Maine

[longgrove]

I have a golden wyandote who took to perching on the metal waterer, because she has figured out that it is toasty on her toes! I moved her to the roost for several nights in a row, since obviously the result was poop in the water in the morning. She seems to be learning, because I haven't found her there in a couple of nights. I may need to fashion something for the top to make it not an appealing perch, though.



When my girls tried perching on the water fount, I just duct taped a gallon empty milk jug on top and they couldn't get a purchase. The girls are getting back to laying (about 6 out of 15 hens) after the 4 days of darkness following the snow storm before last (and a lot of molting, too.)

My 4 new pullets from Daniel Clement have settled in nicely. They didn't seem distressed at the move and strolled about like they owned the coop from the first. The 3 Astralorps are laying a medium pullet egg, nearly daily. The Maran pullet is laying a daily chocolate large egg (a huge one yesterday, double yolk, poor babyl) They have settled in without a ripple; hang together most of the time, which may be a bit intimidating to the others. The two mean roos and the two guineas are gone. The nice roo (splash Isbar) is very happy. He spent a week romancing the new pullets and now is mating and courting all the hens. Peace prevails in the coop, doing the happy dance.

 

[suzMEchicks]

I feel like my hens are doing well. I was away yesterday. My husband will let them out and close them up at night but he won't check the nest for eggs . So when I went out this morning there were 6 eggs. Probably 3 from yesterday. But a couple weeks ago I was getting 1 or none so I'm glad. They seem more like themselves again. Oh the other thing is the eggs are huge. Good job my girls! My husband has stopped saying"Boston Market"which I am glad of too.

 

[CoopChick719]

I have one of the C. E. Schmidt jackets and I love mine, I have the purple one. Figure that's what the washer is for, and purple is my favorite color.

Good point!!

I have a golden wyandote who took to perching on the metal waterer, because she has figured out that it is toasty on her toes!. I may need to fashion something for the top to make it not an appealing perch, though.

CoopChick - mine won't eat layer feed either! They lose weight whenever I try. I've started just lying about what my flock consists of to the folks at the feed stores, because they always insist I need layer. As if I don't know what my girls do best on!

Hmm... I need to check out these C. E. Schmidt jackets... wearing my "good" winter jacket into the coop is getting to be a problem, as I worry now when I'm out and about in it that I may smell of shavings and not even know it! 

And some say chickens aren't smart!! My sister taped a dollar store auto funnel to the top if her waterer.

Yeah, I usually buy my feed at TSC so I don't deal with a lot of questions. But if I ask a question, i do ask if they own chickens.

I'm guilty of wearing my good winter coat to the coop. That's why I decided Merry Christmas to me with the Schmidt coat.

. Good job my girls! My husband has stopped saying"Boston Market"which I am glad of too.

When My DH asks who's not laying, I tell him the free ones HE got who were 3 or 4 when he got them 2 years ago.

My wonderful sister helped me give shots to my sneezing flock of 17 tonight!! Even though she just got out of work, had on her good clothes & hadn't eaten supper yet!! <3 I told her she could wear some of my coop clothes. She said that's great but I'm 8 inches taller than you! I said but all my pants are too long for me anyway I was nervous at first about the shots but it was much easier & faster than giving orally. I spent 2 1/2 hours last night wrangling them by myself. Then I was worried I had gotten it in their lungs by accident. 1/2 hour tonight with a helper. DH is helping me tomorrow night whether he likes it or not!!

 

[suzMEchicks]

Did I miss it? Coopchick whats making the chickens sneeze?

 

[CoopChick719]

Suz I don't know what is making them sneeze. It started with 1 or 2 then more started. My feeling is if it were environmental, all the girls would have started sneezing at the same time. I had girls sneezing and messy bums. So I've wormed & given Tylan 50. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

Suz I don't know what is making them sneeze. It started with 1 or 2 then more started. My feeling is if it were environmental, all the girls would have started sneezing at the same time. I had girls sneezing and messy bums. So I've wormed & given Tylan 50. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

CoopChick, what do you deworm with? I've used Valbazen a few times when I have dewormed, but am wondering if I should start rotating medications to avoid resistance. I'm contemplating deworming now, because two of my girls have messy bums and it would be an easier time to withhold eggs, since I'm not getting all that many to begin with. Hmm... don't want to deworm unnecessarily, but also don't want them to get sick when it's preventable... what to do, what to do.

 

[CoopChick719]

I started with Wazine17. It's supposed to be gentle. On the 17th, I'm going to use Ivermectin drops. I've read that Valbazen is a good wormer that kills all worms.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

With this week's thaw I was able to get the whole chicken coop cleaned out! Now we should be good to go until the March thaw.

I took all the shavings and just threw them outside the coop on the snow. The chickens were happy to dig through it and get some respite from the snow in their feet. It will also help when spring thaw comes to reduce mud in there.

It smells so much better!

 

[suzMEchicks]

I just made a gruesome discovery near the coop. A couple days ago I noticed lots of black feathers all over my back yard. Some had blue on them so i thought blue Jay. Today the crows are screaming out there so I go out to see what was the matter. There's like 15 of them out there but then they finally fly away. I follow the trail of feathers and I found a dismembered crow! A head and part of a middle section. Must have been a hawk? Ive never seen anything like that. We also have a very aggressive squirrel we have been trying to catch. That's prob a stretch. Sure makes me nervous that this happened literally a foot from the chicken coop.

 

[lazy gardener]

Wow. I wouldn't put it past a squirrel. I've seen a chipmunk eating a frog before. So they're definitely carnivores. But, I can't imagine a squirrel catching a crow. So, the breast was eaten off the bird? That makes me think it was a hawk. I thought they'd all migrated south. ? Owl?