From the life of a chicken fan

[MotherofOrpies]

here she is with dry fur

 

[MotherofOrpies]

here is one of the many covered areas for my chickens, it used to be a playhouse for the kids of a friend, she wanted to get rid of it, so I put it in my garden, and the chickens love it all seasons! In the summer, it protects them from the sun, and in winter from rain and snow, the round things in front of it are sawed off parts of a big 100 year old oak which fell on our house a couple of years ago..

 

[MotherofOrpies]

here is a picture of the coop, when it was still “young”

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Sooo, a lot has happend since I last wrote something, not all of it good I am no longer an Orpi owner, the new additions brought mycoplasma into my flock, first, I had half of my flock down ( and I really mean down, with swollen shut eyes and swollen head!) after just under 1 month I was finally starting to breathe easier, my other half went down, I had days of treating 5 non eating/drinking chickens 3 times a day good news is, they all survived and have been laying eggs again, bad news, the new Orpington rooster was still sneezing periodically, and his poo always looked a little bit off .. the hen started laying shell less eggs, no matter how much crushed egg shells, calcium and vit. d extra I was giving her! Then I heard rumors we were going to have to keep the chickens inside again, cos of avian flu, so after a few sleepless nights I made the hard decision to no longer keep the 2 chickens , I can’t eat chickens with a name, so one of my friends was delighted to get 2 chickens for her kitchen ...the avian flu has some cases here, but the veterinarians who are overseeing the rules and regulations can be nice, others are downright nasty! In some areas, they have had to keep the chickens inside for over 7 MONTHS!! I ( or my chickens) we were lucky, we only had 1,5 months of having to keep them inside. Then a friend decided to stopp keeping her ducks and chickens ( the people climbed over her fence and stole some of her chickens, they even broke into the coop at night and got some more) so I drove up there and “saved” a pair of ducks and 3 of her chickens, somebody else is taking another 2, her 4 roosters ( hard to find any takers) will be added to her kitchen, and if nobody else takes the rest of her 3 year old hens, they will be joining the roosters.
here are some pictures of my new chickens, one of them (also 3 years old) lays purplish eggs of course when you add new chickens, there is always going to be some kind of fighting , but after just one days, everything was peaceful again
have I mentioned 2 of my broody hens are sitting on 18 eggs?! They should be hatching this Thursday

 

[Callender Girl]

So sorry to hear about your misfortunes. Sounds like you were really put through the wringer, and encountering unpleasant veterinarians sure didn't help any.

But, congrats on giving a home to your friend's chickens and ducks, as well as a speedy resolution to the new pecking order. The eggs are lovely, and best wishes on Thursday's hatch!

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Thanks! Yes, even though I have been a chicken owner for 9 years, hatching ist still very exciting for me

 

[Callender Girl]

I'll look forward to hearing how it goes!

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Yesterday the baby chicks started hatching, I had to help one of them ( I know, usually not a good idea!) the egg shell was cracked all over, but the egg skin was dried out, so I carefully opened it up, and the baby chick started peeping, I noticed it, because it was lying in front of the hen, not under her, and when I picked it up, it was quite cold to touch, today, of all days, we got plenty of rain ( usually, it is too dry ) so I can’t open the house where the hen is in ( they would get all wet) I will just put in dsome food and water, starting tomorrow, temp. are going up and we are expecting temp. around 84 on sunday...

 

[Callender Girl]

Amazing how often rain comes at an inconvenient time! We've technically been in drought for more than a year -- so it rains while the under-construction coop still doesn't have its roof.

Sounds like you did the right thing for the baby. Hope everything works out!

 

[MotherofOrpies]

As usual , the joys life and sadness of death are close companions my baby chicks hatched, but not all of them made it, one completely hatched, but I found it dead under the hen, 3 others we stuck in the skin of the egg , and I peeled them free, I know, I know, you are not supposed to do that, but as I mentioned before, we have very low humidity, and I lost a couple of chickens this way ( also, one of the Sulmtaler got stuck, too late for that ) so when I hear cheeping and see the skin tighten around the baby chick, I remove it, and I have had success every time ( unless I am too late, and it is already dead ) , sooo, here some pictures
Moma 1 with some of her babies
And moma 2 with some of her baby chickens ( lavender Araucana)