Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[NanaLynn]

We were down to -14*F last night and got about 8 inches of snow yesterday. I made warm outmeal for everyone this morning and was generous with the whole kernal corn treats. Poor babies, you know its cold when both of the waterers had frozen rims and they were still running. Never had that happen before. It was -5*F this morning when I did chores before work, I had to take my gloves off for something and then almost got them stuck to the metal handle of the coop!

Ugh....can we go back to single digit lows now?!

I do not envy you guys. We may get snow on Monday. We've only had a few nights in the 20's so far this winter, but tonight it will be in the teens, then worse next week. We're spoiled here though, usually we get maybe a week or 2 of icy and cold weather, not bad.

The pop doors for the girls were frozen shut and the water was frozen and I did have to break it up. I feel so sorry for those of you that deal with this every single day. I have a lot of relatives up north including Canada, so I hear their stories. I'll stay where I am.

I ate some of my sprouted lentils, they were pretty good. I added a half of a cup to my salad.

I sprouted lentils and chick peas for us, jars on the left and BOSS for the girls, right jar. I really love these lids, they do work real well and are easy to take on and off. I'm giving the girls some sprouted BOSS on top of some heated leftovers for tonight.

The wide mouth jars with the lids work great for sprouts for us. I may need to sprout on a bigger scale for the chickens.

The skelter is starting to fill up! I have almost half of the new ones squatting now, so hopefully I'll get a 2nd new layer soon!

 

[NanaLynn]

Right now I'm nursing one of my Meyer Barred Rocks back to health. She was very lethargic and her crop was big and squishy. Brought her to the vet. Sucked up some of the stuff in her crop. Gram stained it to see gram negative rods. So I have her on an antibiotic and reglan to get the crop moving. I've also had her drinking electrolyte water before I brought her to the vet which she was downing. After her shot of antibiotic and a dose of reglan last night she perked up a lot. This am she's still with us. Her crop is still soft and squishy, but not as big. But still not normal. Got her abx down her and reglan and shes drinking the electrolyte water. Her tail feathers are starting to perk up too.

I'm really praying the rest of the flock doesn't get this. They are 19 weeks old (20wks on Monday) none of them laying. Will her being sick affect her laying in the future? Will I have to slowly integrate her back into the flock as if she's a new hen? Or will they remember her?

Thanks! I've learned so much from all you feather-smart people!

I hope your BR is better. I have no idea what to do. I just started keeping chickens in February of 2013, so it is all new to me.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Once again if we complain enough we get what we want Izzy laid an egg this morning!!!!! Always hard to see the pretty green in the pics. Above left is my BB (NB) Stella's spotted egg then Izzy in the middle and I don't know who lays the egg on the right but it is a gorgeous cream color; the lightest color of all my girls eggs. I thought it was Cleo my EE but now I'm thinking it's a different EE. We got 8 inches of snow last night and it's a whopping 12 degrees! The run was filled with snow because of the wind and the girls didn't want to come out of the coop. Pipsqueak my CW was the only one to come out so my wonderful husband went out and shoveled a path for them to the food and water. They reluctantly went out but they clearly aren't happy about the new snow. I gave them some BOSS and corn and they didn't go crazy over it. I'm going to bring them some warm scrambled eggs later. That should cheer them up!

Congratulations!! That's awesome! This thread is definitely the place to complain if you need eggs. Maybe our girls are secretly reading it somehow? Lol!

We were down to -14*F last night and got about 8 inches of snow yesterday. I made warm outmeal for everyone this morning and was generous with the whole kernal corn treats. Poor babies, you know its cold when both of the waterers had frozen rims and they were still running. Never had that happen before. It was -5*F this morning when I did chores before work, I had to take my gloves off for something and then almost got them stuck to the metal handle of the coop! Ugh....can we go back to single digit lows now?!

It was that cold by me too. I had on gloves and the metal knob on my barn door burned my hand it was so cold! I have been going out with warm water every two hours so they can have a warm drink to hopefully warm them up. Last night I heated water on the stove and filled two 2 liter bottels and a 16 oz bottle. I gave the 2 liters to my cats and the 16 oz bottle I put under my nearly blind hen that sleeps in the nest boxes. Then I put the other girls side by side on the roosts with my molting ladies in the middle. I feel so bad for them. According to the forecast it is supposed to warm up a bit this weekend and then it is supposed to be even colder on Monday than it was today. *sigh*

 

[trsturself]

I'm glad Izzy laid an egg! I think Sterling (our cochin) is molting. It's hard to tell since she's so fluffy but I see downy feathers sticking out everywhere. That would explain why she hasn't laid since 12/10.
We started the process of expanding the run for the chickens. It is currently 4x10 and we are going to add about 4x6 more room onto it. We have to move the door to it, I just know they aren't going to know what to do with themselves! We got some done but didn't have too much time. It's supposed to snow this weekend here so we won't be completing it anytime soon. :/

Sounds like sour crop for the crop issue. Try holding her upside down and massaging it to get the stuff out. It usually comes from eating grass, hay, straw, etc. Stuff that is long and stringy and doesn't go down well. (at least that's what I've read. never experienced it before)

 

[christine9]

Ok, so my order for the spring is in but I'm starting to get nervous about adding more chickens. I really just want to be sure I have enough space. I have read 1-2 square feet per chicken, but is this really realistic? I can't imagine them being packed in that tight. I have a 4x6 coop with a 12x6 run. They always have access to the run , but I do not let them out of the run because of all the loose dogs in our neighborhood. Could 10 birds really be happy in this space? Or is there an addition in my future?

 

[trsturself]

That measurement is for your coop space (since they only sleep and lay eggs in there) a run should have a minimum of 4sqft per bird. I have a 40sqft run attached to my coop and have 10 birds in it and boy do they look squashed! I'm adding an additional 32sqft for them. My birds aren't shut up in this run though unless we are all out of town. They do tend to stay in it when the snow is more than an inch or two deep and the sun isn't out though so I want to give them some more space. I say the more space the better. Remember to add a few roosts or other things for them to fly up to and this will increase the area they have to spread out and give them more exercise. I have chicken wire surrounding our run and I just take a branch about an inch think and run it into the wire in a corner to give them a perch. We also have a ladder style roosts in there and they love to sit on those.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I personally think a 4x6 coop will be a tight fit for 10 big dual purpose hens, most of my birds usually don't go outside when there's snow on the ground. But then again I have an 8x8 shed with about 20 ready to lay pullets in it right now and I think that's a little crowded.

edited for spelling error

 

[NotableNancy]

Ok, so my order for the spring is in but I'm starting to get nervous about adding more chickens. I really just want to be sure I have enough space. I have read 1-2 square feet per chicken, but is this really realistic? I can't imagine them being packed in that tight. I have a 4x6 coop with a 12x6 run. They always have access to the run , but I do not let them out of the run because of all the loose dogs in our neighborhood. Could 10 birds really be happy in this space? Or is there an addition in my future?

My coop is about 36 sq feet with the nests bumped out from there so they don't take up any floor space and I have 13 hens. My run is really huge though (maybe about 12X14 (can't remember) with 3/4 of it roofed and lots of roosts, steps to sit on etc) with access to it almost at sun up so a smaller size coop doesn't seem to be an issue. They only sleep in there and lay eggs. The other thing is, all of my 13 grew up together, I really don't know if it would be an issue if I were to add some to the flock at a later date. I may find out since I might sell a few birds and get a few new ones if I don't end up getting an additional coop this spring. Still working on that.
But if you think about it, the chicken itself takes up some of that square footage so only 1 sq ft/bird really can't work cause they would be sandwiched in there.
Also, do you have adequate ventilation? The more birds in the coop means more poo and it gives off ammonia that needs a way out of the coop.
Just things to think about.

Here's my coop/run on a nice sunny warm day


And our first snow last year!

 

[NotableNancy]

We were down to -14*F last night and got about 8 inches of snow yesterday. I made warm outmeal for everyone this morning and was generous with the whole kernal corn treats. Poor babies, you know its cold when both of the waterers had frozen rims and they were still running. Never had that happen before. It was -5*F this morning when I did chores before work, I had to take my gloves off for something and then almost got them stuck to the metal handle of the coop!

Ugh....can we go back to single digit lows now?!

OK, no more complaining from me till I hit negative numbers... hopefully that won't happen!! Although they're saying Tuesday we are getting the coldest weather we've had in many many years.
I do worry about them more in the heat though. I know they are warm with their feathers.

I do not envy you guys. We may get snow on Monday. We've only had a few nights in the 20's so far this winter, but tonight it will be in the teens, then worse next week. We're spoiled here though, usually we get maybe a week or 2 of icy and cold weather, not bad.

The pop doors for the girls were frozen shut and the water was frozen and I did have to break it up. I feel so sorry for those of you that deal with this every single day. I have a lot of relatives up north including Canada, so I hear their stories. I'll stay where I am.

I ate some of my sprouted lentils, they were pretty good. I added a half of a cup to my salad.

I sprouted lentils and chick peas for us, jars on the left and BOSS for the girls, right jar. I really love these lids, they do work real well and are easy to take on and off. I'm giving the girls some sprouted BOSS on top of some heated leftovers for tonight.

The wide mouth jars with the lids work great for sprouts for us. I may need to sprout on a bigger scale for the chickens.

The skelter is starting to fill up! I have almost half of the new ones squatting now, so hopefully I'll get a 2nd new layer soon!

Your salad looks yummy!! You have to take a pic of your skelter filled up to the top to show us... I know it will happen soon with all the girls you have squatting

Congratulations!! That's awesome! This thread is definitely the place to complain if you need eggs. Maybe our girls are secretly reading it somehow? Lol!
It was that cold by me too. I had on gloves and the metal knob on my barn door burned my hand it was so cold! I have been going out with warm water every two hours so they can have a warm drink to hopefully warm them up. Last night I heated water on the stove and filled two 2 liter bottels and a 16 oz bottle. I gave the 2 liters to my cats and the 16 oz bottle I put under my nearly blind hen that sleeps in the nest boxes. Then I put the other girls side by side on the roosts with my molting ladies in the middle.

I feel so bad for them.

According to the forecast it is supposed to warm up a bit this weekend and then it is supposed to be even colder on Monday than it was today. *sigh*

We must be getting the weather you have 24 hours later... Tues will be super cold for us!!


It's about 20 degrees today and my 2 sons and nephew are going to the Phila Eagles playoff game tonight! Oh to be young again. I'd much rather watch from my warm family room with wood stove blazing and bathroom just steps away and they'd give anything to be there.

 

[NanaLynn]

OK, no more complaining from me till I hit negative numbers... hopefully that won't happen!! Although they're saying Tuesday we are getting the coldest weather we've had in many many years.
I do worry about them more in the heat though. I know they are warm with their feathers.

Your salad looks yummy!! You have to take a pic of your skelter filled up to the top to show us... I know it will happen soon with all the girls you have squatting

We must be getting the weather you have 24 hours later... Tues will be super cold for us!!


It's about 20 degrees today and my 2 sons and nephew are going to the Phila Eagles playoff game tonight! Oh to be young again. I'd much rather watch from my warm family room with wood stove blazing and bathroom just steps away and they'd give anything to be there.

They are showing that we will be down to 8 degrees on Monday night and feels like -5 degrees, but Monday starts off at 42 degrees, then Tuesday now they are calling for snow and ice with a high of 27 and a low of 13. We'll be pretty cold here too, but you'll be colder I guess. I'm happy that I have a couple days before then above freezing since I won't have to bring in their water for a couple nights anyway. It was frozen solid last night.

Speaking of chicken coops and runs. My coop is 8x10 and it should hold 20 chickens, at 4 square foot per bird, but I do have 22 right now, so I am a little over capacity. My run is 16 x 10 and they always have access to it. They also free range in the garden when I am home which gives them about 1/4 of an acre more.

It's been so cold lately to us anyway, but the chickens seem very happy and comfortable. It will be interesting to see how they do when we get snow here, I imagine they'll fuss at me about it, like I caused it.

One of the EE's, Ellie was checking out the nest boxes today, neither EE has squatted yet though.