I Built A Bridge!

[lizgarf]

Three days now with no eggs in the nest. Rain may be forecast for California tonight, but the egg drought is in full swing at my farm! Waah! I have too many chickens and buy too much feed to be eggless!!!
Things are getting testier in the flock -- it was really hard getting everyone back in the run tonight. So I know it's time to start rehoming, but I also get sad when I think about it - especially Diego! Norma almost unconvinced me she was a girl today. If she is a pullet, she's nothing like Bettina, personality-wise, which would be a bummer, but not as much of a bummer as if she turns out to be a roo. Time will have to tell with that one. The BCM genes are really confusing things on an otherwise easily sexed breed! She has enough penciling compared to Brian (who has none) to keep me hoping, and the comb/wattles remain slightly less red, but she really needs to stop picking fights!

TG, I like "Wally" for a name. And congrats on your team's win!

 

[lizgarf]

I know you were all worried, so I had to report that Jan laid an egg today! Phew!! Bettina is getting some new bald areas, so I think she's decided to molt after all. If Jan can keep laying a few eggs a week until Marsha and Lucy and the broodies start back up, then we should make it through the winter!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

 

[Teila]

Howdy Bridge Club

Liz sorry to hear that the egg drought has moved in at your place but pleased to read that Jan laid an egg.

I also like the name ‘Wally’

First up, before I bring on the pictures and have my dreams of keeping Spot totally shattered

, some pictures of Tina's comb as a refresher. If you remember the debate raged right up until her first egg on whether she was a pullet or rooster; she even has spurs!





Spot is 6 weeks old on Monday. I put his pictures in the Aussie thread first as you gals would be sleeping and most did not want to take a guess on gender and those who did mentioned that the single comb makes it difficult, also the age, the only definitive statement was “the wattles look advanced for that age” and I agree:





I love the colour and sooo cute!






Someone mentioned Gloria looked exactly like her Frizzle at 6 weeks, even the comb and it turned out to be a she:













Coming up for 3 weeks on Monday: (Can't remember if I told you their nick-names and how they got them)

‘Allsorts’ because (s)he was all sorts of colours when hatched:



'Bear' because the black and brown markings on his/her head reminded me of a bear! lol



Tina looking very fluffy:



Dusty trying to look sweet and intelligent at the same time:



Feather explosion! LuLu enjoying a dust bath:



Cilla is determined to be broody. I gave her an ice bath yesterday (no option, she was making everyone’s life a misery) and made her sleep on the roost last night. This morning when I got up she was in the nest box so I locked her out of the coop. Once everyone had finished laying, I took the nest boxes away and opened up the coop. This is Cilla's way of telling me that if I leave her no other options she is going to be broody on the roost in the middle of the day! lol

 

[lizgarf]

Hi folks!
I hope everyone had a lovely Halloween and are enjoying November so far!
Teila, super pretty chicks! Yep, Spot is definitely a looker! I can't help on gender. My only guess is that Gloria's feathering seems a bit suspicious, but the frizzle feathers may come in slower. Also, if she has a pee comb, and if there are 3 rows, then that could be male.

Things here have been getting pretty crazy. I think everyone is feeling crowded and nervous about the boys growing up. The boys are fighting a bit more (no blood yet) and some of the hens have been waging various protests and refusing to go back into the coop until the very last minute. The other day I had an appointment at 4 and had to leave Marsha, Lucy, and Norma alone in the yard because I couldn't get them back inside in time (thanks to Rousseau for pecking Norma out of the run while I was trying to get Lucy in). But, they all survived. Poor Lucy - she is really a hen without a posse. Still, she may bring it on herself. She's known me since she was a chick and she's still convinced I'm trying to kill her. Lucy, when have I ever done you wrong?

In any case, it's clear I need to start looking for homes sooner than later. So I took some more pictures yesterday and will post some ads today. If anyone knows of a good home in California, let me know!!

Brahmaran Brian:



BCM/Bantam frizzled cochin cross, Diego:


Black Copper Marans Cyrano (Cy):



BCM Louie (Lu):




BCM crossed with beautiful bantam, probably mostly sebright, Frankie:




And the proud sire:

 

[Teila]

Liz sorry, I will respond to your post and beautiful photos later.

I lost Allsorts this morning

Allsorts was fine when (s)he went to bed last night, bouncing around with mum and Bear; eating, drinking, fighting over a meal worm. This morning when I let them out and gave them breakfast, I didn't notice anything in the excitement to get breakfast but when changing their water, I noticed that Allsorts was just standing in the run, not doing much and not eating. Bear is fine, eating, drinking, bouncing. In 2 hours Allsorts had gone down hill fast. No diarrhoea, no discharge, no external wounds, nothing to indicate an illness as such. I am wondering if Allsorts was maybe injured accidentally my mum during the night or early this morning in the mini-run or had something going on internally.

I was torn on what to do; to be totally honest, I did not believe Allsorts was going to make it and I did not want to bring Allsorts inside and have his/her final hours spent with me poking and prodding. When I last checked Allsorts was snuggled under mum's chest with Bear and while it is so very sad, I decided I should leave him/her there. 17 minutes later; gone

 

[lizgarf]

Liz sorry, I will respond to your post and beautiful photos later.

I lost Allsorts this morning

Allsorts was fine when (s)he went to bed last night, bouncing around with mum and Bear; eating, drinking, fighting over a meal worm. This morning when I let them out and gave them breakfast, I didn't notice anything in the excitement to get breakfast but when changing their water, I noticed that Allsorts was just standing in the run, not doing much and not eating. Bear is fine, eating, drinking, bouncing. In 2 hours Allsorts had gone down hill fast. No diarrhoea, no discharge, no external wounds, nothing to indicate an illness as such. I am wondering if Allsorts was maybe injured accidentally my mum during the night or early this morning in the mini-run or had something going on internally.

I was torn on what to do; to be totally honest, I did not believe Allsorts was going to make it and I did not want to bring Allsorts inside and have his/her final hours spent with me poking and prodding. When I last checked Allsorts was snuggled under mum's chest with Bear and while it is so very sad, I decided I should leave him/her there. 17 minutes later; gone

Oh Teila, I'm so sorry to read this! He was a sweet little chick, and you and Blondie gave him a great life while he had it.

 

[Teila]

Thank you Liz

I have had a good sook and have now switched into paranoid mode; checking on Bear every 15 mins, checking poops, researching and scaring the heck out of myself with a number of possible flock-ending diseases

Everyone else appears to be fine. Bear's poops are healthy; nothing else that I can see appears out of the ordinary. Spot, Gloria and Bear are all still on the medicated chick start.

Obviously I was/am very upset but did have the common sense to check Allsorts totally before the little service we had. No parasites; nothing. I am vigilant with worming and lice/mite prevention.

One possibility could be sudden temperature change in that we had a week or so of very sunny, 29-32C (84-89F) degree temps and today it is still only 24C (75F), overcast and windy, with the overnight low being 18C (64F). Not cold, but maybe enough of a swing to cause problems.

As I mentioned previously, maybe an accidental overnight internal injury .. I have no idea; I do know that it is very sad

Now, back to your post.

Halloween is not really celebrated here in Aus but having said that, it seems to be worming it’s way in

We had some trick or treaters last year and I was not prepared. This year I was prepared and while we only had 4 sets of kiddies come knocking, it was nice to be able to give them some candy and comment on their cute little outfits. Plus, with the low number of callers, leftover candy for me

I cannot get over how fast your little ones have grown and I guess I am going to have to stop calling them little ones.

I am playing musical chickens at the moment, so I can sympathize with your accommodation dilemmas and dummy spitting hens!

I am trying to break Cilla and she is not appreciating it one little bit; taking it out on all and sundry. There is no way I can integrate the chicks while she is being a fair [insert b-word]. When she is out for a run she tries to drag Spot and Gloria through the fence by their heads or whatever she can get a grip on! She jumps on Tina's back and repeatedly pecks at her head. Dusty and LuLu are fine with Tina now and back to being thick as thieves. If I have Cilla locked in the run by herself, she tries to get Blondie and Bear through the wire. Anyways, at the moment Cilla is not allowed to socialise with anyone. I am 1. hoping to break her broodiness and 2. keep her in isolation until she rethinks her attitude! It is recommended to take an over zealous matriarch out of the loop for an extended period of time. If she does not improve, she will have her own little coop and run permanently!!!

Anyway, back to the pictures ……..
Brian looking into the camera is a classic “whatya doing mum?”
Diego is looking good; very handsome! As are Cy and Lu.
I am devastated to see Frankie in the rooster rehoming program!

Desi! Well what can I say … stunning!!!!

 

[tommysgirl]

First things first. @Teila I am so sorry that you lost Spot. I must be so hard to not freak out. Chicks are all at once so fragile and so resilient it makes us look like crazy for a cause when sometimes there isn't one that can be pinpointed. It does sound like this may be one of those inexplicable cases where they just don't make it.

Liz. This is what I put on my fb chicken page. If you have any corrections or additions just tell me and I will fix things. Best of luck!

https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountyCaChickenPeeps


My daughter is here to get me so must go. Take care all more later!

 

[Teila]

Howdy TG and thank you

.. just a quick one to let you know that Spot is fine; it was Allsorts that we lost. Looking forward to hearing all the news that is news; enjoy spending time with your daughter. How did she go with the interview process?

 

[lizgarf]

Hi folks,
I managed to just barely meet my last deadline today. I'm scared to look at what I filed - it really needed at least one more proof-read, but the deed is done, and I am so relieved!! I hate it when work gets overwhelming like that. Now I finished filling out my ballot (to be dropped off at the polling place tomorrow on my bike ride), and I'm ready to get back to all the stuff I put off until after I finished this slew of deadlines.

Anywho, thanks TG for posting to your facebook page! No one has responded to my BYC ad yet, so tomorrow I'll move on to craigslist. I'm nervous about craigslist. I'm doubting I'll actually find good homes for these pretty boys. I guess time will tell.
I find it ironic that keeping chickens has made me actually more open to the idea of folks eating them. I still have no desire to eat my own chickens, and I can't imagine starting, but I can understand better why others would. What else does the universe do with all the roosters, except kill them outright? I do love my Desi and I really wish I could keep Diego or Frankie, but I obviously can't with my semi-urban situation; and I think it's the minority of chicken-farmers that can keep a few roos with even the minimum amount of freedom that Desi has. I'm kind of rambling at the moment, but it seems to be one of the many disconnects of having chickens. They are such great pets, except when they're not.

Teila, Cilla sounds like a major broodzilla! I'm sorry you have to deal with that right now.

Looks like I'll only have that one Jan egg for the past week. I can only hope that Lucy and Marsha will start up again soon. They've taken two months off now. Lucy's molt is done and today her comb started looking redder. She's only a year old, for goodness sake! If she wasn't so traumatized by life in the expanded flock, I think she'd be back laying by now.