Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Well, picked up the brooder lamp today! I wish it was a brooder plate, but Mount Healthy said heat lamp was better after travel, and they require that you use a lamp. Also picked up some cute little feeders! I may need to grab a second feeder and maybe another waterer for 11, but figured I'd start with these. They have cute patterns this year! I got blue jar tops with white confetti patterned bottoms. The normal white and red was not any cheaper, so I went for the fun ones. Man, there's a huge run on chicken things! Pretty much everyone in TSC today had stuff for chicks or chickens. I was in there last night for horse feed and they had a bunch of Buff Orpingtons, some Sapphire Skys, a few Easter Eggers, and some Barred Rocks. Today, POOF! All gone except a few Buffs! I am so glad I got ahead of that. It just makes me so sad knowing that for every 5 people who really get into it and continue keeping chickens, there will be 10 who dump theirs after they encounter issues or find that it really isn't any cheaper than buying eggs. On a happier note, can I use straw in the brooder, or should I get shavings instead? I have a ton of straw from insulating the cat house, so I'd like to use it if I may, but I can always use it in the garden if chicks are better off with shavings.

Exciting!
One thing on the heat lamp is also to make sure that they can get away from the heat. With a plate their behavior is to be out and about and then dash under it to warm up. They don’t need to be hot all the time and can over heat.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well, picked up the brooder lamp today! I wish it was a brooder plate, but Mount Healthy said heat lamp was better after travel, and they require that you use a lamp. Also picked up some cute little feeders! I may need to grab a second feeder and maybe another waterer for 11, but figured I'd start with these. They have cute patterns this year! I got blue jar tops with white confetti patterned bottoms. The normal white and red was not any cheaper, so I went for the fun ones. Man, there's a huge run on chicken things! Pretty much everyone in TSC today had stuff for chicks or chickens. I was in there last night for horse feed and they had a bunch of Buff Orpingtons, some Sapphire Skys, a few Easter Eggers, and some Barred Rocks. Today, POOF! All gone except a few Buffs! I am so glad I got ahead of that. It just makes me so sad knowing that for every 5 people who really get into it and continue keeping chickens, there will be 10 who dump theirs after they encounter issues or find that it really isn't any cheaper than buying eggs. On a happier note, can I use straw in the brooder, or should I get shavings instead? I have a ton of straw from insulating the cat house, so I'd like to use it if I may, but I can always use it in the garden if chicks are better off with shavings.

Can't wait to see your progress & chicks
We always used softer shavings for chicks cuz we thought the straw pieces were too coarse for their tiny toes cuz as babies they scratch around just as much as adult chickens do. The shavings absorbed poop better & easy to pick up the soiled shavings every day which isn't a whole lot w/tiny chicks.

When we transitioned the juvenile Silkies into the big coop we partitioned a section of the coop w/ shavings for their familiarity ~ Silkies tend to dogpile sleep rather than roost on a perch. After all the adult birds & juveniles were acquainted we removed the shavings & the juvenile Silkies piled up in the straw nestboxes to sleep ~ sometimes 3 of them in one nestbox .
Partition w/shavings while transitioning Silkies to sleep in the big coop.

Soft shavings hold moisture too much for adult birds IMO so we use straw in the nest boxes for the laying hens. We never used straw for the coop floor since it has a dog kennel wire floor & DH will cover the wire w/ cardboard on a breezy night & dump the poop into the raised garden beds. Straw is for the nestboxes only.

 

[notabitail]

@knoturavggrl
We're looking at getting some more chooks, and my parents are considering the Alchemist Farm for getting some. How wereas your experience?

 

[Sylvester017]

Clyde is wheezing and whistling when I got home tonight. I have him some Supha-trim incase he has some sort of bacterial infection.

It almost sounds like he has some sort of blockage in his nares.

Is it ok for me to freak out now

We all freak when a bird isn't quite right! Same thing happened to us w/ Silkie Mini in 2012. We had a peaceful group of 2 Silkie girls & a sweet Leghorn pullet so there was no fights/injuries. Mini was wheezing so hard we sat up w/ her all night & rushed her 1st thing in the morning to the vet. She was our 1st sick bird ever & freaked us. The vet looked down her throat, looked at her ears & eyes, basically every hole in her body to check for blockage (none) then gave her a Baytril injection in her chest area & sent us home w/ Metcam. By the time we got home she was bouncing around like nothing happened but we kept her inhouse for a few days to watch her. We are & always have been chicken helicopter parents.
MINI 2012

 

[Marie2020]

Clyde is wheezing and whistling when I got home tonight. I have him some Supha-trim incase he has some sort of bacterial infection.

It almost sounds like he has some sort of blockage in his nares.

Is it ok for me to freak out now

Kelly, it's horrible when we get that run of our lovely friends getting ill all at once.

I hope you can find something too clear this up.

 

[knoturavggrl]

@knoturavggrl
We're looking at getting some more chooks, and my parents are considering the Alchemist Farm for getting some. How wereas your experience?

I got a mixed bundle of chicks, it could have been any of the breeds they offered. I ordered 10 and they sent 13.

Shipping went smoothly and they communicated very well. Every chick made it safely to Ohio.

All were straight run but I got lucky and ended with only 3 boys. I kept one he was Copper Maran but unfortunately he became quite aggressive after one of the hens got taken by a hawk. I really do think this is why he got so aggressive protective but he was also only a yr old at the time so perhaps it was also hormones. Because I had young children and the high level of aggression I did have to rehome him with the disclaimer about his behavior. He was stunning though.

I didn’t lose one bird to illness and they all laid well. I ended up with 3 2nd gen Olive eggers they call Moss Eggers, 2 Azure eggers, 1 Silverudds Blue, 2 Welsummers, 2 copper Marans, and 1 Ameraucana.
It was a lovely mix of colors in the basket.

I think Alchemist Farms are good breeders and try hard to do well by their customers and their birds.

 

[Ponypoor]

Clyde - may need to turn up your volume - he is wheezing

Also what about Gapeworm? Anyone ever treat for that?

 

[Marie2020]

Agatha and Tina as they took over the main coop

 

[rural mouse]

@knoturavggrl
We're looking at getting some more chooks, and my parents are considering the Alchemist Farm for getting some. How wereas your experience?

There are threads about people's experiences with hatcheries: eg. Experience with "ABC Hatchery". A BYC search for the hatchery name should bring it up, if you're interested in more "reviews". I'm pretty sure Alchemist is one of those, but I don't remember what the general verdict was.

@knoturavggrl glad you had a great experience with them. That was your "cookie" group, right? Snickerdoodle, Biscotti, Oreo, etc?

 

[RoyalChick]

Also what about Gapeworm? Anyone ever treat for that?

Apparently extremely rare. He does sound obstructed for sure.