Montana

[karlamaria]

Hope everyone is doing well --  beautiful weather we had today!

I had my first tragedy occur this morning......... went out about 530 this morning to unlock the chickens & found one of my BO's dead on the floor.  She had been acting a little strange yesterday & so I have been wondering all day if possibly she was egg bound. When I say 'strange", I mean she was being very quiet but never acted like she was in pain.  She hung out in one nest all day long, so I was thinking maybe she was getting ready to go broody. (Altho she never carried on when I reached into the nest to pet her)  As much as I hate to say this, I hope that it was that, and not something else,  because I can't afford to lose half my flock.  Everyone else is acting fine --  absolutely no problems of any kind. 

So as soon as I got home from work, after I went to check on everyone, I get online here & read alot of different things about egg bound hens.  I really think that is what was wrong with her, and I feel sssooooo guilty that I didn't pick up on something yesterday, or to be honest, to even think about something like that.  She was only 14 months old. 

Believe me, I learned a hard lesson, unfortunately at her expense.   I know that alot of regulars on this site are seasoned chicken raisers & have probably seen alot of different issues with their chickens.  For those of you who are new to this, please take the time to read up on this so you will know what to do & what to look for if this happens in your coop.  I started with my hens last April & this is the first time I've lost one. 

I'm so sorry I know how you feel, my buff orphington was not yet 2 when she was found by me uner a roost. Not sure how she died as she was fine the day before. Broke my heart. She was an awesome broody mama and raised two sets of hatches . And she was so friendly. I'm going to go read on egg bound also. Again m so sorry for your loss

 

[karlamaria]

I am so proud of my chicks today - opened the chicken door at 6:45 and they were all in the run when I got back at 9!  I am waiting until last light tonight before putting them in the coop, to see if any of them start going in there on their own.

I'm so glad ! Mine tend to lolly gag, some go out some stay in for a while but eventually they all go out to eat and drink. I'm about to go let them out of there pen , they loves my lawn lol. The biggest eaters of grass and foraging is the leg horuns ! There fun! And there bold. No one bothers them, in fact they move the big girls out of there way.

 

[Azriel]

Montanachicks, sorry about your BO, I think the first one you loose is always the hardest. I think that even tho our chickens are very hardy, birds are just very fragile in general.
Our weather has been so nice, I've been fencing non stop for the last few days, and what I thought would take me a few weeks to finish is 98% done. I need to put the electric back up for the horses to keep them away from the barb wire, and I need to fix the pen that the 2 yearling calves knocked down, and then I'm done.
I'm getting 2 new calves this weekend, I wasn't sure I wanted to after having to put the last one down, but these are just a little older, and are well started and healthy. I'm getting them Sat, so I'll try to get some photos right away.

 

[DuginMT]

While I am still proud of my chickens for exiting the coop in the morning, they are still "learning" to go in the coop at night. I rounded them up at 8:30 and put them in there despite their objections! Again, 11 of the 13 flew up to the roosts and two of them (the same two, a BO pullet and a Black Australorp pullet) snuggled together on the same spot as usual in the straw on the floor under the roosts. I put them on the roost again at 9:30 and they seemed to stay there. Funny, how these two chickens prefer to go to sleep on the floor, in the same spot every night. I guess its true that each chicken has its own personality! Should I even worry about this - is there anything wrong with these two chickens roosting on the floor every night if that is how they want to live their life? Thanks.

Doug

 

[DuginMT]

KarlaMaria, I think Leghorns will be my next replacement chickens. They sound like super chickens, and white eggs would be nice to add to the mix. Glad yours are confidently enjoying life!

 

[RoyalT]

Wow, things have been a little nuts around here! Ducky's nest is hatching out tonight, my broody hen is still on her next of 9 eggs, and we had our first pure Icelandic lamb born today! He's adorable:






He's almost as big as the 2 week old Shetland/Icelandic ram and WAY bigger than the halfsie girl

 

[montanachicks]

KarlaMaria, I think Leghorns will be my next replacement chickens. They sound like super chickens, and white eggs would be nice to add to the mix. Glad yours are confidently enjoying life!

Doug: I have 5 white leghorns -- they are a laying machine!!!! I got them last April, and they were just starting to lay but there have been very few days since then that I have not gotten 5 white eggs..... and the eggs are such a nice size, it's hard to believe that they come out of that small of a chicken. They are a medium size hen, but big eggs! the only issue I have with them is that they tend to be very nervous & flighty. ... you can't get close to them. But maybe if they were raised from chicks around you, they would be better. Good luck with yours -- they will all learn what they're supposed to do.

 

[montanachicks]

RoyalT : congrats to you!! Beautiful baby!

 

[karlamaria]

While I am still proud of my chickens for exiting the coop in the morning, they are still "learning" to go in the coop at night.  I rounded them up at 8:30 and put them in there despite their objections!  Again, 11 of the 13 flew up to the roosts and two of them (the same two, a BO pullet and a Black Australorp pullet) snuggled together on the same spot as usual in the straw on the floor under the roosts.  I put them on the roost again at 9:30 and they seemed to stay there.  Funny, how these two chickens prefer to go to sleep on the floor, in the same spot every night.  I guess its true that each chicken has its own personality!  Should I even worry about this - is there anything wrong with these two chickens roosting on the floor every night if that is how they want to live their life?  Thanks.

Doug

my chickens will not go in until it's getting dark, then they all head in. Maybe you could wait and see how late it is that they do go in , you might wait and see on them, mine refuse to go in until the sun is setting. Then there on the roosts and done for the day, I also have 2 that sleep on the floor at times, they are ok I let them decide. They do not sleep in the nest boxes so all is good.

 

[karlamaria]

KarlaMaria, I think Leghorns will be my next replacement chickens.  They sound like super chickens, and white eggs would be nice to add to the mix.  Glad yours are confidently enjoying life!

if I had more girls I would give you a few, but m thinking I have all Roos and one pullet now. There combs are big already and pink. M going to take sme pictures today to share. I got them for the white eggs and winter layers, I'm hoping my girl goes broody one more time so I can add another 6 under her.
The best part is these birds do not even need mom and have been pretty adult like from the beginning. They stand up well against even the biggest of girl and my girls like them. Yep there flighty, they will not let me touch them, but again I never touch my girls anyways. None are what you call tame so it's no big deal. It's the eggs I want lol.

Looking forward to seeing my mom coming home, she is so mad at me for her being there, like it's my fault. She wants to go home, so we had the conversation yesterday about it being up to her and how hard she works to get to go home.