Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Hello FBA enablers!
First, I'd like news from @featherhead007 . Sorry I didn't get back to you on the dosage, but you got the answers- I went to bed right after posting. How is your favourite leghorn today ?

I'm posting also today for some educated, or / and fun guesses on our 19 days old chicks. I fear we may have striked a @RebeccaBoyd - I'm guessing out of six, only one is a pullet for sure . Any input would be appreciated! (We can re-home one or two roos, but not five or six.)

Number 1 and 2 have been screaming cockerels since they were four days old. Number 4 is my pullet ; number 5 I think could be as well. I'm on the fence about number 3 and 6. What would you say ?

Numéro 1. I bump chest, have big feet, never do what mum says and hang out with n°2 all the time : 90% boy.
View attachment 3532175
View attachment 3532171
Number 2 : big feet, big comb, always on his own or with n°1. 100% cockerel.
View attachment 3532172View attachment 3532174
Number 3 : ratty tail and shredded feather but big comb and big in size. 60%male.
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View attachment 3532166
Number 4 : tiny, delicate, no comb, always with mum. 90% pullet.
View attachment 3532173
Number 5 : small in size, but big feet and comb. 55%male.
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Number 6 : big chick, smaller feet, attitude. 60% cockerel!
View attachment 3532169
View attachment 3532168
And a bonus question. This is the daddy of four of the chicks, he belongs to an elderly neighbour. What kind of rooster do you think it is ?
View attachment 3532212
Thank you everyone, and wishing you all a pleasant Wednesday.

I think you're right about 1 being a cockerel. 2/3..? 4-6 seem pullet like at the moment. Any early cockerels could pop comb/wattles within the next week. Late bloomers could be several weeks yet.

Daddy is beautiful! Black breasted silver, straight comb...could be several things. If he's got yellow legs, silver penciled Plymouth Rock is a possibility. I'm also sure there are breeds known to France that aren't very well known in the States.

 

[rural mouse]

Control of Pests

Flies - these pests will lay eggs anywhere it’s warm dark and wet, which is why your pets bums are so lovely for them, any poop needs to be cleaned off whenever there is poop there.

If it needs to be cleaned off 2 or 3 times a day do it. You do not want maggots on you pets (chickens, dogs, cats, sheep, horses are all prone to this).

Keep all housing areas cleaned of poop and wet areas is you best bet to keep flies away.

Mosquitoes & and other biting pests- I have not found any info on West Nile affecting chickens, even though I know wild birds around here are regularly infected and die. As for ticks from previous chats on here I have not heard of chickens being affected by ticks.

I have checked my chooks but have not seen ticks on them, I think they are large enough the chickens can remove them, so maybe just check heads and chins where the birds can’t reach.

Mosquito/fly screens can be placed in all windows and doorways in the coop to prevent flies & mosquitoes from entering.

Mites/lice/internal parasites - easiest way to treat all these is with ivermectin or an anthalmentic for various internal parasites.

I have used Revolution kitten/puppy strength to treat lice and internal parasites, and treated my flock with Ivermectin for internal parasites.

It’s hard to prevent internal parasites when your chooks are running around eating bugs and slugs and worms. Doing a flock fecal test yearly can be a good choice to check for their presence.

Lice and mites are a bit harder to detect early, easy way to prevent is keep roost areas clean, and remove bedding in nest boxes monthly.

Rats & mice - I have found poison the most effective for getting rid of these critters; unfortunately we can’t use poison if there is a risk of affected critters getting in where the chooks can kill and eat them.

Snap and zap traps, can be affective but they only kill one beast at a time, so you will need many traps set, and these also need to be placed were the chooks and esp chicks cannot get into them. I put mine out in the barn at night when the chooks are locked safely for the night.

For these little beasts the best way to control them is through prevention. Coops need to be cleaned of food daily. Do not leave feed and grain out overnight. Store grains & feed in steel containers away from where the chooks are kept. Also remove water sources. Close up any holes where they can get in. Remove hiding places like garbage and junk; this is also especially important outside the coop area, also keep the grass and weeds trimmed short to prevent sheltered paths for pests to use for travel.

I really like By Bobs suggestion for treating with CO2 - and might try this with my mouse problem in the barn in tunnels.

I have a serious rat / mouse problem and I really have no way to get rid of the monsters - I have a loft full of hay were they hide - very frustrating. I am thinking of using one of those bucket traps someone posted on here. Can’t use poison these days due to my chooks.

Well that is my advice for these common pests- most I have had experience with for years (bugs, mice/rats), I personally have not had any issues with fly maggots (fly strike) but as a teen working as a Veterinarian clinic we dealt with cats dogs sheep etc that had long hair always matted and always full of poop where maggots were happily thriving. Shaving the hair and removing the maggots was the way to treat them.

The take home message is to keep coops cleaned of poop and wet areas, put in screens and hardware cloth, remove hiding areas, and keep feed cleaned up at the end of the day, put feeders away where pests can’t get at it, and remove water. Make the location inhospitable to all pests:

I would appreciate if anyone else has any info on controlling these pests or experienced a problem to add to this.

Bucket trap works well. Lots of videos out on how to build one.

 

[featherhead007]

I’ll check in later. I’m going to give her my attention now.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I’ll check in later. I’m going to give her my attention now.

I'm sorry alex. My thoughts and prayers are with you both at this time. If it is her time I pray she passes peacefully.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Hello FBA enablers!
First, I'd like news from @featherhead007 . Sorry I didn't get back to you on the dosage, but you got the answers- I went to bed right after posting. How is your favourite leghorn today ?

I'm posting also today for some educated, or / and fun guesses on our 19 days old chicks. I fear we may have striked a @RebeccaBoyd - I'm guessing out of six, only one is a pullet for sure . Any input would be appreciated! (We can re-home one or two roos, but not five or six.)

Number 1 and 2 have been screaming cockerels since they were four days old. Number 4 is my pullet ; number 5 I think could be as well. I'm on the fence about number 3 and 6. What would you say ?

Numéro 1. I bump chest, have big feet, never do what mum says and hang out with n°2 all the time : 90% boy.
View attachment 3532175
View attachment 3532171
Number 2 : big feet, big comb, always on his own or with n°1. 100% cockerel.
View attachment 3532172View attachment 3532174
Number 3 : ratty tail and shredded feather but big comb and big in size. 60%male.
View attachment 3532167
View attachment 3532166
Number 4 : tiny, delicate, no comb, always with mum. 90% pullet.
View attachment 3532173
Number 5 : small in size, but big feet and comb. 55%male.
View attachment 3532170
View attachment 3532165
Number 6 : big chick, smaller feet, attitude. 60% cockerel!
View attachment 3532169
View attachment 3532168
And a bonus question. This is the daddy of four of the chicks, he belongs to an elderly neighbour. What kind of rooster do you think it is ?
View attachment 3532212
Thank you everyone, and wishing you all a pleasant Wednesday.

Those chicks appear to all have straight combs. I zoomed in on all 3 looking for what I use as the biggest tell at this age, early wattles. To be honest right now I do not see any. Maybe on #2 the yellow chicks, maybe. I also really do not think any of the combs are that big in the pictures either. Look at daddy, even pullets are one day going to have large combs on them. 3 to 4 weeks of age will be when the boys show themselves if they are not late developing.

 

[notabitail]

The Calm after The Storm.
The storm died down last evening. I got the run back up and everything. My sister then re-did the run to make it bigger.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I lost the little silver based americauna chick overnight. I was worried about that one. Even though I insisted the employee show me butts I somehow missed that it had a bad case of pasty butt. I did not catch it until it had been home about 3 hours. I got it all cleaned off eventually but it was like cement when found. At least the poor little chick had a real momma hen for a day. The rest are doing well and it is cemented in Raven's head that all those chicks are hers.

 

[Ponypoor]

this is in my house we have sticky traps that work great.

I prefer something that kills them outrigjt

Poison is my preference but of course can’t do that now.

 

[Ponypoor]

The Calm after The Storm.
The storm died down last evening. I got the run back up and everything. My sister then re-did the run to make it bigger.
View attachment 3532318View attachment 3532320View attachment 3532322View attachment 3532323View attachment 3532327

Love the sky and the chooks look very happy

 

[rural mouse]

I lost the little silver based americauna chick overnight. I was worried about that one. Even though I insisted the employee show me butts I somehow missed that it had a bad case of pasty butt. I did not catch it until it had been home about 3 hours. I got it all cleaned off eventually but it was like cement when found. At least the poor little chick had a real momma hen for a day. The rest are doing well and it is cemented in Raven's head that all those chicks are hers.

Sorry about the loss, but delighted that Raven has taken ALL of them