INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Miss Lily loves the computer. She is getting better. Her sinus and eye swelling has gone down considerably. Only on day 2 of antibiotics. 3 more to go. Everyone else in the coop are healthy little guys and gals, showing no symptoms, so Lily will be a house silkie for a couple of weeks. She has had this before and no one has ever gotten sick. I think its just her own little quirk. She kept trying to get closer by stepping on the mouse pad. She had all kinds of things on the screen, so I just put it on BYC.

Reminds me of Rangi when she was a chick. She was always surfing on BYC.

"What?"

Oooh, look at that face! I'm getting chickie fever so bad now! Only 34 days to go... ETA: Oh, man, and look at her now! I can't believe it's almost been a year since this stinker joined my flock!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

Okay someone tell we what this craziness means. My LF cochin Lavender (the broody one from last fall) has stopped going out with the flock. She stay up on things all the time now. The alpacas hay boxes, the stall walls, the brooder box, anything to keep herself off of the floor. She hates the roosters. At least thats what Im gathering. She hasn't been over mated like a couple of my girls have who still hang with the flock. I put her out with everyone today to see what would happen. As soon as my LF cochin Blueberry saw her, he bee lined for her at a full run. As funny as it is to see a giant fluffy cochin rooster run, I wasnt laughing when he chased her right back into the barn. Its as if she isnt allowed to be with the flock free ranging. They dont bother her at all when she is in that barn up on her roosts, but she can't go out with everyone because the boys wont let her. DO you guys think the dynamic will change in her favor when the EE pullets get let into the flock? Thinkgs have been different for Lavender since she brooded her babies last fall. She is very submissive and being away from the flock put her immediately on the bottom of the pecking order. Any thoughts?

I have one girl that my boy was chasing like that too. I tried various things based on the recommendations of several experienced chicken keepers. (She would isolate herself and hide like your girl is doing.)

I observed that when he would mate her, there were some bully girls that would run over and attack her while he had her pinned down. She became terrified every time he approached as it meant being attacked. (They were also doing this to 3 other girls that were the lowest in the flock...tag-teaming the lowers.)

When I would place her with him without the bullies to see how things went, it seemed that he had gotten to the place that even though she would squat for him, he would just attack her rather than mate. THAT HAD TO STOP.

I did separate the 2 attackers completely for a week. They were together but not allowed where they could see the flock. Crated.

I separated the rooster out in a separate part of the coop with 2 girls. But he could still see everyone. He was waiting his turn in isolation since I didn't have a good place to isolate everyone at once.

Only the birds that were congenial were allowed to be in the main part of the coop and to free range together for the whole week.

I returned the 2 mean birds to that group after the week. Seems to be peace in that group. Then I removed the rooster to isolation where he will remain for the next week.

When I put him back with the flock this behavior MUST have changed. Otherwise he will be housed separately or dispatched. I cannot allow torment like that in my flock.

 

[kabhyper1]

Quote:

I have one girl that my boy was chasing like that too. I tried various things based on the recommendations of several experienced chicken keepers. (She would isolate herself and hide like your girl is doing.)

I observed that when he would mate her, there were some bully girls that would run over and attack her while he had her pinned down. She became terrified every time he approached as it meant being attacked. (They were also doing this to 3 other girls that were the lowest in the flock...tag-teaming the lowers.)

When I would place her with him without the bullies to see how things went, it seemed that he had gotten to the place that even though she would squat for him, he would just attack her rather than mate. THAT HAD TO STOP.

I did separate the 2 attackers completely for a week. They were together but not allowed where they could see the flock. Crated.

I separated the rooster out in a separate part of the coop with 2 girls. But he could still see everyone. He was waiting his turn in isolation since I didn't have a good place to isolate everyone at once.

Only the birds that were congenial were allowed to be in the main part of the coop and to free range together for the whole week.

I returned the 2 mean birds to that group after the week. Seems to be peace in that group. Then I removed the rooster to isolation where he will remain for the next week.

When I put him back with the flock this behavior MUST have changed. Otherwise he will be housed separately or dispatched. I cannot allow torment like that in my flock.

I have seen them mate her, but it isnt any different than any other time with the other girls. My flock gets along pretty well. She just doesnt seem to have any interest in the boys. She lays eggs, but it seems that she is smart enough to know that staying up and away from the boys keeps her from having to deal with them lol. She isnt in any pain or sadness. She seems really happy, I just would like to see her mingle more with the flock.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Good that she isn't getting attacked!

And...I feel for you. It's very frustrating when one isolates herself. I had one bird that was similar to that last year. She didn't hide in the coop a lot, but she'd be more to herself than any of the others and was a "runner" rather than one that would stand up for herself at the slightest provocation.

I thought, very early in my observations of her, that she was going to be a prime target for hawk attack and I was right. I have only lost one bird ever to predation so far and it was this girl. Hawk got her last October.

Strangely enough... the one that I have now that is running from the rooster is her bio daughter. I hadn't planned on hatching any of her eggs, but mistook hers for the other SFH girl's and her personality if very similar though raised by a broody "non-biomom".

 

[HouseKat]

My chicken run didn't stand up to all the snow we had in Indy this winter. The weight of the snow on top has pulled the top down, and the sides are leaning in. It WAS almost 5 feet tall, but now it's barely 3 feet tall on the inside. I was hoping it would spring back a little by tightening the tension wires, but it's not. It's made from T-posts and chicken wire (buried 6 inches). It was a real nightmare to do that chicken wire on the top of the run, but it worked well at keeping out predators. The only thing that got in was a little featherless baby cardinal (RIP) that fell from his nest.
I'm planning the chicken run re-do. I'm going to use chain link this time, which seems to be a do-it-yourself-friendly project. I'm hoping that the design I'm planning with the chain link will be a little easier to install than the chicken wire was. It will be my project this summer, wish me luck!

That looks all too familiar! Our enclosure collapsed in early December under our first heavy snow and freezing rain:



So we threw together a "temporary" shelter using a porch swing frame and tarps:



Our six girls lived in there for six weeks before we had a coop ready for them.

 

[bradselig]

Well should be getting this young stud here soon. Should give me a jump start on my lavender barred bantam Cochins!

 

[kabhyper1]

Good that she isn't getting attacked!

And...I feel for you. It's very frustrating when one isolates herself. I had one bird that was similar to that last year. She didn't hide in the coop a lot, but she'd be more to herself than any of the others and was a "runner" rather than one that would stand up for herself at the slightest provocation.

I thought, very early in my observations of her, that she was going to be a prime target for hawk attack and I was right. I have only lost one bird ever to predation so far and it was this girl. Hawk got her last October.

Strangely enough... the one that I have now that is running from the rooster is her bio daughter. I hadn't planned on hatching any of her eggs, but mistook hers for the other SFH girl's and her personality if very similar though raised by a broody "non-biomom".

Well Im glad she just stays in the barn then. She sticks with the alpacas more than the chickens. I can't lose her. She is my breeder quality lf cochin. I was hoping to put her and blueberry together sometime so we can have cochin babies, but I dont want to traumatize her. lol

 

[Mother2Hens]

Miss Lily loves the computer. She is getting better. Her sinus and eye swelling has gone down considerably. Only on day 2 of antibiotics. 3 more to go. Everyone else in the coop are healthy little guys and gals, showing no symptoms, so Lily will be a house silkie for a couple of weeks. She has had this before and no one has ever gotten sick. I think its just her own little quirk.
Searching for expert answers on her sinus condition.

kabhyper ~ Hope Lily finds some answers! That photo reminded me of this one I took of my special Lionel cat playing his favorite game on my iPad (fortunately, he scoots his paws around under the iPad as he tries to catch the fish. The app is "Cat Fishing" by Purina Friskies.

IMPORTANT ~ Calling all Silkie Experts!!!!

VIDEOS
I took videos of the silkies this afternoon so that hopefully someone can give me some clues about their sexual identities. ha

I brought them one by one to the front yard (where there's grass!), so they were a little freaked out being taken away from their little family, plus it was windy and chilly.
No award winning cinematography, just trying to show what they look like for identification purposes.

The Splash -- she is so pretty! I hope she's a girl. She's kind of a loner.
Girl or boy? 3 months & 1 week old

This Blue has a taller narrower neck/head.
Female or Male?

The last one is the Blue with the ridiculously fancy feathered feet.
Pullet or Cockerel?

 

[CRSelvey]

No problem. The best scenario would be if you could raise them all out to about a year old. That's when their hormones usually settle down and you can determine who is going to be too rough with your girls, who's going to be aggressive to you and your family, and who will get along with the boy you already have. However, since that's probably not plausible, I would go with either the d'Uccle or the Welsummer. I have never had a good experience with Easter-egger roosters and it seems like most of them I read about are too aggressive. I would lean toward the d'Uccle, since he's a bantam and wouldn't be as much of a danger to your current boy, also being a bantam. I've heard good things about d'Uccle boys, so he should work out well. I've not heard anything bad about Welly boys, either, so it'll have to be up to your preference in the end.

I would suggest, however, that you stop handling the boys for the most part. Except in very rare occasions, boys who are handled a lot as chicks tend to be more human aggressive.

Thank you for the suggestions. My son asked if we could keep the d'uccle so that is probably what will happen. He is pretty cute and I don't think he would be too hard on my hens.

I went out to the coop tonight and got a surprise! One of my Cochins is broody and hogging a nest box. . I still have room for more if it works out but I'm nervous about a couple of things. One is that my roo is a bantam Oeg and the hens are a mix of LF and bantams. Should I take any LF eggs out from under her? What happens when you cross a bantam and a LF? It doesn't sound like a good idea but what do I know. Next, I have a few eggs from my Spitzhauben girl and my Ameraucana in the house that I could give her but is that ok? They have not been washed or refrigerated. All from within the last 5 days. And finally as my hens are most likely mareks carriers, should I even let her hatch? I'm keeping my current babies as carefully away from the others and being as vigilant about my biosecurity as I can for at least the first 10-12 weeks as recommended by Purdue. These babies would be exposed immediately.

I don't even go to my friends houses that have chickens right now or wear any of my coop shoes to the tsc so that I don't inadvertently carry the virus there so this is a pickle.

I'm open to suggestions. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see a mixed chick though. I bet they'd be cute.

 

[kabhyper1]

kabhyper ~ Hope Lily finds some answers! That photo reminded me of this one I took of my special Lionel cat playing his favorite game on my iPad (fortunately, he scoots his paws around under the iPad as he tries to catch the fish. The app is "Cat Fishing" by Purina Friskies.

IMPORTANT ~ Calling all Silkie Experts!!!!

VIDEOS
I took videos of the silkies this afternoon so that hopefully someone can give me some clues about their sexual identities. ha

I brought them one by one to the front yard (where there's grass!), so they were a little freaked out being taken away from their little family, plus it was windy and chilly.
No award winning cinematography, just trying to show what they look like for identification purposes.

The Splash -- she is so pretty! I hope she's a girl. She's kind of a loner.
Girl or boy? 3 months & 1 week old

This Blue has a taller narrower neck/head.
Female or Male?

The last one is the Blue with the ridiculously fancy feathered feet.
Pullet or Cockerel?

I think they are all girls. Give it another month to know for sure. They have pullet stances, with the exception of the last one, but that tall stance could have been from being in an unfamiliar area. Silkie pullets will stand sort of low when relaxed. Boys stand rather tall most of the time. I pm'ed you with more information. Cute kitty BTW