grannys gone and done it

[Suzierd]

You might get one yet, from what I hear they are exhusband and exwife rivalry where one builds the other will build. We got our Lowes then sure enough right beside it we got Home Depot.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

that is too funny. wonder who builds first husband or wife. lol our lowes has been here for many yrs. and we are a small town so i am not holding my breath but i have seen that happen a lot of times. didnt make sense til now. hahaaa

 

[mrsc1951]

How big a cage are you needing? How big do Seramas get. I know absolutely nothing about the breed. I have one bantam EE and while she is a little cutie, I much prefer the full sized breeds. She is the only one of my little flock that I can't pick up or pet and it's been that way from the time we got them - they were about 2-3 weeks old.

I have a situation I'm hoping someone can help me with. I understand the molting process and mine typically molt starting in mid to late November. This year, my Australorp (3 1/2 yrs old) who has NEVER gone through a complete molt dropped her tail feathers and a few of her fluffy butt feathers in mid September. Shortly afterward my Lt Brahmas followed suit. When I first began seeing excess feathers, I thought it may have been from the ungodly heat we've had this summer. They get (Countryside) organic layer feed, a handful of mixed seeds with BOSS a couple of times daily which they share with the squirrels and cardinals, bluejays and woodpeckers. I also give them a little corn each afternoon. They don't like dried/cracked so I give them (6) a little over half a cup of frozen corn - thawed with mealworms or cheese or catfood a couple times a week. Whatever I have that has some extra protein. They also get the occasional head of romaine lettuce or piece of melon and other leftovers that folk tend to give their chickens. When they are molting I usually add some flock raiser to their food for the extra protein. My question is could there be something wrong as this began just days after my other Australorp died unexpectedly? Or are they just going through a modified molt this year? They have been wormed recently and have no signs of external parasites. No one seems to have lost weight.

 

[campingshaws]

How big a cage are you needing? How big do Seramas get. I know absolutely nothing about the breed. I have one bantam EE and while she is a little cutie, I much prefer the full sized breeds. She is the only one of my little flock that I can't pick up or pet and it's been that way from the time we got them - they were about 2-3 weeks old.

I have a situation I'm hoping someone can help me with. I understand the molting process and mine typically molt starting in mid to late November. This year, my Australorp (3 1/2 yrs old) who has NEVER gone through a complete molt dropped her tail feathers and a few of her fluffy butt feathers in mid September. Shortly afterward my Lt Brahmas followed suit. When I first began seeing excess feathers, I thought it may have been from the ungodly heat we've had this summer. They get (Countryside) organic layer feed, a handful of mixed seeds with BOSS a couple of times daily which they share with the squirrels and cardinals, bluejays and woodpeckers. I also give them a little corn each afternoon. They don't like dried/cracked so I give them (6) a little over half a cup of frozen corn - thawed with mealworms or cheese or catfood a couple times a week. Whatever I have that has some extra protein. They also get the occasional head of romaine lettuce or piece of melon and other leftovers that folk tend to give their chickens. When they are molting I usually add some flock raiser to their food for the extra protein. My question is could there be something wrong as this began just days after my other Australorp died unexpectedly? Or are they just going through a modified molt this year? They have been wormed recently and have no signs of external parasites. No one seems to have lost weight.

I'm two months in with my first chickens, so I have not yet experienced a molt. THAT SAID:

I've heard they usually molt from the neck down? I got some sussex at an auction and two of the five were missing tails. They've since grown in, it was just a weird thing. But one who had a tail has since lost it.

I picked up four more sussex from a guy selling them on the cheap. GORGEOUS birds from a GORGEOUS home, and absolutely infested with lice. I might have never noticed if I didn't think a hen was egg bound and happen to look at her vent and see the stacks of eggs.

SO my advice would be to treat them for mites/lice anyway, just to be sure. I give mine beef or chicken hearts or livers when I think they need an extra boost. I also have canned salmon I'm saving up for a special occasion. ACV in the water, garlic on the feed for immune boosters. That's really all I know.

It seems like you're doing everything you can, or that I would do. Maybe it was the heat that stressed them into dropping feathers.

Sorry I'm not more helpful. I'm still learning everything I can.

 

[mrsc1951]

Thanks campingshaws. I grew up on a farm with chickens but they were not, I repeat NOT treated like mine are. LOL They got chicken feed, water and a few scraps. Were never wormed nor treated for lice, etc., but they were healthy and seemed happy enough and they did have the whole pasture to free range. Mine are city chickens but they do have almost my entire back yard to free range every day all day long. Just wondering if occasionally they do go through a partial molt instead of a full on one. Not something I really remember much about even as a teenager. If you're in southwest LA, you must be close to Port Arthur, TX - that's where my parents lived when they were first married.

 

[Suzierd]

that is too funny. wonder who builds first husband or wife. lol  our lowes has been here for many yrs. and we are a small town so i am not holding my breath but i have seen that happen a lot of times. didnt make sense til now. hahaaa 

Lowes is the husband in our case it was husband first.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

I knew there was a reason i liked home depot better. hehehe mrsc, i am not sure about molt either as all mine do it slowly. it sounds as if you have them spoiled rotten to me. i do agree with the mite treatment though. sure wont hurt. the seramas will be fist size grown. he is a breeder for the betterment of the breed. so i am hoping i get some good ones. i have big enough brooder or cage for them but the floor is wood and that absorbs odor. i used vinegar before and it soaked it up but then it smelled like it for 2 weeks. yuck. i have wire cages as well even bigger then the brooders but again, i made wooden floors. the chickens arent fighting are they? that would also explain the feather loss.

 

[mrsc1951]

No granny, no real fighting or feather picking at all. Just the normal pecking order stuff going on. I have 5 1/2 (LOL) girls and they have a 60'x30' open area plus a 12'x80' area plus the areas around and under their coops. PLENTY of room, IMHO. I typically keep a head of cabbage out for them plus the other treats they get spaced throughout the day. I will definitely treat for lice even though I'm liberal with the DE in their coops and over the areas they prefer to dust bathe in. As I said, I can easily (most days) pick up all but the bantam and thoroughly checked the Australorp who died. I thought that once they were old enough and started to molt, it was a yearly 'thing'. This was just a partial molt although they did stop laying eggs and I get that they must regrow feathers so the extra protein goes to that rather than egg production. I'm also curious about their feed. I've read a couple of threads about chickens that stop laying after switching to organic feed, then a couple of people get into arguments over whether corn is good or evil, etc., and a moderator shuts them down.

I've never heard from others about the organic feed. I did start mine on organic feed back in the spring. I'm rethinking that now.

The reason I asked about cage size - I have a large 24"x24"x24" cage that I had my parakeets in. The last one passed away recently - he was 8 or 9 years old. I have cleaned and sanitized the cage but will not have any other indoor birds so if you need it, could send it. It has the plastic bottom tray that pulls out. Probably not big enough for two chickens however.

How is your foot doing?

 

[Wishing4Wings]

mrsc, you take such good care of your chickens, I want to come live at your house! I love treats!

My flock really varies on who molts how much. I have quite a few that had hard molts this year, where last year, only one ended up looking like a porcupine. Not sure if it's due to weather or age or ?? All I know is I'm feeding 9 hens and am lucky to get 2 eggs a day. There are feathers all over the place, and a couple of the girls look like raggedy tornado survivors.

Seramas are the smallest breed of chicken, about the size of a pigeon. You can see a white cockerel and black pullet inside the cage with the large fowl surrounding them. The Seramas were very close to full grown here.


Coffee with her first egg. (Those are a child's hands.)

The eggs are small, but have big yolks. Bite sized when we hard boil them.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

granny, you could use an old shower curtain or heavy plastic tarp to cover the plywood base and put bedding on top.

I have used an old guinea pig cage to keep Serama in. It's 19" X 32" and 17" high. This cage is good for one or two if they are in it full time. The best part is the solid plastic base. I see them used on craigslist every so often. These 4 pullets were in at night, but spent days outside in a larger ground cage.