) was still pretty big.

Despite all this, things are actually going mostly good, I swear! I just figure that sharing the bad can sometimes help others even more than sharing the good. I'll try to get some pics to go with some good stories soon.

 

[GardenNut]

Wow! That's a run of bade luck! It has to get better now!

 

[AmandaMBG]

Oh man sounds rough. I lost my favorite Dominique Roo because I forgot to check his collar for tightening as he grew. Strangled him and boy did I feel bad. Sometimes things happen. Having chicks around is hard. They're so fragile. I'm happy mine have all grown up. Sorry you lost your favorite Roo to a not so favorite. Glad you had some others to put him in his place. Makes me grateful my big black Austrolorp and my little Rosecomb Roos are friends (the two of them and my bantam pullet were raised mostly together). They still roost side by side even at 23 weeks. It's surprising to me how such massive Roos like a dominque and a Austrolorp can be gentle giants and a little fuzz ball silkie ends up being a terror.

It's been a while since I've visited, I've been so busy! Just finished a major cleaning of all the poultry areas. Plus constructed actual roosts for my two layer pens instead of having 2x4s propped up on whatever was handy. Finally got some fruit trees planted that I've had for at least 2-3 months (got them 75% off) and I used the dirty shavings from the garden coop to mulch them.

Have had a few sad events. Cab Calloway, my big white Silkie roo killed Eduardo (White-faced Black Spanish roo and a personal favorite) and I think he may have squashed Captain (Silver Sebright) trying to mate with her. He had responded brilliantly to the correction I gave him for attacking me, but as I don't need any Silkie boys and there are other bantams in that coop...he got tossed over the fence from the garden side to the layer side...and promptly got his butt whooped by the two big Olive egger boys and all the guineas. Taught him a bit of humility. Actually a little too much, since he refused to be penned at night with anyone and instead stayed out with the goats. Past two nights he has gone in reluctantly...I think he missed the fermented feed!

I had to put down Snowflake, my New Hampshire Red that survived a predator attack (punctured eye, punctured eardrum, scalp wound) and mostly healed except she was "special" and tended to keep to herself. She suddenly redeveloped the vertigo she had when her eardrum was injured. I gave her a bit of time and nursing care, but when it was obvious she was suffering...well. She's buried under a crabapple tree planted in ber honor.

Also lost Dinah, my Buff Orpington lap chicken. Saw that she was keeping to herself and had pale combs, so isolated her. Thought by the lesions on her combs and wattles that she might have fowlpox, which they can recover from, but also was feeling something weird and hard in her belly (I felt it to make sure she wasn't egg-bound). She was doing okay for a few days, but then rapidly got worse and died one day. I opened her up to find a bunch of sand in her crop (she hadn't been outside for days) and a bunch of masses in her intestine. Unfortunately, thanks to the weekend, it would have been 3-4 days until it could have reached the diagnostic lab and I didn't have a way to preserve the tissue or it would have definitely been sent. If another chicken so much as looks at me funny, I'll be jumping in the car with it and driving the 2 1/2 hours to the lab so testing can be done...the main causes of tumors in chickens being Marek's disease or lymphoid leukosis is making me very twitchy.

Annnnnd because the bad news doesn't stop? Accidentally stepped on one of the three chicks that I had given Mimi, a persistent broody, to raise. Snapped her neck. She ran right under my foot as I was stepping over something and I couldn't stop. Felt awful, but at least she went quick. Since I had been looking at a lot pictures and YouTube videos on doing chicken necropsies (so I knew what to look for in terms of normal/abnormal), I decided to convert my lemons and did a slow dissection of the chick, taking lots of pictures, so I had a thorough understanding of what a 4-6 week old chick should look like on the inside. She had 6 small earthworms in her crop along with seeds and plant matter (good hunter!), was a girl since I found an ovary, and was young enough so the Bursa of Fabricius (main spot for antibody production) was still pretty big.

Despite all this, things are actually going mostly good, I swear! I just figure that sharing the bad can sometimes help others even more than sharing the good. I'll try to get some pics to go with some good stories soon.

 

[Jensownzoo]

My most dominant roo is a bantam olive egger named "Britches" because he acts too big for his! He actually got a Light Brahma roo three times his size to pass out in a submissive posture after chasing him all around the yard one hot day...thought he had killed him when he didn't get up! No, just dazed, so I picked him up and stood him in the shallow wading pool to cool him off.

Cab isn't a small Silkie though. He's hatchery quality and has a straight comb, so there's something else in his genes. He's about basketball-sized.

My Dom pullets are some of my favorite chickens, so sad to hear about your roo. I have a roo who walks with a slight limp because he got bigger than expected (English Orp instead of Amercian) and the leg band got too tight. Luckily I caught it before he lost the foot! Now I'm always staring at my chickens' legs to make sure their bands are loose...

 

[AmandaMBG]

Oh I just fell in love with Doms from the time my Roo was little. Same with my Austrolorp and Marans. The personalities of the dual purpose breeds are just so much more chill than the other breeds I have. I don't think anyone could go wrong with a flock of Dominiquers. I can really see why they were such a popular breed back in the day. And man are they robust birds. At 4 months my too already was pretty beefy.

My most dominant roo is a bantam olive egger named "Britches" because he acts too big for his! He actually got a Light Brahma roo three times his size to pass out in a submissive posture after chasing him all around the yard one hot day...thought he had killed him when he didn't get up! No, just dazed, so I picked him up and stood him in the shallow wading pool to cool him off.

Cab isn't a small Silkie though. He's hatchery quality and has a straight comb, so there's something else in his genes. He's about basketball-sized.

My Dom pullets are some of my favorite chickens, so sad to hear about your roo. I have a roo who walks with a slight limp because he got bigger than expected (English Orp instead of Amercian) and the leg band got too tight. Luckily I caught it before he lost the foot! Now I'm always staring at my chickens' legs to make sure their bands are loose...

 

[AbisChicks16]

I'm a newbie too. My chicks will be two weeks old on Tuesday.

 

[KiminPA]

@jensownzoo I'm so sorry for all your bad luck, my goodness!

My girls range from 17-19 weeks, several are getting ready lay I think I'm so excited for my eggs after all this work!

I had to share this pic of my one, Goldie, she literally lands on me every day when I bend over to put food in the trough. She's such a lover and makes me laugh.