My chicken diary... One chick's journey

[Amiti]

Im hoping all the new stuff will keep all of them entertained somewhat so there is no bloodletting during the establishment of the new order. Or at least give the lower girls places to run to... I also plan to sit with them until the go to roost for the night to make sure nobody gets bloodied.

 

[Amiti]

So now i thought i would share a little detail about some of my newbie blunders. I am embarrassed by some of these because i would have known better if i had researched first. I am sharing because i think other newbies can learn from me and know they arent alone.

 

[Amiti]

Some of you veterans may get a laugh. Please remember though, I really do try to do the best for all my animals and I am always learning from my mistakes.

 

[Amiti]

Newbie mistake numero uno:

I got a cockerel with only three hens. Started reading about roosters while he was in quarantine and realized it before he went in with the girls that he needed more. So I remodelled the coop and began looking for more girls.

So far the three girls are only showing minor feather damage. Hopefully the three new girls will be ready for breeding before it gets too bad.

 

[Amiti]

Mistake number two (sort of... I may have taken her anyway)

Buying Brigit at a swap meet. First he told me she was ameraucana and she may be, she has the beard n muffs, but she is definitely not a recognized color. She has been to sick to lay, but now that she is well and getting her weight back I hope to see if she really lays blue eggs. Second, i could see she was puffed up but didnt know it meant she was ill. Also, i didnt look her over and she was soooo bad with lice. I had to coat her with coconut oil 3 times and take a tooth brush to her feathers to get all the eggs. That was time consuming, let me tell you!

 

[Amiti]

This is the mistake I almost made.... But saved myself quite by accident...

Never add just one hen/pullet. I got Brigit on a Friday and the swap ended Sunday. I didnt intend to get any more, but i did!

 

[Amiti]

Next blunder, add pullets about the same size....

I got a laying hen and these two...

There was only a couple weeks difference in age but Selene (the mottled blue ameraucana) was fed fermented feed and Nixi only started that after i got her.

 

[Amiti]

That pic is from the day i got them. They are bigger now. Nixi is catching up.

 

[Amiti]

Now i would like to share a blunder that I fixed with my knowledge of herbalism....

 

[Amiti]

My quarantine area wasnt far enough from my existing flock and they got runny beaks. I spend a lot of time around my birds so i noticed right away. I didnt have the money to get antibiotics rights away so i concocted a recipe.

I call it medicine mash.

In one very large bowl mixed feed with water, apple cider vinegar, a whole bulb of garlic, 3 jalapenos, 3 banana peppers, 2 large green spicy peppers that i cant remember the name of, 2 tablespoons crashed cayenne peppers. I let it set overnight and fed it to them until it ran out.

NO MORE RUNNY NOSES!

(or beaks if you prefer)