Got a question that probably is already known for all you NN fanciers. I've noticed some of my almost four week chicks getting some red skin up by the head,ear/top of neck area, is this a indication of a cockerel?
Both pullets and cockerels can get red skin. I think the comb will probably tell you better than the red skin on its own. I was able to tell all my boys from girls by around that age (except one that ended up having a rose comb). (I'm sure others with lots more experience will chime in...)
Both pullets and cockerels can get red skin. I think the comb will probably tell you better than the red skin on its own. I was able to tell all my boys from girls by around that age (except one that ended up having a rose comb). (I'm sure others with lots more experience will chime in...)
I really haven't had much time to spend checking them out, just something I happened to notice today.
Only thing I know is they are growing like weeds, thought it would be OK putting them with the giants and giant silkie crosses I hatched a week later, the naked necks are now so much more mature, fully feathered out already. Some of the giants are big, but the naked's are more rambunctious, and some, not all of them, some of the silkie giant crosses look like tiny runts in the brooder box compared to them. Haven't seen any aggressive behavior or picking on yet so I'll keep them together for now.
Long day, started way early by culling the last wry tail NN - it really wasn't a big deal to dry pluck him. So much easier to process NNs! I'm always worn out the rest of the day on cull days, but I've been trying to keep busy and productive, running errands and cleaning house, catching up on laundry, etc.
Hot today - hotter than it has been this year (except a time or two), it's late coming this year. It hit 96F today - doesn't sound like much (and it's not, esp. now that the humidity isn't as bad), but it's the hottest some of these younger birds have experienced. I went and checked and everyone is ok, just resting in the shade, some panting, but no one in distress needing action. Adults totally fine. I know better than to bother them/stress them in this, so after I looked in on them, I'm waiting to do the chores that take me into their coops until later this evening - it's already down to 91F now at almost 6PM. Glad it gets dark late this time of year, I have a little more time to let it get cooler (it'll be more pleasant for me as well). They'll adapt, what I'm worried about it watching them as they adapt to these first hot days - it's going to be in the 100s next week. Overdue for here, but they still need to adapt. I gave them all foot baths yesterday, they still don't know what to do with them yet.
I spent a lot of today making ice molds out of a bunch of those little 8 oz water bottles and filling with water - they are freezing now. While I also already have a bunch of the little bottles intact and frozen to be able to drop into a waterer or foot bath, I realized that if I have a lot it decreases the amount of water I can put in the waterer, which I don't want to risk. So big ice cubes it is. I also have some mini loaf pans that I don't like because they have seams (so when I bake in them, they are hard to get clean) - I'm thinking of making and accumulating ice bricks with them. I am traveling in July (rotten timing, but I have no choice), so I need to make things as easy as possible for my chicken sitter to keep the chickens alive and cool if the heat spikes.
Meanwhile, I'm in the process of shifting all chicken chores (except egg collection) to the morning before work - it's light enough to be able to do that, and cooler, which is better for both me and the chickens...
Currently mellowing out with a beer, watching the movie Interstellar (again), and waiting for things to cool off out there before I go bother them. Then chores will be int eh cooler mornings for here on out - even when it's 90F in the morning, it's still better than 100....
my chickens don't look happy with frozen things. I give them plenty of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, etc. and in summer I give them whole oats as a treat. they love it.
Hello! I've been lurking for awhile and thought I'd finally start posting
. I just started into chickens and have learned a lot from this thread so far. My flock is still really young and I don't even have one chicken laying yet. I hope to get an incubator and do some projects with NN. Here are a few of mine (and a silkie, too).
Yes I'll catch a picture when I go out to feed it looks more like a scab but it wasn't hurt. It looks to be peeling off. None of the others have this problem and poo is firm in all of them even the dark one that isn't doing as well as the rest.
they might have cocci even if their poop looks normal. people in greece put oregano in their feed every 10 days to prevent cocci. I even found at the university site that oregano, thyme and basil together can even successfully treat cocci. I make tea with these herbs and mix it with the mash. they love it. these 3 herbs are good for many things.
Got a question that probably is already known for all you NN fanciers. I've noticed some of my almost four week chicks getting some red skin up by the head,ear/top of neck area, is this a indication of a cockerel?
Nope, just a sign of good health. My pullets actually tend to show the red skin around the ears before my cockerels do. The first time I saw that redness on one of my NN pullets I kind of freaked out, thinking that she had some kind of ear infection. Ahhh...those were the days....LOL! Keep an eye on the comb and wattles. Those are the better indicators of cockerel vs pullet in this breed. Even when the earlobe area turns red on my pullets the comb and wattles remain pale, while on the cockerels they begin turning dark pink to red pretty quickly.
they might have cocci even if their poop looks normal. people in greece put oregano in their feed every 10 days to prevent cocci. I even found at the university site that oregano, thyme and basil together can even successfully treat cocci. I make tea with these herbs and mix it with the mash. they love it. these 3 herbs are good for many things.
my chickens don't look happy with frozen things. I give them plenty of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, etc. and in summer I give them whole oats as a treat. they love it.
beautiful birds! do you keep silkies with large fowl? I would like to get 1 or 2 but I am afraid that my big birds would kill them.
My birds are terrified of frozen things...especially the 2-liter bottles of water I freeze. They'll stand there panting, ready to fall over from heat stroke, with a nice cold ice block just a foot away and they refuse to go near it. I also can't get them to stand in shallow dishes of water like so many others here in AZ can. They'll stand in their feed dishes when they have food in them, but won't stand in them if it's just cold water. Instead I keep a garden hose on trickle with cold water to create a small stream that they scratch, forage and stand in with glee to cool off. Spoiled birds!
I have one teeny, tiny buff Silkie hen that lives with all of my large fowl without problems...now. She was raised with a few Barred Rocks and four Australorps. The BRs were very sweet to her, but the Aussies picked on her relentlessly. Eventually I separated her into a small pen with my two relatively small frizzled Easter Eggers, and after she'd bonded with them, moved all three into my Bielefelder pen. Now she's closely bonded with my very large Bielefelders, who all protect her from the Aussies, and interacts well with all of my large NNs too.
My birds are terrified of frozen things...especially the 2-liter bottles of water I freeze. They'll stand there panting, ready to fall over from heat stroke, with a nice cold ice block just a foot away and they refuse to go near it. I also can't get them to stand in shallow dishes of water like so many others here in AZ can. They'll stand in their feed dishes when they have food in them, but won't stand in them if it's just cold water. Instead I keep a garden hose on trickle with cold water to create a small stream that they scratch, forage and stand in with glee to cool off. Spoiled birds!
I have one teeny, tiny buff Silkie hen that lives with all of my large fowl without problems...now. She was raised with a few Barred Rocks and four Australorps. The BRs were very sweet to her, but the Aussies picked on her relentlessly. Eventually I separated her into a small pen with my two relatively small frizzled Easter Eggers, and after she'd bonded with them, moved all three into my Bielefelder pen. Now she's closely bonded with my very large Bielefelders, who all protect her from the Aussies, and interacts well with all of my large NNs too.
I made a shade of palm tree branches and my chickens stay under there when it is too hot. I don't know what kind of trees you have in your area but I have realized that chickens prefer anything natural. even if you put a wooden pallet with some straw they will prefer it to anything frozen. I tend to wet dirt and they have a kind of dust bath in there. my dogs do the same.
I would like to have a silkie but some of my chickens are nasty so I was afraid to get it. I believed that BCM were sweet birds as a couple I have is very sweet, but 2 of their 3 babies are horrible. it might be due to the hired broody who was very wild. the 3rd chick has been hatched by a muscovie duck and he is a sweetheart. in the other pens I have some red sex link - bad character, and NNs - too big and bossy for the tiny silkie.
My birds are terrified of frozen things...especially the 2-liter bottles of water I freeze. They'll stand there panting, ready to fall over from heat stroke, with a nice cold ice block just a foot away and they refuse to go near it. I also can't get them to stand in shallow dishes of water like so many others here in AZ can. They'll stand in their feed dishes when they have food in them, but won't stand in them if it's just cold water. Instead I keep a garden hose on trickle with cold water to create a small stream that they scratch, forage and stand in with glee to cool off. Spoiled birds!
I have one teeny, tiny buff Silkie hen that lives with all of my large fowl without problems...now. She was raised with a few Barred Rocks and four Australorps. The BRs were very sweet to her, but the Aussies picked on her relentlessly. Eventually I separated her into a small pen with my two relatively small frizzled Easter Eggers, and after she'd bonded with them, moved all three into my Bielefelder pen. Now she's closely bonded with my very large Bielefelders, who all protect her from the Aussies, and interacts well with all of my large NNs too.
I'm not sure if mine are afraid of ice bottles or not. The coop that gets the hottest has about 30 stacked, water filled five gallon buckets as shelve supports for what was to be a greenhouse. The chickens will get in between the buckets to stay cooler or warmer whatever the season as they make an excellent heat sink. There's also a fan on the door that has a thermostat to blow cooler air in.
