May be down to one chicken soon

[mcjessen]

Thanks for the advice everybody.

If I brought in a friend, would it need to be quarantined? If so, how long?

Thanks again for the advice. It's great to have this resource.

bloom_ss - never in a million years would I have thought about SpokanAnimal. THanks!

 

[andrea98]

Usually 30 days .. But giving that you only have one & not that she isn't important & you do have her in your best interest it is getting cold & she is probably feeling alone .. Maybe the risk would be worth it ??

 

[mcjessen]

I was "kinda" thinking the same thing. We're not there yet but I like to know which road I'll need to go down if we do get down to just one. The BO was looking perkier this morning. Maybe she was just tired yesterday. Molting, I understand, takes a lot out of them. Right now, we're just in a wait and see pattern.

 

[andrea98]

Hope she turns around for you & if not you could always make her a house chicken lol .. Really tho best of luck with her. Maybe make them some scrambled eggs for a little extra protein & a warm tummy

 

[mcjessen]

My BO did die yesterday. I found a couple of 9 month old chickens on Craigslist and brought them home. One is a RIR and the other is a BR. They are NOT tame so this is going to be a challenge. Hopefully my spoiled BA will teach these two how to calm down. Yikes!

 

[stargazingmommy]

awesome. I was going to offer a long term slumber party with my girls till you found some more( I just have 2 hens and 2 ducks). Glad you found some more

 

[bobbieschicks]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your hen, it never gets easier for me to say goodbye to them. But I am glad you didn't decide to cull your remaining chick simply because she was a lone chick now. We had a similar problem when only one egg hatched this past summer. Our little Ancona "AC" was all alone and I couldn't put her in with the 4 week olds - she would have been trampled. So I had to scramble and get some day olds to put with her. A woman who sells eggs on eBay was kind enough to sell me two of her chicks that were the same age as AC. There was some pecking and rushing stuff that happened right away - but then they settled into their own little flock. When I finally merged them up with the bigs - those three kept each other safe.

I thought about quaranting the babies when I brought them home, but that would have defeated the purpose of having the babies - to keep AC company & warm. So I put all three in the same brooder - they were there a good month so in that respect it kept them from harming my older flock. But in your case - you are taking a risk bringing in the new chicks with your existing chick - but consequence of not doing it could be worse. I think you made a great call on this one! I pray your new chicks will merge in with your current chick and all get along just fine.

 

[mcjessen]

Quote:
LOL! Thanks for the offer. I almost called a friend of mine to "borrow" a chicken from her but decided that would be more of a hassle than just purchasing two more.

Making the decision not to quarantine the new chickens was easy as the run and coop (and property) of the man I bought the chickens from was spotless. These chickens were very well cared for. I also didn't have the luxury of waiting 30 days. There was a little pushing and shoving yesterday and the RIR got out of our yard into the neighbors so I had to chase her down, but all in all, everything was fine today. The "country" girls will have to get used to the routine.

I checked on them this morning and I had an egg in front of the pop door. Not sure which but suspect it was the BR. My BA lays two-toned eggs so I know it wasn't her. That was refreshing to see another egg.

 

[SilkieChickenLover336]

What type of chicken

 

[mcjessen]

Quote:
I started in March 2011 with two Buff Orpingtons and one Black Australorp. The Buff Orpingtons both died, one in October and the other yesterday. They laid for about a month before they stopped completely. I now have the Black Australorp (now 9 mo old) from the original batch last spring and added a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Rock, both approximately 9 mo old as well. We haven't had three eggs a day since August & I'm excited at being back up to full production (keeping my fingers crossed).