Here's Evangeline, my sickest chicken at the moment. I've moved her into the bathroom so I can take better care of her. Of all my speckled sussex, I like her markings the best.
I threw some pasta out for them. It's a favorite! Three sussex, my australorp (mix?) eating cabbage from the treat ball, the two orpington pullets, FBCM, and my other barnyard pullet. That's the best I can do til the pox passes, Pam.
That is amazing! Awesome job! Now I'm somewhat jealous! Lol!Hello everyone
The chicks have had access to run for three days now. I haven't seen them venture to the far end yet. They don't hang out there long. Usually out for a few minutes then back inside they go under the roof or to the brooder where the lamps are for a nap.
A shot of the inside. The brooder is to the right through the door with plastic on it. I'm not finished yet. Still have roosts and nest boxes to build
This shot was after I crushed acorns for the chicks. They gobbled them up like candy. A lot of the acorns had worms in them. A little extra treat with protein.
The afternoon dust bath.
These guys are almost 4 weeks old now.
Hope all are doing well. I've been reading along with nothing really to post about. Cheers to all, Cody
It's been a lot of hard work to build the coop. Especially the pred proofing. I think I've done more digging on this job than I've done in my life, and I've dug quite a few fence posts in my time It will certainly pay off and already has. I've gotten more enjoyment watching the chicks grow. I've always thought chickens are comical animals. But chicks are so funny. I've spent many hours with them and have gotten a lot of laughs. I'm most certainly an animal lover and have been my whole life. With these birds I really have to keep it in mind that some of them will be food. Not my intentions. LOL.
Dang it! Lost one of my RIR girls to a hawk yesterday.At the end-of-day feeding, I didn't get the usual rush of all 8 girls and Rudy, my rooster, to the gate as I approached their pen. I found that very curious since it's never happened before, but chalked it up to grandchildren visiting and feeding them some scratch. Thought they just might not be hungry.
By the time I reached the coop, only Rudy and four of the girls were with me to eat. Finally, all but one came out of the trees that are in their pen, but even then, just didn't eat with the normal enthusiasm. When one didn't show up by almost dark, I went looking and found her. I was startled that a hawk flew off as I approached her carcass. It was too dark to realize that it was still there, and to see what kind it might be, as if that makes a difference.
I had been confident that the trees and the brush underneath would be the safest area of their pen. I assume that if there was to be a hawk attack, it would happen in the open, grassy area. Maybe the hawk did get her there and carried her into the trees for its meal. That hawk must be pretty brave, since our grandkids and I had been in and out of their pen a number of times yesterday. And, I worked in the garden part of the day that is within earshot of their pen, and heard nothing.
I'm wondering if Rudy did anything to protect her. He just may be too young yet to be the tough guy I hope him to be.
These are my first chickens in a long time, and really hate losing her. They are our pets, which makes the loss that much more difficult. And, they've just started laying. I'm sure folks that raise large flocks of chickens wouldn't give this a passing thought, and probably just can't understand we backyard chicken keepers feelings about such.
Just love this. When they start to destroy the grass, you can use some old chicken wire to portion off an area inside the run. Plant it and when it's up, open it up to the chickens and portion off another little area and seed it. Just move it around.Hello everyone
