I Built A Bridge!

[tommysgirl]

Aaaw, that is a downer TG!

Tee hee, yep, they are called 'Stubbies'. I wondered when I posted if anyone would comment lol. They were 'all the rage' a few years ago but the trend for the guys now seems to be longer leg. Having said that, there are quite a few Tradies around who are reluctant to part with their 'Stubbies'

"Tradies" are they construction workers? I love it when you teach us Aussie English

Congrats on Lulus first egg that is ALWAYS so exciting!

I am also impressed with your ingenuity and skill as a nest box divider. Add that to your resume and maybe get a raise eh??

I have had a higher ranking girl kick a upstart pullet out of the "best nest" bevore. Hanging curtains seems to have helped but my girls are loons. It is like middle school and one of the top girls says OK...this box is the one we are ALL laying in until I say different....except Blance and Willa. You guys have to keep them out."

Godiva is the worst...how can such a sweet girl be so terrible?? She was patrolling the front of the coop at dusk for the sole purpose of keeping Cosmo out...he is a bit of a pain, he chases the young pullets and tries to mount them and they are not having it. Anyway he would get close to try to go to bed and she would chase him away. I had to run interference for him. Poor little guy. Ike still tolerates him which is good don't know where I would put him otherwise

Thanks ladies!
I just closed up the short nest for the evening, after spending most of the day in the coop. I even brought a transcript in with me to read. It was debatable as to whether I was ever a crazy cat lady, but I am definitely a crazy chicken lady!
I guess today was better, in that integration was longer, but Grace and Frida are both just crazy, and I can't really leave them all alone together yet. At one point, I was working nearby in the yard and heard a hullabaloo, and rushed to find Frida had cornered poor Frankie in the crate. No damage was done, but I don't know if I could have said the same if I wasn't nearby. I don't know what's wrong with the broodies this year! The aunties and Desi are getting along great with Rousseau and all the littles, but Grace and Frida are just being psycho. It's like they're trying to take over the whole coop for their brood. The aunties are even protecting Rousseau and her babies a bit, but they're mostly hanging out in the run or in the back so as not to deal with the Broodzillas at all.

So, I guess my strategy is supervised mingling over a period of several days until hopefully everyone calms down or the littles are a little less vulnerable.

But, I did learn a fun game today: after putting yogurt on my fingers for a few days and having the littles lick my fingers, I moved the cup on my lap and got a few of them to sit on my lap to eat it! So, that's good progress on the cuddly-chick front! If they all survive the warzone they're currently living in unscarred, they should be sweet chickens!

Oh, and a couple of them are already jumping up into the roost! Not even two weeks old, most of them! Definitely a high-flying bunch.

Hope you're not too disappointed about the lack of a broody, TG! At this point, I'd be happy to never have a hen go broody again!

May things continue to go smoothly for you, Teila. I agree with TG, that Lulu is looking ready to lay! Such a pretty girl! I was looking at some pictures from last year's hatch, and Rousseau almost looked like Lulu, rather than the poor feather-worn mess she is now. (Actually, I've heard that dual frizzles can wind up feather-challenged, maybe the way Rousseau is now. Not sure if there are other consequences.) Frankie and maybe one of the other chicks should have the frizzle gene, but I don't know if they'll be frizzles. (I'm not 100% sure there were 2 Rousseau eggs, as Frida and her lay similar eggs.) Does anyone know when the frizzle feathers start coming in?
And thanks for the well-wishes on the egg front. Bettina and Lucy both laid today (though Lucy had to fight her way to the nest). Marsha may be done for awhile. TG, you have some older hens, don't you? Have many of them stopped laying or slowed way, way down?

Poor little Frankie...You did a great job by supervising everyone. Wish it could have been more relaxing for you though.

My oldest 3 hens are two and a half and are still pretty reliable but I did rehome 3 last spring who at the time were just two but were slowing down/had laying issues. They went to live in a barn on 5 acres where they could range daily. The people had layers but took these girls on more as yard ornaments/pets.

When was Marsha's last egg? Is she maybe molting on the sly? My coop is full of feathers but for the life of me I can't tell by looking at the girls they are molting. 6 eggs on friday from 14 girls though so something is up...maybe the heat IDK. My oldest 3 though have been the most consistent. Sorry I am not much help. :/

Re the frizzle thing yes frizzle on frizzle can cause severe feather issues. I didn't read the article that carefully because at the time I didn't have one but now I have Julie Taylor and I wish I had.

And I just wanted to share that when Gracie Belle and Julie Taylor have chicks they are horrible to everyone else. They terrorize everyone except the highest PO girls...Godiva, Buckbeak and Harriet. Because they were broody in the summer last time and I was home I released everyone else for free range time and kept them in with their chicks. This time I don't know what I will do...probably move them all into the new pen because they are so awful. They didn't let up until the babies were old enough to go out and free range. That is probably not such helpful info for you and probably I gave in to their nastiness too early and they would have worked it out. Good luck you are a patient and loving crazy chicken lady.

 

[lizgarf]

Thanks everyone! It's still touchy in there, but today is definitely going better. I managed to go for a bike ride and take Reggie for a walk and not come home to blood or corpses. It sounds from Teila and TG that these things are hard for everyone, and due to space constraints, I just pushed it along a little early, plus I had the wrinkle of the third broody. But, luckily that third broody seems to have Desi and the aunties on her side, and we may be getting past the worst.
So now I'm going to do some work inside, with the window open above the run, and that should alert me to if they need any help.

And, Marsha managed to lay an egg today! It had been 5 days with no eggs from her - basically since the Broodzillas took over the coop. She's at least 2.5, so due for a slow-down, but since I'm down to 3 layers at the moment (plus 3 broodies, one free-loader, one roo, and 9 chicks), I can't have her retire quite yet! I need to get some sort of a return on the chicken feed and time-sink! (I mean other than the cuteness of littles running over my feet and jumping on Auntie Bettina and tackling each other.)

Congrats Teila on Lulu's first egg!! Very exciting and good work on the divider. I think at a certain point, you reach a critical mass of hens and start needing dividers - that's what happened with me, though it takes exceptional conditions for anyone to actually lay in the left side of the nest. I think it's like the waiting room to them.

 

[16 paws]

Hi everyone,

Congrats on the Lulu egg Teila.

Lizgarf,

I am curious about the frizzle feathers also Liz. I have finally named the assisted hatch chick Hope. I think Hope may be a frizzle. Look at how her feathers on her wings are curling up. I think she is about 2 weeks old now.
Anyone know if she is a frizzle?
Thanks
Marie

 

[lizgarf]

I am curious about the frizzle feathers also Liz. I have finally named the assisted hatch chick Hope. I think Hope may be a frizzle. Look at how her feathers on her wings are curling up. I think she is about 2 weeks old now.
Anyone know if she is a frizzle?
Thanks
Marie

Oh, lucky you! Looks like Hope may well be frizzled! Does she have a frizzle in her lineage? I can't remember what you said about those eggs.
None of mine have any signs of frizzle in their new feathers, so the odds won out in my hatch. I'm telling myself it's best this way, what with all of Rousseau's feather and flight problems, but truth be told, I really love frizzles!

 

[16 paws]

Oh, lucky you! Looks like Hope may well be frizzled! Does she have a frizzle in her lineage? I can't remember what you said about those eggs.
None of mine have any signs of frizzle in their new feathers, so the odds won out in my hatch. I'm telling myself it's best this way, what with all of Rousseau's feather and flight problems, but truth be told, I really love frizzles!

I love Frizzles too. I have Taffy and she could be the mom but I dont really know.
Here is Taffy and the daddy could be the black cochin roo in the back named Poppie.
Taffy had some feather problems when she was broody. She looked like a naked neck. Lol
How is Frankie doing today? I hope no one cornered him. He is so darn adorable. No one better pick on him.

 

[lizgarf]

I love Frizzles too. I have Taffy and she could be the mom but I dont really know.
Here is Taffy and the daddy could be the black cochin roo in the back named Poppie.
Taffy had some feather problems when she was broody. She looked like a naked neck. Lol
How is Frankie doing today? I hope no one cornered him. He is so darn adorable. No one better pick on him.

Aw, too cute! Frizzles are fun, even with their occasional bald periods.
Thanks for asking about Frankie. I don't think anyone cornered him/her alone today, but there were some touchy moments - particularly at the end, when I thought maybe I could leave the crate open for the night, and then Grace went in and attacked the whole little sleeping family! I actually spanked Grace, I was so mad! I'll see if I managed to get any good pictures of Frankie lately. She's healing, in that the wounds are closed and don't seem infected, but she looks like she's suffering from male-pattern baldness pretty badly. I don't think anyone is targeting her particularly, but she does stick out, in addition to being the smallest. Definitely an adorable little Frankenstein, if I do say so myself.

 

[Teila]

Howdy Club .. instead of the normal “good morning”, it is going to have to be “good afternoon”, busy busy morning at work .. have I mentioned lately that I do so dislike Mondays!? By the time I get to finish this, it may even be “good evening”

TG today’s Aussie English lesson is ‘Tradies’ = Tradesmen; skilled manual worker

Lolz at your middle school girls .. I can relate! They reckon us human gals can have mood swings; nothing in comparison to chookies!

As you all know, I have very little experience with Broodzillas with both Cilla and Tina being wonderful girls who let me pick them up, check the eggs, pat them, feed them in the nest etc. Blondie? Hhhhmm, I am thinking she may be one gal who I will not give fertile eggs .. she was feral just protecting one non fertile egg that she just laid and after 15mins, left for better things to do. First order of business if Blondie goes broody is ordering the thickest pair of gloves I can get!

Liz so good to read that you are nearly past the worst on the integration. I am not looking forward to integration with Tina and her bubbies (assuming there are any). Even if there are no bubbies, Tina will need to be reintegrated and that is going to be tricky .. these gals are definitely middle school and unlike Cilla, Tina is not top of the ladder

Congratulations on the Marsha egg also .. the Broodzillas may have been ‘upsetting’ her as you suggested.

I believe you may be right about the critical mass theory and I have already made a conscious decision that it would not be fair to accommodate more than 6 bantams in my current set up (when not locked down). I could consider expanding but I think 6 is enough and if I don’t stop somewhere I never will!

16 paws just my humble, inexperienced, research based opinion but I do believe Hope may be a Frizzle. She is sooo cute; love her current colour and the colours I can see coming through on her feathers.

Taffy's frizzle is really curly! Adorable! I am certainly a Frizzle fan and yep, they are such funny little characters Liz!

Liz sorry to hear that the odds of a Frizzle are not looking good this time round. Grace sounds like she was due for a spanking, bad girl! Cilla has had a couple of gentle beak-taps of late when she starts to get a bit bossy or she gets to spend 5-10 minutes tucked under my arm while everyone else get to free range!

Looking forward to Frankie pictures!

No news of note .. Tina still on track; not sure how many eggs I got today, been stuck in front of this computer! Speaking of which, I had better scoot; this little effort has been in compose mode for nearly 2 hours. Luckily only 1 hour and 5 minutes to go! I have had this one client ring at least 7-8 times today; not a very nice person and she has hung up on me twice; charming!

 

[lizgarf]

Lolz at your middle school girls .. I can relate! They reckon us human gals can have mood swings; nothing in comparison to chookies!

As you all know, I have very little experience with Broodzillas with both Cilla and Tina being wonderful girls who let me pick them up, check the eggs, pat them, feed them in the nest etc. Blondie? Hhhhmm, I am thinking she may be one gal who I will not give fertile eggs .. she was feral just protecting one non fertile egg that she just laid and after 15mins, left for better things to do. First order of business if Blondie goes broody is ordering the thickest pair of gloves I can get!

Liz so good to read that you are nearly past the worst on the integration. I am not looking forward to integration with Tina and her bubbies (assuming there are any). Even if there are no bubbies, Tina will need to be reintegrated and that is going to be tricky .. these gals are definitely middle school and unlike Cilla, Tina is not top of the ladder

Congratulations on the Marsha egg also .. the Broodzillas may have been ‘upsetting’ her as you suggested.

I believe you may be right about the critical mass theory and I have already made a conscious decision that it would not be fair to accommodate more than 6 bantams in my current set up (when not locked down). I could consider expanding but I think 6 is enough and if I don’t stop somewhere I never will!

Liz sorry to hear that the odds of a Frizzle are not looking good this time round. Grace sounds like she was due for a spanking, bad girl! Cilla has had a couple of gentle beak-taps of late when she starts to get a bit bossy or she gets to spend 5-10 minutes tucked under my arm while everyone else get to free range!
Looking forward to Frankie pictures!

No news of note .. Tina still on track; not sure how many eggs I got today, been stuck in front of this computer! Speaking of which, I had better scoot; this little effort has been in compose mode for nearly 2 hours. Luckily only 1 hour and 5 minutes to go! I have had this one client ring at least 7-8 times today; not a very nice person and she has hung up on me twice; charming!

Good morning/evening to you, Teila! Sorry to hear about your mean client - that sounds miserable.
You may never know who is a Broodzilla until you get one. Grace has always had more chickenality per ounce than any other, but I never thought she'd be the nightmare she's been once the chicks hatched. She never bothered me much while setting and was a fairly gracious flock-leader before becoming Broodzilla (and corrupting Frida who was sweet as can be, last time around). Now, she's just a disaster. I've picked her up and held her or given her timeouts outside the coop a bunch of times now and I had to at least do that to break up the fights she's been starting this week. It's really been tough. They made it through another day with less supervised time, but the time I did spend supervising did not always make me comfortable with leaving them alone. Definitely no more broody hatches for Grace! (And, chickens may often act like middle-school girls, but mine are currently acting more like warlords. I've know some mean middle-school girls in my time, but not quite this violent.)

In other broody news, I keep forgetting to mention that Frida is already trying to return to the roost! Just like last time, she seems to be devoted broody mama (or broodzilla) by day, and swinging single lady by night. Good thing for her, she's a team brooder. I wonder how long Grace will stick it out in the nest on her own, or if all the babies will be finding Aunti Rousseau soon, and how that will go.

OK, enough talk, time for pictures:
The best recent shots I could get of Frankie's head (Team Rousseau spent most of the day in the run, where I eventually put food and water for them):




The rest of the flock, huddled together in the run to avoid the Broodzillas:


Auntie Bettina and her fans at one of the many watering holes:

One of the Bettina babies jumped on my lap of its own accord today!! No treats or anything! I really, really, hope at least one of them is a girl! Gah!

A moment of sweetness, before Grace decided to raid Camp Rousseau:


I'm trying to decide if I should swap out the crate for a smaller nest, with the food and water outside, so that the Broodzillas won't see Camp Rousseau as territory they needs to acquire for their brood (and to get more space in the coop), or if I still need the option to be able to lock everyone else out of Camp Rousseau. I guess I'll see how tomorrow goes.
Have a great Monday, everyone!

 

[Teila]

Hello again! Quick duck in and hopefully not one of my novellas

Well, I found out how many eggs I got today, a bit fat Zero! Sticking with her two in a row, Cilla was probably due; Blondie had laid four in a row so she was definitely OK with a day off; Dusty was not due and of course, after laying her first egg yesterday, LuLu deserves a day off also. Definitely going to keep an eye on things though, my new divider might have ‘upset’ someone; knowing these gals, probably did upset someone! Maybe it needs to be ‘automatic pop-up’ depending on who is laying lol.

Liz your “warlords” and "swinging single lady by night” comments had me chuckling; I know the whole situation is not fun, but it is good to see that you have retained your sense of humour.

Frankie’s little head looks much better! Did you see the discussions we had in Team Broody about the girl’s wing feathers being longer than the boys when they are feathering out? OK, we didn’t really come to any conclusions and it seems to be related to breed of chicken, but, it is interesting to see in that first picture that Frankie has long wing feathers past her little fluffy butt and the other two have short wing feathers; just saying and totally inconclusive.

Frankie looks quite happy and chipper in the second shot.

Lovely group shot with everyone in the run; if only the reason was better! Looking closely at Desi, I believe I can see a ‘oh no, what now’ look in his eye

Bettina is beautiful! I love her markings! Adorable “sweetness moments”!

You have a great day too Liz (while I am typing this you are probably sleeping but at least you may read it in the morning).

PS. I had a chat to my boss about the mean client and apparently he is just about ready to punch her also! We shared a vent session and I feel much better

 

[arkansas55]

Afternoon all,ive been busy with the chickens and budgie's,just wanted to say hello and hope all is well,hugs