Scrambles83
Free Ranging
Office chicken!!
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Office chicken!!
I know you probably don’t feel like it right now but I would get two more sooner rather than later. If you suddenly lose either Snow or Belle, the other will be on their own. Then you will have to scramble getting more and go through the whole quarantine process.
I was going to wait a couple of days before I suggested it but you are right. I don't like flocks of 2. I had them for a few years and had to scramble several times to find a replacement hen. I like the number 4 for a small flock. I thought my flock was at its best when it was Lilly, Hattie, Maleficent, and Aurora. When I lost Mal I did not have to scramble for another hen, rather I had time to decide what I wanted to do.
Please don’t feel the need to apologize. It’s your flock, and people on this thread will support you no matter what. They are just offering suggestions and advice. Hang in there; we’ve got you.I understand this and the logic behind it.
I would if I could, but at the moment we only have the old prefab coop and to me having 3 in there (space wise) was pushing it, especially with the size Snow has gotten to! I don’t think it would be fair for that reason to shove 2 more in.
As far as scrambling to find new ladies if something happened to one of them, it seems there’s plenty of farmers that have all sorts of pullets available through the year.
Apologies, I know 2 isn’t the best number but I will have to make it work for now.
He’s pretty amazing, Shad.Cillin has taken to coming round for a visit at least once a day since he moved into his own coop. He doesn't seem to be after treats. If I'm sitting at the computer or at the kitchen table ne settles down right by my legs and sort of dozes for a while.
He's getting to mate with most of the hens at some point or another and I often see him with a small group as I check on every bodies whereabouts during the day.
Treacle still chases him away if he finds him with a group of hens but recently I've seen Treacle not bother if Cillin is away from the main tribe with just one hen.
Cillin seems happy enough with his coop. He goes to roost about the same time as the rest. He even escorts the hens to the tribe coop before going to roost in his if there are nay straggles.
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Thanks. I just wanted to give my reasons why I can’t, didn’t want you guys to think I was just dismissing the advicePlease don’t feel the need to apologize. It’s your flock, and people on this thread will support you no matter what. They are just offering suggestions and advice. Hang in there; we’ve got you.
Arnty mish! Thanks!She's getting the hang of it, she says
Hi arnty mish! Says t butters me likey her big feets plz!
Hi lovely Maggie!Maggie says it is Monday.
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I love them, too. Poor Hattie. But... ahem! She was blocking my view. LOL.It was a Dark and Stormy Night........
As @CrazyChookChookLady and Josh pointed out last night, it was dark and stormy. So I fired up the camera and recorded the inside of the coop on a stormy night.
Let's talk about starting positions. When I did roost check, this is where everybody was.
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Sansa was already on the ground. I did not think a lot of this because every once in a while she sleeps on the ground or in a nest box. I became more interested in this later.
As the storms approached, I decided to go make a check on the coop. I wanted to be certain everything was locked down. As I made my way back to the house with lightning flashing in the sky, I heard a thump from the coop. Hattie had gotten off of the roost.
In this first video you will see Hattie laying on the coop floor looking out the window. This is a great 3 minutes of rain and thunder. It's actually kind of peaceful in a way.
This was only a prelude to the storms which will continue for several hours.
This next clip shows the reaction when the storm steps up the intensity a lot. It happens about 35 seconds in. Watch for everyone's reaction.
Hattie did not sleep while the storms will still going. I kept the camera on the whole time just to see. It seem that like many of humans, Hattie does not enjoy thunderstorms. I myself love them.
Just look at what the storms did to my magnolia blossoms.
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So funny, we're excited to share poop slides! It will be great to know if there is a parasite issue with them, instead of having to guess and blindly treat them when they're sick! I don't have an avian vet, so I do what I can for them. I've successfully treated for a couple of cases that I'm pretty certain was coccidiosis. I've lost two hens, one to a hawk and one to a wound that I missed, by the time I discovered it, it was too late...I’m excited. We can share poop slides on this thread! My friend @Hen Pen Jem also does her own fecal floats. She shared her info with me, but I accidentally deleted the email and need to resend her my email address.
The pullets are all too pale in the comb for my liking. They are all laying, so shouldn’t they have big, fleshy combs like the older girls? I’d love to check their poop for coccidiosis and worms.
Ruby’s avian vet appointment was crazy expensive. I love her, but I can’t keep this up financially and she’s slowing down over time, even with treatment.
I got both Ruby and Dorothy started on antibiotics. Dorothy is still laying lots of eggs without shells and few eggs with shells. I fear all the calcium therapy has likely been pretty hard on her organs. Ester is also not laying and the back of her comb has been tinged blue on and off for a bit. Not my favorite, as that’s what Margo had two summers in a row and ended up with a septic infection from chronic egg yolk peritonitis.
But here is something AWESOME... despite being first to roost (only by a few minutes), Ruby was standing up and preening on the roost! Usually she’s tail tucked (like they all do when they sleep), heavy breathing and tail slightly pumping. She DEFINITELY feels better than before her avian vet visit.
Someday... someday.... I will have well-bred chickens who live full, healthy lives. In the meantime, I will continue to love a and enjoy my little rascals.
Thanks for letting me ramble!