Life With The Flock: Lacy Duckwing's Flock Thread

[Lacy Duckwing]

Life with the Flock:
Lacy Duckwing's Flock Thread​

Hello, fellow BYCers and friends! Welcome to my flock thread! Here, I will tell some of my life stories with my birds, post occasional updates, and most likely, tons of pictures! I hope you will all enjoy it, and all are welcome!



My Current Birds:


Nightfall; 2021-2022 Rooster of the Year:

Nightfall is an EE/Rhode Island Blue rooster. He hatched on July 13, 2021. He was the youngest of his hatch, and even being my current only rooster, he's not very dominant. The hens often like to bully him, though he is finally coming around. He's slightly skittish and is very delayed.

Aundria; Queen of the Flock:

Aundria is a Blue Rock hen. I got her in September 2020, and she had hatched earlier that year. Aundria is the queen of her flock, and what I call my 'Showbird'. (A Showbirds is a bird that is very photo genetic, very pretty, and one that I like to show off to everyone.)

Princess; Everyone's Favorite:

Princess is a Buff Brahma hen. I got her at the same time I got Aundria, and she's the same age. She is often everyone's favorite whenever I show off my birds. She's my largest hen.

Penny II; The Bully:

Penny is a Sliver-Laced Wyandotte hen, who's the same as Aundria. She is a mean hen and has even gotten in trouble for being a bully.

Maisy; An Interesting Bird:

Maisy is a Cukoo Maran (mix?) hen. Again, she's the same as Aundria. Just, I got her six days after I got my five hens with Aundria. Maisy is a different type of hen. She has a very high tolerance for anything. Earlier this year, she went broody. She was the broodiest hen I ever owned, which makes it hard for her being my smallest hen. She loves raw deer meat, especially when it's served to her on a fork. Though she's my smallest hen, and probably my ugliest, she's intelligent, and feisty and can easily stand her ground.

Rocky II; Special, No Doubt:

Rocky is a Golden Comet hen. She's the same age as Aundria, with me getting her at the same time. Of the original six hens that I got in September, she was my favorite. She comes to her own name, and she helped me train the rest of my flock to come to the treat call. I don't have many recent pictures of her, because she's currently my Bald Butt Society bird. Penny, in particular, thought it'd be a nice thing to do, by plucking her rear end bald. Rocky skipped out on this year's molt, so she is still bald back there.

Jewels; My Problem Chicken:

Jewels is a Speckled Sussex and the same as Aundria. She is a beautiful hen with an outstanding tail. (Sorry you don't see that tail in any of those pictures. She's finishing up her molt.) She is my 'problem' chicken. Within the first few months of owning her, I discovered she had a crop issue. With treatment looking to complicated, with no real answers, I bought her a crop bra. Her crop appear to have healed after several months of wearing the bra, so I decided to take it off. Bad idea. After a couple of days, she got a bad case of impacted crop, so back with the crop bra. After some more time with the bra, and frustrated that she had to wear it, I finally got some help from @Wyorp Rock, and she now appears to be doing well; crop bra free!

Beth II; The Amazing Rescue:

Beth is an Isa Brown hen. She was rescued, by my Mom, on a busy highway earlier this year. Beth took a deep liking to me and will follow me ANYWHERE. She's very special to me because of that and got a special place in my heart.

Shiloh II; Much Different From the First:

Shiloh is an EE/Rhode Island Blue pullet. She's Nightfall's sister, and hatched a day before him. She's a solid Blue hen, and is friendly. I've been training her to come to her name, which she is learning, just she needs some improvement still. She loves adventures, and if I'm not paying attention, she'll get a little too far away.


Well, I hope everyone enjoys my flock thread! Everyone is welcome to follow!

Special thanks to my best friend, @cluckmecoop7, for the title, and for motivating me to decide to do this.

If anyone want to, feel free to check out my YouTube Channel Lacy Duckwing, here.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

My Murray McMurray catalog finally came in, and I'm proud to say some of my birds got in it!

First, we got a young Princess:

And Rocky twice, with Aundria in the background of one:

Plus a couple of my pictures from years before are still in there:

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Update:

The past couple of days have been warmer out, which has been very good for my hen Rocky. I put a saddle on her to hopefully keep her warmer as well. The other day I finally got my heated waterer set up. Every morning I test the extension cord to make sure there is power. It still occasionally freezes, but today it didn't at all. I got a base for it, so I think that helps.

I had some issue with my flock's combs. Something was cutting them, but I couldn't find what it was. Recently, I had to remove a door from their coop to stop Jewels from roosting on it. Now, my flock's combs are looking much better. Some of them still have a couple of cuts, and Aundria looks like she had a fresh one, so I don't think I've completely fixed the problem, yet. Beth's comb is looking great and Penny's is almost there.

During the night and this morning, we got some snow, which made everything pretty. I took Jewels out to get some pictures of her because of that. Jewels typically does horrible with my camera, but winter is when she succeeds. It's because of her color. My camera can't pick her up properly because (I think) it thinks she's wood or leaves. Thus, never focusing on her. During the winter, my camera can focus on her well, and she takes really good pictures.

Today, I took Jewels over on an old logging trail by my house. I found a nice cut-down branch/tree and put her on it. She wasn't as happy about it as she was last year. She complained. That didn't stop me from taking pictures, so she kept trying to turn her fluffy bum-bum feathers towards me. That didn't completely work either. The sun was shining, so she also kept shutting her third eye-lid. She wasn't good at looking at the camera either, but the barking of a neighbor's dog gave me a couple of good shots with Jewels.

After I took pictures of Jewels, I hung out in my flock's winter run for a few minutes.
I took some pictures of my flock while I was in there, and a couple of videos. Beth stuck close by me like usual. Her and Shiloh ate snow off of my boots. Most of the flock tried having Quiet Hour, but Princess disturbed it a little by complaining, and Nightfall crowed a few times. They eventually took Quiet Hour a little while later.

Pictures of Jewels:

Jewels' fluffy bum-bum feathers:

Jewels feet :

Princess behind Nightfall:

Quiet Hour:

If anything ever happens to my camera lens, I'll know who did it. :

Adorable Nightfall:

Video of Nightfall crowing:

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Update:

On Rocky:

Today has been crazy warm after this cold stretch we just had. Because of the warmth, I figured it would be good to separate Rocky, with no fear of it being too cold for her. I took her saddle off and put her in a cage by herself. She seemed fine with that at first, until she wanted out. She started pacing and getting her frostbitten comb caught on the bars.

I moved her cage to a different spot in the coop where I could easily block off the outside, so she couldn't see out. That would be better for her comb, and stop her from pacing. Due to her having so many painful pin feathers, she actually is ok being by herself. The other hens kept running into them, pecking them, and everything. She even got a couple of them broke.

Here's Rocky's setup:

I also put a perch in there for her, and she was roosting on it. I think she's going to be ok now. I hope it doesn't get cold enough that I have to put her back with her flock. I want to see her feathers come in first.

On the other birds:

This morning I let them out to their big run, and lead them to a feeding spot. Unfortunately, all the food was gone. The flock still wanted to hang out there anyways. The squirrels cleared the spot getting to the food, so that was still good.

Come this afternoon, I let the birds out to free-range while I worked on moving Rocky's cage. After Rocky was all settled in, I lead the flock on what was a long walk to them. There is a spot that the snow has melted off of, and there's some grass. This is where I was leading the flock. While I was giving the flock a break, I picked up Princess who was being slow, and brought her to the spot.

After the flock's break, I lead them to that spot. Shiloh spotted Princess first, and knew they were coming up upon something good. Jewels wanted to go the wrong way, but I was able to stop her. Soon I got the flock to where they were supposed to go, and they realized it was paradise. As they foraged and took dust-baths, I worked on clearing the spot better of small trees. Beth occasionally tried helping me.

After my lunch, which Beth begged for and got a couple of bites of, I got out my camera to take pictures of them. Some people walked by, and I brought Maisy over for them to see up close. She wasn't happy about that but wanted to go back to foraging. After that slight distraction, I went back to the flock with Maisy.

I wanted to take this certain picture of one of my hens. I tried getting Shiloh, but she didn't want to, so I picked Princess instead. I picked her up and found Nightfall a little too close. He didn't attack, but he acted like that was on his mind. I brought Princess to the log I wanted to take pictures of her on and got a couple of good pictures of her.

The once terrified of snow, Nightfall, figured Princess still needed to be rescued, so he went through the snow to her. Once he realized she was safe, he decided to take the flock on an adventure. First, he took the flock up and down an icy trail. Then, he took the whole flock through deep snow on a long way.

I was shocked this trip he took the flock on, especially through the deep snow, but after several minutes, he got MOST of the flock back to the coop. Princess, Penny, and Jewels got discouraged on the last 10 or so feet of deep snow. I went to their rescue, and one at a time, I gently threw them towards the coop. They easily flew the rest of the way back. (They prefer to fly than me carry them. Most chickens don't like being held, especially Jewels.)

My flock had quite the day. But I think they enjoyed it all except for the crazy adventure Nightfall decided to take them on.

Here is some pictures I took of them today:

~Lacy Duckwing

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

How's your flock today, Lacy?

Thanks for asking. They are good. I brought Maisy in the house earlier. She was very noisy. I tried giving her some live meal worms, but she tried eating their bedding instead. I think by her behavior inside this morning she needed to lay an egg.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Update (Warning, it's a long one. ):

Last Thursday to last Saturday, I was gone for a few days, so my Mom and siblings took care of my flock. For the most part, the flock did well. Then Jewels let the whole flock out, thus causing my Mom to have bad feelings for her. After taking care of my flock for those few days, my Mom helped me decide whether I should retire Nightfall, my rooster for the year, early, or come Fall. She suggested early.

With Nightfall, I don't want to breed him. He had a rough start to life, which I think he'll past to his chicks, because I think there's bad genetics in his bloodline. Not to mention, he has a hairline crossbeak. Though it doesn't affect his looks, crossbeak often being genetic, could be passed down to his offspring and be bad.

So with the thought of all of that, Nightfall is causing more stress in my flock than he's worth. About half of the hens hate him anyways. So today, he went to a new home with one of my good and favorite neighbors. My Mom said in the neighborhood post, that Nightfall is good with people. Which he was, until a couple of hours till that neighbor could come over to pick him up. I told the neighbor about his attack, and she still wanted him. As she pulled away holding him on her lap, she asked what his name was. I told her "Nightfall", and she said, "Good, so now I don't have to name him." Because of that, I know Nightfall has found a really good home.

Now back to Saturday. On my way home, we stopped at my local feed store and ended up picking up some more chicks. My Mom wanted beards, so I got all the EEs with beards/muffs (Except for one because my Mom didn't say it had a big enough beard. ), two Cuckoo Marans (Which I realized afterward that these came from the same exact Hatchery as Maisy, so... they most likely won't have the qualities I'm looking for.), and one Isa Brown for Beth.

Their names are:

Easter Eggers: Amber (named after Copper-Amber), Twyla, Lilac (my favorite), and Anita.
Cuckoo Marans: Macy (named after Maisy), and Zelda.
Isa Brown: Tweety IV.

On the adult flock/hens:

Now that Nightfall is gone, I took off all their saddles this evening. For the small amount of time that Nightfall has been gone, I can already see that their stress level has gone down.

This morning, I started crop treatment on Jewels.... again. She's had crop problems in the past, which with the help of @Wyorp Rock, she got fixed. Unfortunately, I've been noticing that it looks like her crop problem is slowly coming back, so I'm treating her before her crop gets as bad as it did in the past. Since I've owned Jewels, I've been observing other SSs, I have noticed that crop problems seem sorta common in the breed. I even saw another SS who had the same problem as Jewels, did the same treatment, and got the problem again after a while. That being said, I think this is normal for Jewels' breed, and I think it may have convinced me to never get another SS again, no matter how much I think they're pretty. Jewels was my first impression, and I think she'll be my only one, sadly.

On the older chicks:

I think they're mostly cockerels... Sarah and Marvalo (Whiting True Blues), and Betty and Elisabeth (Lemon Cuckoo Orpingtons) I'm pretty positive are pullets, and maybe Blair (Olive Egger) too. On cockerels, Admiral (Abigal) and Cody (Lucy), Olive Eggers, and Bobby (Beatrix), Whiting True Blue, I'm pretty positive are, and I think Sapphire (Lavendar Orpington) and Midnight (Black Orpington) might be too, but I'm really hoping they're not. Of the remaining ones, Turbulence (Olive Egger), and Phoebe and Victoria (Black Copper Marans), I'm still unsure of.

The older chicks got to be outside for a few hours in my largest dog kennel. They enjoyed it quite a bit, but towards the end they got cold. Betty got a small cut on one of her toes somehow, which was treated once discovered. Then their coop got cleaned today, and a new heat light bulb was put in, so they should be pretty happy.

Now time for pictures:

The last picture I took of Nightfall, which I took today:

Tweety IV with Beth II, both Isa Browns. (Beth used to be scared of chicks, so I used mealworms to get this picture. After the picture, Beth changed and pecked the chick I got for her. Don't worry, Tweety was perfectly ok.) :

Maisy, Cody, and Macy. My three barred birds, with Maran in all. Maisy and Macy are (supposed to be) Cuckoo Marans, and Cody is an Olive Egger, which is a Whiting True Blue mixed with a Black Copper Maran, in his case (the Barred Rock look means he's a cockerel) :

The EEs. From left to right: Amber, Twyla, Anita, and Lilac.:

Chicks left to right: Zelda, Anita (back), Tweety IV, Macy, Lilac (back), and Amber.:

Amber turns out that she has severe crossbeak. :

Left to right: Betty and Elisabeth today. They were too cute to not take pictures of them. They kept coming to me while I was trying to take the picture. :

~Lacy Duckwing

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Any updates?

Sorry about no updates in awhile. I've assumed that nobody was following anymore.

I had a pullet, Valerie, go broody. She is my youngest hen ever to go broody, and my only hen who actually laid olive eggs. She spent a weekend in broody jail and that seems to have cured her... But the past couple of nights she's begun to sleep in the nesting box. Maybe her old perch (that she's not supposed to sleep in) is too cold?

The two best beards in my flock has been plucked, including Turbulence's, who had the most impressive beard I've seen in my 10+ years of chicken keeping. Two suspects now has Pinless Peepers, and I'm gaining another suspect, though if she gets the Pinless Peepers, it'll be after Fall Photos. The two suspects with Pinless Peepers are Valerie (beards started getting plucked as soon as she got out of jail) and Victoria. My new suspect is Betty, but no evidence yet. The beards are starting to grow back, though Turbulence's isn't coming back as fast.

I taught Macy a trick. That is, "Hawk!" I stand in my chicken yard, put out my arm, and say, "Hawk!" Macy then flies up and lands on my arm like a hawk. She's not perfect, but she does it nearly every time. When it's obvious I got a treat, Marvalo and Owl will sometimes do the trick, too.

I attempted to fix Lilac's crooked toes like a Facebook post that was shared with me had said to do. Unfortunately, as soon as I tried it, I could see it wasn't going to work that great. I asked BYC about it looking for encouragement, and I basically got the same input as I already have. Therefore, Lilac's toe treatment was a fail, and she didn't receive the full treatment. I don't know what caused Lilac's crooked toes, for she didn't always have them that way. I'm assuming a nutrition deficiency. Of recent times, I've been getting concerned with Lilac's overall health.

Today I got the most eggs yet out of my flock: 15 eggs out of 19 hens, with one hen I don't think is laying yet.

I think I've covered everything. Sorry that it's long.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

By the way, how do you train her to come by name? I only succede for my old rooster to recognize his name. Also, Nightfall, in the last pic, looks like his eye is grey. Is he blind?

But great flock! I love them all! Nightfall sound Like Checkers, my Appenzeller Spitzhauben rooster. Very skittish, but he is starting to warm up to us. Finally.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Yay! You made the thread! Following!

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Life with the Flock:
Lacy Duckwing's Flock Thread​

Hello, fellow BYCers and friends! Welcome to my flock thread! Here, I will tell some of my life stories with my birds, post occasional updates, and most likely, tons of pictures! I hope you will all enjoy it, and all are welcome!



My Current Birds:


Nightfall; 2021-2022 Rooster of the Year:

View attachment 2943157
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Nightfall is an EE/Rhode Island Blue rooster. He hatched on July 13, 2021. He was the youngest of his hatch, and even being my current only rooster, he's not very dominant. The hens often like to bully him, though he is finally coming around. He's slightly skittish and is very delayed.

Aundria; Queen of the Flock:

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Aundria is a Blue Rock hen. I got her in September 2020, and she had hatched earlier that year. Aundria is the queen of her flock, and what I call my 'Showbird'. (A Showbirds is a bird that is very photo genetic, very pretty, and one that I like to show off to everyone.)

Princess; Everyone's Favorite:

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Princess is a Buff Brahma hen. I got her at the same time I got Aundria, and she's the same age. She is often everyone's favorite whenever I show off my birds. She's my largest hen.

Penny II; The Bully:

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Penny is a Sliver-Laced Wyandotte hen, who's the same as Aundria. She is a mean hen and has even gotten in trouble for being a bully.

Maisy; An Interesting Bird:

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Maisy is a Cukoo Maran (mix?) hen. Again, she's the same as Aundria. Just, I got her six days after I got my five hens with Aundria. Maisy is a different type of hen. She has a very high tolerance for anything. Earlier this year, she went broody. She was the broodiest hen I ever owned, which makes it hard for her being my smallest hen. She loves raw deer meat, especially when it's served to her on a fork. Though she's my smallest hen, and probably my ugliest, she's intelligent, and feisty and can easily stand her ground.

Rocky II; Special, No Doubt:

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Rocky is a Golden Comet hen. She's the same age as Aundria, with me getting her at the same time. Of the original six hens that I got in September, she was my favorite. She comes to her own name, and she helped me train the rest of my flock to come to the treat call. I don't have many recent pictures of her, because she's currently my Bald Butt Society bird. Penny, in particular, thought it'd be a nice thing to do, by plucking her rear end bald. Rocky skipped out on this year's molt, so she is still bald back there.

Jewels; My Problem Chicken:

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Jewels is a Speckled Sussex and the same as Aundria. She is a beautiful hen with an outstanding tail. (Sorry you don't see that tail in any of those pictures. She's finishing up her molt.) She is my 'problem' chicken. Within the first few months of owning her, I discovered she had a crop issue. With treatment looking to complicated, with no real answers, I bought her a crop bra. Her crop appear to have healed after several months of wearing the bra, so I decided to take it off. Bad idea. After a couple of days, she got a bad case of impacted crop, so back with the crop bra. After some more time with the bra, and frustrated that she had to wear it, I finally got some help from @Wyorp Rock, and she now appears to be doing well; crop bra free!

Beth II; The Amazing Rescue:

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Beth is an Isa Brown hen. She was rescued, by my Mom, on a busy highway earlier this year. Beth took a deep liking to me and will follow me ANYWHERE. She's very special to me because of that and got a special place in my heart.

Shiloh II; Much Different From the First:

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Shiloh is an EE/Rhode Island Blue pullet. She's Nightfall's sister, and hatched a day before him. She's a solid Blue hen, and is friendly. I've been training her to come to her name, which she is learning, just she needs some improvement still. She loves adventures, and if I'm not paying attention, she'll get a little too far away.


Well, I hope everyone enjoys my flock thread! Everyone is welcome to follow!

Special thanks to my best friend, @cluckmecoop7, for the title, and for motivating me to decide to do this.

Beautiful chickens, Lacy! One of my little mixed breed pullets looks just like Shiloh.