Maine

Well I am mad and sad and hating on myself right now. Apparently when a jake turkey wants his hen to get her butt of the nest and serve him he will go trash the nest and smash her/their eggs. ... and any other eggs in the vicinity. He ALSO took out all but one of the duck's eggs and she was SO close to hatching them! Sebastian even found a little duck body with umbilical and all. Its my fault. I never kept turkeys before. I let him out because I was told he and she would mate again and she would build a clutch again. I figured, once she started laying again he could go to jail. I feel so bad for momma duck. She was doing such a GD good job! She has one egg and my goose egg left. IDK now if the all this trauma has ruined their chances but I am going to cross my fingers for her. I barricaded her off so she has a chance. Sometimes taking chances on new critters sucks.

Four new babies here. I have them in weekly increments now. I even priced out a second incubator. Why are the ones from TCS so cheap?

Yeah that happened here once also. Tom trkys are not graceful at all. I think when they see a hen on the nest it looks like they are ready for service. Did he really break them on purpose or where they just to close to the action?
 
G
:lau
This almost looks like it could be fowl pox. Dry.
Might want to google it.
I could be wrong but the first roosters eye looks swollen. I've had rooster fights but nothing that looked like this.


I caught them fighting after I got home this afternoon, so they've been separated. If it's pox is there anything I can do, or just wait it out? And I agree about the eye - what can I do to treat it?


Grace, it's not Fowl Pox. I am positive. Been there recently, but it's a long story. BTW there hasn't been a case in Maine in over 30 years and that was an isolated incident at Decoster. Prior to that it was like the 50's. Not pox, really.
It is just from fighting. I have two that look worse than that.They are terribly competative this time of year, horny little buggers ;)

I would just watch the eye, maybe put a tea compress on it for a minute.
 
G
Grace, it's not Fowl Pox. I am positive. Been there recently, but it's a long story. BTW there hasn't been a case in Maine in over 30 years and that was an isolated incident at Decoster. Prior to that it was like the 50's. Not pox, really.
It is just from fighting. I have two that look worse than that.They are terribly competative this time of year, horny little buggers ;)

I would just watch the eye, maybe put a tea compress on it for a minute.


Good to know, since I sent Spartacus (the buff) to my mother's coop! He is staying there temporarily until Nate has a day free to butcher him, though seeing as my Mom bought an incubator today (and has no other roosters), he may become a long term resident ... :lol:


I did find vetericyn eye ointment today. $20 for a little bottle at TSC, but it's all I could find anywhere. Hopefully it will work! This stuff: http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=d30b8f0d-c1be-4322-a610-6a59950e81c5
 
Icelandic chick count is up to five now or six since one was just about out of the shell a few minutes ago. Three more are making good headway pipping. The last two haven't pipped yet but still have plenty of time.
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Widget, sorry to hear you lost one to a fox. I'm thinking spring might be a time of year where the predators are out in full force? I had no issue with anything last summer...Let's hope they all leave us alone for the rest of the year!
 
Man, turkey stompers, Bassett hounds, fox. So sorry for everyone's losses. My chickens survived their day of free-ranging, although one of the Roos was bloodied from doing battle. Gracejr, I tried to take a photo today of my spotted rooster heads, but I haven't loaded them into the computer yet. There will be new spots now, as they really went at it today.

last year I bought 3 EEs from longhorn/Cackle. One was a cross-beak rooster (I tend to attract cross-beaks and roosters here), but the two hens I am very fond of. One is cream/splash looking and the other is coppery with blue, and they both lay pale olive eggs.

DH will pick up 3 brown leghorns and 2 NH for me on April 12, assuming my order comes in.
congrats on the Icelandics, Widget!
 
Okay, here is one of my fighting roosters:




The tips of his comb are old frostbite, but all the other black dots are scabs.

I also took photos of the beginnings of the jail today. The school had painted it black.


The screened area will be for brooding. It is really two compartments, in case I need a place to put an injured hen for a while, or a place to stash feed, etc.



The upper compartment will get a roost and sliding doors on the front. I want to be able to close them in to protect from the weather, as the only other siding on the jail will be hardware cloth.



The brooder compartments are 16" high and 3' deep. This one is 2 feet wide, while the other is 5 feet wide. I want to drill a few holes in the back and screen them, to get more light in there.
And for whoever asked about wheels (lazy gardener?)


yes, they do dig in, but it does move. Hard to turn though!

I ordered hardware cloth today. DH did not want more wood on there because of weight and price. The wood that makes up the rest of it was some trashy boards lying around, and one sheet of plywood.
 
are you sure you want this 3' deep? You might put in a false back to make them not as deep, but removable incase you find you really do need that space (cute jail, I though you were going to say the jail birds were going in there, lol).

The brooder compartments are 16" high and 3' deep. This one is 2 feet wide, while the other is 5 feet wide. I want to drill a few holes in the back and screen them, to get more light in there.
 

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