Maine

[MEMama3]

I think you'll be ok with the bird netting and the snow.  As long as the lattice holds up.  Plastic lattice???   I'm dreading the winter weather and the restriction on my girl's life style.  They're now ranging in the garden, with electric net fencing around it, and they're having a blast, but I'll have to pull the electric fencing before the ground freezes.  I may put up a basic small chicken wire run for them. UGH!!!

Its aged cedar fencing. It's held up for 5 winters, so I'm pretty confident with that part. It's not predator proof, but I haven't had a problem (knock on wood) with predators when they free range. They are locked up at night.

 

[MEMama3]

I used the poultry fencing to go over the top of my run.  Check it out on "my coop" if you want a visual.  It's nowhere near fancy, but it's pretty secure and easy enough to work with.

I remember your coop. I was green with envy checking it out. You don't have issues with the snow getting trapped and weighting it down? What do you do about the snow inside? Just leave it? The hoop portion is plasticed in the winter so I may not worry about snow in the other part.

 

[ashandvine]

I have polish and sultan pairs. Crest feather type is a bit different and there are spur buds to look for as well. I find that the louder and more whiny ones are always cockerels.

Widget I have Egyptian onion sets here a plenty. I could mail you some or you could ... um, IDK, something.

The Sultan pair are still young and they like to hang out on the porch. This house is brick so its cold in here and I have to open doors and windows to get warm. I am very used to them roosting in the windows and peeping at me through the screen. Today they seemed particularly loud. I came in from shelling beans on the back deck to find them both on the floor in front of the stove looking for crumbs!! It was really funny because they both look like they are wearing white chef outfits and hats.

 

[Widget]

I have polish and sultan pairs. Crest feather type is a bit different and there are spur buds to look for as well. I find that the louder and more whiny ones are always cockerels.

Widget I have Egyptian onion sets here a plenty. I could mail you some or you could ... um, IDK, something.

Isnt louder and more whiny a male trait no matter what the species?

No hurries on the onions. I have quite a bit to do to get everything ready for winter as it is. Okay not that much. I just need to motivate myself to start winterizing before I have a foot of snow on the ground. At least the snow blower is close at hand if I need it anytime soon. Just have to move the lawn mower to the winter storage spot.

 

[Widget]

Talk about squabbling over treats. My hunter cat was playing with something in the driveway. The bourbon red turkey came running over and grabbed whatever it was and started tossing it and then gobbling up parts as they fell. The cat just started at the turkey with a very confused look on his face. After a minute the turkey dropped the prize and ran off to join the rest of the flock. The cat then proceeded to pick up his morsel and started eating it as if nothing had happened. No idea what they were playing with but at least it was far away from the front porch for once.

 

[Widget]

My poor pyreness. I caught a whiff of something last night and thought the cat had brought one of his prizes into the house to decompose. I did not find anything and figured the smell came in when I had opened the door and that I would have to do a check this morning to see what the cat had left near the porch. But when I retired for the evening I smelled the smell again. Turns out the pyr had a nasty lump on her rear right leg that was oozing a bit hence the smell.

. Thing is she was acting normal, eating normal and not bothering the area. And with all that fur the lump was not visible. So this morning I called the vet and fortunately they had an opening.

The concern was that it was another tumor since she just had one removed from her front leg a couple months ago. After the vet shaved the area she was able to see it was only a nasty hot spot. Very sore, tender and now a bit itchy but easily treated. So now we have some antibiotics, betadine scub and some spray to help heal the site. No idea how she got it but with all that fur especially this time of year it is not uncommon. It could be an allergy, a bug bite or just a spot that got wet and was not able to dry. She has a cone of shame to wear if needed but hopefully it wont come to that. So far she has left the area alone.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Hey guys - quick worming question. I know there has been a lot of talk about this but....what is the reason for worming with Wazine first? I know it only kills adult worms but why not go right to ivermectin. Is it just to strong? Will it hurt them? I have not ever wormed these guys before. I have not had any issues and see no problems with my birds right now but I figure it is time.

Wazine only hits round worms, and only paralyzes them, so they fall off the gastrointestinal mucosa and get passed. Ivermectin kills worms, and all kinds of them. If your birds have a large worm load the death of the worms (rotting in the bowel) combined with the volume of worms being passed can cause severe GI distress, possibly killing the bird. If you have birds older than a year that are unwormed or birds with an unknown worming history, you're better off going with the "gentle" wormer, first.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

One of my buffs has always been the most laid back of the group, but for the past few weeks/month I've noticed she has been sleeping the most of the group during the day. Until the past two days I thought that was just her personality. However, the past two days she hasn't come running out of the coop with the others girls in the morning and today she didn't even leave the run when I let them out to free-range. She will either stand with her neck tucked in or lay in the run sleeping. I have examined her all over and I can't find anything wrong - no visible bugs on her, feathers clean, no droopy wings (although her tail might be??), eyes clear, nose clear. I have felt her crop and it is no different than any of the others', although she looks more puffy in general than the rest. She is eating/drinking and her poops are solid with no visible worms. The only visible change was that today she had some poop on her legs that she didn't clean off, which is odd because most of them are always very clean. Everyone else is the same and nobody is picking on her. They are all 16 weeks.

What would you guys do? I feel so badly for her.

 

[anyasmifya]

Izzybella~ Some chickens are just more laid back than others. I wouldn't worry too much just yet. Maybe she just didn't get a chance to clean her leg or didn't notice it yet.

Here is a photo of my polish maybe roo. I am really hoping he is a girl. I am leaning towards rooster. At first I thought he/she was a boy because of the head feathers but then I thought girl because no waddles and now boy because of the crowing attempt plus s/he was cock fighting with another roo What do you think?



I have 4 roos! to 11 hens. I already got rid of 4 roos! I want to keep my white crested polish roo, my barred rock roo and now this one. I am definitely getting rid of the rhode island red roo! He's a jerk already. But three roos to 11 hens seems excessive.

 

[MustardTiger]

Wazine only hits round worms, and only paralyzes them, so they fall off the gastrointestinal mucosa and get passed. Ivermectin kills worms, and all kinds of them. If your birds have a large worm load the death of the worms (rotting in the bowel) combined with the volume of worms being passed can cause severe GI distress, possibly killing the bird. If you have birds older than a year that are unwormed or birds with an unknown worming history, you're better off going with the "gentle" wormer, first.

Perfect. Thank you for the info!