Illinois...

[MeepBeep]

Only a dusting of snow up here in Lake County and only stuck in some location, it should be gone as soon as the sun comes out tomorrow...

The winds were brutal though... Between today's wind storm and the one a few days ago as well as one several weeks back I have a huge amount of branches and lawn cleanup to do come spring... I also need a new flag, they usually last a year for me and I replace them in the fall but these wind storms killed this one far short of a year...

 

[Faraday40]

I found a dead bird today. I saw a white wing in my herb garden. GULP! I put on some gloves & grabbed a plastic bag. As I picked up the wing, the remainder of the body pulled out of the dry sandy soil. The area is right next to the house, so I'm guessing it flew into a window- or got blown by the wind to hit our house. Big white bird. maybe a seagull? Not sure how it got partially underground. I'm very glad it wasn't one of my chickens!

 

[chickendreams24]

Oh thank goodness it wasn't one of your chickens. Poor bird but thank goodness

 

[NotAFarm]

I found a dead bird today. I saw a white wing in my herb garden. GULP! I put on some gloves & grabbed a plastic bag. As I picked up the wing, the remainder of the body pulled out of the dry sandy soil. The area is right next to the house, so I'm guessing it flew into a window- or got blown by the wind to hit our house. Big white bird. maybe a seagull? Not sure how it got partially underground. I'm very glad it wasn't one of my chickens!

I think I'd be worried about what buried it there....something that might be back later looking for it's midnight snack?

 

[Junibutt]

Well, we didn't end up with but an inch of snow, but that wind put an end to my plastic circus tent cover on my run. Thank goodness it made it this far, but wished it made it a bit further.

The clear plastic sheets that had been covering my run all summer and fall and survived terrible thunderstorms were blown away twice in 6 days. Friday and today. So I have just put them aside lest they damage my cars. Will figure out how to secure them when the weather gets nicer.

 

[Junibutt]

Here are couple of more pics from my test hatch. Excuse me if I have posted before, having been running short on sleep hours.

From the first picture (experts tell me), from top to bottom order is a double barred chocolate cuckoo cockerel, single barred chocolate cuckoo pullet or cockerel and a mauve (pullet if she is not barred)

 

[Molpet]

I found a dead bird today. I saw a white wing in my herb garden. GULP! I put on some gloves & grabbed a plastic bag. As I picked up the wing, the remainder of the body pulled out of the dry sandy soil. The area is right next to the house, so I'm guessing it flew into a window- or got blown by the wind to hit our house. Big white bird. maybe a seagull? Not sure how it got partially underground. I'm very glad it wasn't one of my chickens!

I would think some varmint found and buried it ...well we do have bobcats, but I would doubt it
"... http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/w...ng-the-culprit-from-the-crime-scene-evidence/
Head bitten off, claw marks on neck, back, and sides; body partially covered with litter
bobcat

 

[Faraday40]

Today Cuddles seems a little "off". She's eating but her poops are strange again. (Watery, slimy) She's not aggressively fighting for treats (which was my 1st clue). She seems slower moving & more quiet than usual. Wallking, not running. Tail out straight. (Not the usual upward angle, but not droopy downward.). She spent some quiet time in the nest box. (She stopped laying Sept 1,2015, when she got sick, so at 1st I thought she may just be starting up again..... but her face/comb look pale when compared to the others.) Could this be in response to worms or more specifically de-worming? When she was sick in Sept, she got better after Corid & Safeguard de-wormer.

I brought her inside for observation tonight. Her crop's full & hard, so I took feed away. I put Corid in her water but she's not drinking it yet. Her excessive Orpington butt fluff has dried & wet poop in it, but I decided to hold off on a bath for now. The last symptom which started 2 hours ago is head shaking or crop adjusting. Not too frequent. I found out DD gave her some treats when I 1st brought her in, so perhaps Cuddles just over-ate. (She wasn't doing it at all when she was outside earlier.) No respiratory issues, no nasal or eye discharge, no signs of injury, no bumblefoot. Any suggestions of other symptoms I should look for?

Chicken health is so complicated! I truly hope I'm just over-reacting. Cuddles is a very special chicken.

 

[Faraday40]

I would think some varmint found and buried it ...well we do have bobcats, but I would doubt it
"... http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/w...ng-the-culprit-from-the-crime-scene-evidence/
Head bitten off, claw marks on neck, back, and sides; body partially covered with litter
bobcat

great table! I'm going to bookmark it.

Because of the high winds & storms, it was very likely a house/window victim. Definitely wasn't a local, neighborhood bird. My best guess was a white seagull type bird. I have seen some by the big grocery stores. The body was intact except for the eyes - probable insect activity. I didn't carefully examine it & decided to spend as little time as possible handling an unknown dead bird. Thankfully it was over 100' away from the backyard area where the chickens free range. My dogs like to play near the area where the bird was found, so perhaps they found it, didn't know what to do with it, so one of them buried it for later. If I find another dead bird, I'll be very nervous.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Today Cuddles seems a little "off". She's eating but her poops are strange again. (Watery, slimy) She's not aggressively fighting for treats (which was my 1st clue). She seems slower moving & more quiet than usual. Wallking, not running. Tail out straight. (Not the usual upward angle, but not droopy downward.). She spent some quiet time in the nest box. (She stopped laying Sept 1,2015, when she got sick, so at 1st I thought she may just be starting up again..... but her face/comb look pale when compared to the others.) Could this be in response to worms or more specifically de-worming? When she was sick in Sept, she got better after Corid & Safeguard de-wormer.

I brought her inside for observation tonight. Her crop's full & hard, so I took feed away. I put Corid in her water but she's not drinking it yet. Her excessive Orpington butt fluff has dried & wet poop in it, but I decided to hold off on a bath for now. The last symptom which started 2 hours ago is head shaking or crop adjusting. Not too frequent. I found out DD gave her some treats when I 1st brought her in, so perhaps Cuddles just over-ate. (She wasn't doing it at all when she was outside earlier.) No respiratory issues, no nasal or eye discharge, no signs of injury, no bumblefoot. Any suggestions of other symptoms I should look for?

Chicken health is so complicated! I truly hope I'm just over-reacting. Cuddles is a very special chicken.

I agree, chicken health is complicated. Hope Cuddles is ok.