I Built A Bridge!

Good evening Club .. yep, just after 6pm here :)

Ark I showed your coop to Joel and said "OK, get building" .. hhhm his response was not quite what I was hoping for "I don't think so!" lol

So just a bit of an update on Tina and how she is doing. Even though she has the small run attached to the broody box I figured she would enjoy a supervised free range with the gals at 4pm so let everyone out together. Tina proceeded to have a dust bath, a bit of a drink, something to eat, wandered around the place for 40 minutes and then went back to the eggs and hunkered down.

I sure am noticing a huge difference between Tina and Cilla's broody chickenalities. Cilla, as mentioned, never leaves the nest unless you force her, would starve to death on those eggs but, on the other hand, also very placid; plods around, does what she needs to do and then goes back, not a care in the world; pretty much like she had been smoking some whacky baccy!

Tina on the other hand, total opposite. She darted around everywhere like she knew she was on some sort of time schedule. She was vocal the whole time "what's that"; "who's that", standing tall, looking around. I wouldn't say 'nervous' but definitely toey or anxious.

I had a quick check on the nest while she was out and she has a nice nest built and has been moving the eggs so looking good so far.

Remember how I was trying to adjust everyone's sleeping arrangements so that they all roosted in the ranch section? That was probably good timing because now they do not have the chateau which has become the broody box (same as I did with Cilla's hatch). Anyways, LuLu used to sleep on the Silkie friendly perch with Tina while Dusty, Cilla and Blondie were on the higher perch. Dusty has been jumping up by herself but Cilla and Blondie, while they can easily get up there, are stamping their little chicken feet "I don't wanna!", so they are still getting popped on the roost by me. Tonight when I went to pop them on the roost, LuLu was already up there, cuddled up to Dusty ... so cute! I thought LuLu would miss her little buddy Tina and they did share a dust bath this afternoon, but I am pleased to see that Dusty has stepped in as a buddy for LuLu :)

Anyway, that is enough waffling from me .. just to finish up, I now have four little chookies, sleeping all in a row on an appropriate roost!
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Lolz you gals are so funny, cracking me up!
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Slapping myself in the head .. what was I thinking! Obviously I was not thinking at all!!!

Tina is sitting pretty on those ‘duds’ and I just got a text to say that her eggs are in the post! Sadly, the PO did not really know when they would be delivered, maybe Friday but it could be longer .. not happy about them sitting in the postal system over the weekend but ah well, such is life, lots of ‘what if’s’ and ‘maybe’s’ on this hatch being Tina’s first try and also my first batch from this breeder and I have since learnt, this is the first batch of eggs he has posted!

Well... (almost) hassle-free hatches do exist, as Ombretta and Cenere are currently proving to me, but yeah, I don't think not worrying is possible with a first-time broody... on the other hand, who could possibly say no to that beautiful baby broody in your pic:
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hello Teila
i'd love to share,gotta figure out how to post pic's here,but yes i live about 100 east of little rock,AR,on a 3 acre farm,we have the chicken's,2 shih tzu's,budgies,finches,a beautiful albino rat snake,7 huge land hermit crab's,i love animals,lol,i was raised on a huge farm in oklahoma,so i guess it never leaves you,we free range the chicken's and they return to their coop when they are ready,usually at 8 pm,they sit on my lap on my wheelchair too and talk to me,if one gets scared it will run to me,i did get pooped on tonight,lol,miss peck's alot decided to show me how nice her poop was! thank you for having me here,i enjoy the flock so much,everyone is great,ok names,the 4 buff's,miss peck's alot,mert,baby and fuzzmuffin,the 4 RIR girls,buzzard,lil red,mango and bumble,our roo is a RIR hes big red,he's getting long tail fethers and pretty as can be,now so far we haven't had any problems,he sits in my lap and is loving,like's everyone so far,i usually give the ones hangin out on my chair a ride to the coop in the evening's,wouldn't miss it for anything.going to try to post some picks
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Hi, welcome to the thread from me as well! Gorgeous chickens! I'm sure we will get to know them much better soon enough.
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Hey everyone, guess what I awoke to this morning (after the first full-night sleep since Thursday?) 3 bubbies in the invalid ward!!!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the perfectly unzipped egg shell! I can't believe that last little chick made it! Cy looks good, maybe a little splayed, but not as bad as Lu. And, Frankie's head is almost healed!! Oh mother nature is smiling back on me!!
That's it for now, I'm not a morning person and need to deal with morning. Hope your chickie with Freckles is ok, 16P!
--Liz

Congratulations Liz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Teila, I have had broodies that I never saw leave the nest and broodies that never missed their twice a day dustbath and snack. Neither seemed to have an effect on the hatch so if Tina gets up to wander about try not to worry. I once locked the WRONG hen in the coop with the eggs for several hours...she didn't sit on them and the real mama was frantic but I had 7 of 8 hatch.

x2. They all seem to know what they're doing, even if we don't always give them the credit for it.

I want to ask you and @ItalyChickie more about your hobble experiences. IC, I couldn't imagine tying those knots by myself, since I had enough trouble attaching a tape brace to Lu. She is really struggling with walking with it on, though. Someone had taken off the one I yesterday on her, and she was walking a bit better, but it seemed too soon so I made a new one, and she is really having trouble walking with it. Is that normal and good? It's supposed to be a hobble, right? How early did you put braces on your chicks and how quickly did you get results? Any other thoughts about it? Here's a (somewhat obscured) pic of the brace:

So glad to hear Frankie is doing better! The popular kids are too cute.
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Re hobble, I honestly don't know why, but I could not for the life of me get the bandaid or anything sticky to stay on, while I did ok with the knots. The fact that it was super stretchy soft helped, probably, so I could stretch a bit of it out for the knotting, and just cut off the extra material later. (My chick had feathered legs, too, so it had to be something under the bandaid and the whole thing got too messy.)

This chick was not walking at all before this hobble/brace/whatever it's called... I found him laying on his side and cold the morning after he hatched, thought he was dead, then saw he was breathing, had to separate under a heat lamp, he perked up that same afternoon, but couldn't keep up with mom and siblings - he did start moving around right away, but it took about 4 days before it became a normal walk, as opposed to kinda half jumping around half hobbling... he also tired very quickly those first few days.


Good news is we have a little fresh out of the egg baby with Pancake! Standard size also. Remember the roo's here are bantams so this is the first standard chick that has hatched here.
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Bad news is the cracked egg was dead under Freckles and there was another one in the nest with Pancake that didnt make it as well
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I wish I knew what happened...They did not have any wounds on them at all. They were both half out of the shell. One had yolk showing and the other had blood. I noticed the one with Pancake was off to the side of the nest and that the other chickens had been in the nest with Pancake so that may of had something to do with it.I should of blocked off the nest. Maybe it got stepped on? The one in Freckles nest was still under her and none of the others could get in with her so I know it wasnt that. Of course now I am thinking I should of taken it and tried to hatch it myself but no. 1, I dont have a bator and no. 2 there is no way of knowing if it would of hatched or not.
None of the other eggs have pipped.

Like someone else said a while back "nuff said"

Aww, I'm sorry to hear about the ones that didn't make it! Unfortunately, sometimes there's just no way to know... well, unless you put a surveillance camera in with your broodies or something.

But congratulations on the healthy baby and hope there are more on the way!

Thats a lot of familys
I may need help....

You and me both... Would anyone like to borrow a broody?
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So just a bit of an update on Tina and how she is doing. Even though she has the small run attached to the broody box I figured she would enjoy a supervised free range with the gals at 4pm so let everyone out together. Tina proceeded to have a dust bath, a bit of a drink, something to eat, wandered around the place for 40 minutes and then went back to the eggs and hunkered down.

I sure am noticing a huge difference between Tina and Cilla's broody chickenalities. Cilla, as mentioned, never leaves the nest unless you force her, would starve to death on those eggs but, on the other hand, also very placid; plods around, does what she needs to do and then goes back, not a care in the world; pretty much like she had been smoking some whacky baccy!

Tina on the other hand, total opposite. She darted around everywhere like she knew she was on some sort of time schedule. She was vocal the whole time "what's that"; "who's that", standing tall, looking around. I wouldn't say 'nervous' but definitely toey or anxious.


Anyway, that is enough waffling from me .. just to finish up, I now have four little chookies, sleeping all in a row on an appropriate roost!
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They're all so different, aren't they? Tina sounds a bit like Pallina, only Pallina definitely was nervous/anxious/cranky and just plain nuts!
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She has calmed down quite a bit now, in case that's of any comfort.

Yay for chookies sleeping where they're supposed to! I'm still battling with my doghouse dwelling hen some days... she seems to have a schedule of sorts - day 1 coop, day 2 doghouse, rinse and repeat. Completely baffled as to what the reason might be.
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Hi Friends!

I thought I would wake up here on the bridge with my mint tea this morning. My usual spot on the front porch is occupied by lumber, thanks to my loving husband. We have a family reunion of sorts this weekend and family from out of state will be stopping by tomorrow with more lumber from the family lumber mill (think… big chicken coop!!). My husband was trying to think of what we have accomplished around here in the last year (our first year). New barn roof, mini chicken coop, new front porch railings where there were none before, fixed the caved in well, fixed the clogged septic… all while taking over a 3 week vacation out west this summer. I think we did pretty well! Next on the list will be to support the deck and replace the railings. Someone cut a few corners when they built it long ago. The big coop is also on that list. If we can stay ahead on firewood, my flock just might be moving by this winter!! I honestly can not wait. We will be able to go away for a couple days and not worry about anyone having to take care of the chickens!

Let me vent again about spiders. Teila, I did some research on your spiders, and as it turns out we do have some similar ones. We don't have those super scary funnel web spiders though… you can keep those. Anyhow, this schoolhouse coop must be a spider magnet. I can handle small spiders and spiders that are on webs, for the most part. Usually when it is just me and the boys. I work really hard not to pass my phobia on to my boys. I can almost trace mine back to my Nana's house. I remember being in the bath tub and having spiders fall from the ceiling into the tub with me. Yup. Traumatized. Anyhow, since the first spider incident a few nights ago, I have begged my husband to come down to the coop with me if it is much after dark. He came down the other night and took care of things because yet again, there was another wolf spider or dark fishing spider (your huntsman spider Teila) under the roof. This one was not as big. He got rid of it and maybe said something sarcastic under his breath. he then opened the door and reached in to pull the pop door closed. That's when I saw it. The mother of all spiders. Right next to my husband's face. I calmly said back up…. back up… his eyes got wide because he thought there was something wrong… like the neighborhood bear. I showed him and even he kinda freaked out… it was the biggest spider he has ever seen. Honestly, it was as big as my hand, minus the last knuckle. I have only seen one bigger. I know they are tiny compared to those of you that have tarantulas, but chances are… that is the reason I do not live where you do!
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Ok. I'm good now. Had to get that out.

Things are good here. Free ranging has continued with hopes that Willie will do what he needs to do. I may have a new layer in the coop. I got two rubber eggs the other day. They came out together. I suspect it is one of the welsummers. The molt egg drought may have started here for the first time ever. Two eggs yesterday. Dear Maude (tree roosting buff) was almost in trouble last night. My roosts are basically landscape timbers on top of cinder blocks. I wanted them to be lower for the big girls, and the metal shed temp coop is not ideal for hanging roosts up any higher. Miss Maude, who, is a pretty big girl, decided she would roost inside one of holes in the cinder block. I went to lock up and count chickens and all I could see was her bottom. She was stuck and it took both of us to get her out of there. That girl, I tell ya!

Telia, LOOOOOOVE the broody Tina pic! Can't wait til she gets her eggs!! It is so funny how different broodies can be! MJ was a hunker down type, but if treats came out she was like a puppy dog at the door. Totally zoned out all the time. Almost mechanical. Eat, poop, dust bath, go back. She wasn't overly aggressive, just a bit poofy and vocal. The leghorns used to pick fights with her though. I think it was more them than her.

Ark, great pics! You have a pretty flock!! Love the coop! You have reminded me that I need to get my little solar lights out for around the run. Are you able to tell your Buff Orphs apart? I only have two, but they are complete opposites. Maude is HUGE and Mable is tiny tiny. Mine are hatchery, so quality is not so great. I am happy I am able to tell them apart though.

IC, I can not comment because I am not sure that I would be able to turn down a broody!! Better a broody than in the house, though! Annnnnnd you will be getting new eggs around February/March!

16 Paws, I loooooove pancake. What is she? Such a pretty color!

Liz, Congrats on Cy!! Great work with Lu and Frankie!! That liquid bandage stuff is amazing. It stings at first, but no pain after! I use it in the winter when my hands crack from washing them so much. Two little boys in the house bring home all kinds of nasties from school. I get a bit OCD in the winter. I am so happy they are all doing well and that Rou got her babies! I don't think it could have worked out any better for you! I am so excited to see what colors the "popular kids" turn out to be! I think I might like mixes better than purebreds in that respect.

Have a great day all! I will be reading, but may not have a chance to reply until after the holiday weekend.
 
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Not a great pic, but look how big they are getting! 9 weeks!! I think I might be back to two roosters and 6 pullets. Some of the "pullets" have thick legs, but no comb or color. You can see the two roosters, the white one in the back left, and the big one on the far right. I sure hope they will make their gender 100% soon. Not sure I can keep all of these pullets!! I will need to pick out three and maybe find homes for 3. I know I want to keep the white one and the one with the black head in the way back (velma).

Those of you with rose comb experience, do you think they would be bigger (like the one on the right) by now if they were roosters?
 
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Not a great pic, but look how big they are getting! 9 weeks!! I think I might be back to two roosters and 6 pullets. Some of the "pullets" have thick legs, but no comb or color. You can see the two roosters, the white one in the back left, and the big one on the far right. I sure hope they will make their gender 100% soon. Not sure I can keep all of these pullets!! I will need to pick out three and maybe find homes for 3. I know I want to keep the white one and the one with the black head in the way back (velma).

Those of you with rose comb experience, do you think they would be bigger (like the one on the right) by now if they were roosters?
I do think they would be bigger by now. Glad I was wrong, I thought you were going to have more roos. I say 6 pullets, but what do I know?
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Good morning, all!
Still 9 chicks here on the farm! This is even more a feat than normal, as I managed to leave the door to the run open last night! Oops! I've been a bit distracted lately. But,everyone's fine and I recently secured the run better in anticipation of the babies, so there probably wasn't too much of a risk.

@ItalyChickie , thanks for the info about the hobble progression. I will probably experiment with cutting the hobble today and seeing how Lu does. It's pitiful to see her fall so much with it on.
I'm going to go against the grain here and offer the tough love approach for Bonnie. If it's bad timing, it's bad timing. She will go broody again. Yes, she's a wonderful mama (adorable pictures) but there will be plenty of other opportunities to let her brood that will work better for your travel plans, I'm sure. I don't like breaking broodies, but it's a lot less work (and emotional strain) than a hatch, in my experience. So, I just wanted to offer my support if you decide to break her - I think it would be very humane under the circumstances.

@16 paws , I bought liquid bandage at the drug store. It was under the brand name "new skin" and they had a generic one as well. When I saw poor Frankie's head, and realized it needed to be closed, but couldn't be stitched, I was thinking I needed some sort of glue, like derma bond, and went to the store to see what they had. I'm beyond impressed and will start using it on myself! Congrats on the second baby!

@Teila , poor little Frankie's head actually looked worse before the liquid bandage - that first picture is actually a little better than it was at its worst.
 
Good evening Club .. yep, just after 6pm here :)

Ark I showed your coop to Joel and said "OK, get building" .. hhhm his response was not quite what I was hoping for "I don't think so!" lol

So just a bit of an update on Tina and how she is doing. Even though she has the small run attached to the broody box I figured she would enjoy a supervised free range with the gals at 4pm so let everyone out together. Tina proceeded to have a dust bath, a bit of a drink, something to eat, wandered around the place for 40 minutes and then went back to the eggs and hunkered down.

I sure am noticing a huge difference between Tina and Cilla's broody chickenalities. Cilla, as mentioned, never leaves the nest unless you force her, would starve to death on those eggs but, on the other hand, also very placid; plods around, does what she needs to do and then goes back, not a care in the world; pretty much like she had been smoking some whacky baccy!

Tina on the other hand, total opposite. She darted around everywhere like she knew she was on some sort of time schedule. She was vocal the whole time "what's that"; "who's that", standing tall, looking around. I wouldn't say 'nervous' but definitely toey or anxious.

I had a quick check on the nest while she was out and she has a nice nest built and has been moving the eggs so looking good so far.

Remember how I was trying to adjust everyone's sleeping arrangements so that they all roosted in the ranch section? That was probably good timing because now they do not have the chateau which has become the broody box (same as I did with Cilla's hatch). Anyways, LuLu used to sleep on the Silkie friendly perch with Tina while Dusty, Cilla and Blondie were on the higher perch. Dusty has been jumping up by herself but Cilla and Blondie, while they can easily get up there, are stamping their little chicken feet "I don't wanna!", so they are still getting popped on the roost by me. Tonight when I went to pop them on the roost, LuLu was already up there, cuddled up to Dusty ... so cute! I thought LuLu would miss her little buddy Tina and they did share a dust bath this afternoon, but I am pleased to see that Dusty has stepped in as a buddy for LuLu :)

Anyway, that is enough waffling from me .. just to finish up, I now have four little chookies, sleeping all in a row on an appropriate roost!
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Teila,good morning,awwwwwww love your chook'sohhhhhhhh too bad your hubby isn't ready to build yet,our's love their coop,they go in and out all day,then to roost all by themselve's,so glad Tina's doing well,they do love their dirt bath's,our poor buzzard in in the small coop inside the big coop,still treating her eye,she's content,she can see and hear everyone else but she can rest and heal as well,bonus is miss peck's alot cant peck her,all of them are on lock down because of the ferel cat's,3 more to catch and release on the other side of the river,mom set 2 new trap's this morn,we didn't know the barn was home to all these wild cats,they are bigger than our shih tzu's,and hiss and growl,definately have to go!!!!!!!!!
congrat's on your broody as well,cant wait till next year,maybe i'll get some chicks! have an awesome day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 


Not a great pic, but look how big they are getting! 9 weeks!! I think I might be back to two roosters and 6 pullets. Some of the "pullets" have thick legs, but no comb or color. You can see the two roosters, the white one in the back left, and the big one on the far right. I sure hope they will make their gender 100% soon. Not sure I can keep all of these pullets!! I will need to pick out three and maybe find homes for 3. I know I want to keep the white one and the one with the black head in the way back (velma).

Those of you with rose comb experience, do you think they would be bigger (like the one on the right) by now if they were roosters?
beautiful flock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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