Hi, I was lurking in the background last spring when I started my backyard chicken "flock" and I guess I never introduced myself! I learned so much from all of you. Little did I know when my Dad and I started building my little coop and I got my first 4 bantam hens how much adventure I was letting myself in for!
I only have one of the hens left from that batch. Her name is Buffy. The rest died of Marrick's Disease (Range Paralysis) because I purchased them from a woman here in Sonoma County that raises "all-natural" chicks, which I thought I wanted at the time. Now I know to buy inoculated poultry, especially around here. The friendliest of those originals, BlueBelle, lasted 2 or 3 months completely paralysed except for her neck. We hand fed her several times a day, watered her with an eye-dropper, and took her on two road trips with us because we hated to ask anyone to babysit her. I gave her physical therapy every night to keep her wing and leg muscles limber, and had to preen her new feathers when they came in... We made a little sling for her so she could stand up and act like a chicken. She was so cute and although she was a lot of trouble we missed her when she finally passed on.
Since then, we got three more bantam juveniles and an old Hen (Ms. Meanie) that we rescued from the feed store. I'm getting little bantam eggs on sunny days. The silver lace wyandotte, our prettiest one, died a few weeks ago suddenly. She didn't seem sick, nor do the other birds appear to have anything wrong. So now we have 3 bantams and a big old hen. I free range them in my back yard. They love it, and hate being "cooped up," although once or twice they've flown over the fence, and last summer one of them laid a whole clutch of eggs over in the neighbors' yard and was trying to sit on them. Somehow she avoided being discovered by the dog!
I would like to get 2 or 3 more bantams this spring, but I remember too well what it was like to introduce the new birds to Buffy. I was playing "musical" chickens, putting the big hen in a box until the juveniles were asleep, and then slipping her in the roost when it was dark. Then getting out there early enough in the morning to let her and Buffy out of the run so the young ones didn't get picked on by Ms. Meanie or didn't gang up on Buffy. It took a week before they established their pecking order. Thankfully there was a lot of good advice on here about getting them used to each other. I also have a full time job, so it was hard not being here to watch them all day. I'm not sure I'm ready to got through that again yet. We are thinking about retiring to our property up north in the Fall, and then I can have a Rooster and many more hens!! How many hens can handle a rooster? or vice-versa? is there a ratio?
About me: I work at a hospital in the foodservice department and my husband, Dan, does maintenance for the city schools. We have 4 grown kids, and 6 grandkids, ages 3-11, that we adore. We want to be farmers when we grow up!!
and I love popcorn!
Nice to meet you all,
Linda
I only have one of the hens left from that batch. Her name is Buffy. The rest died of Marrick's Disease (Range Paralysis) because I purchased them from a woman here in Sonoma County that raises "all-natural" chicks, which I thought I wanted at the time. Now I know to buy inoculated poultry, especially around here. The friendliest of those originals, BlueBelle, lasted 2 or 3 months completely paralysed except for her neck. We hand fed her several times a day, watered her with an eye-dropper, and took her on two road trips with us because we hated to ask anyone to babysit her. I gave her physical therapy every night to keep her wing and leg muscles limber, and had to preen her new feathers when they came in... We made a little sling for her so she could stand up and act like a chicken. She was so cute and although she was a lot of trouble we missed her when she finally passed on.
Since then, we got three more bantam juveniles and an old Hen (Ms. Meanie) that we rescued from the feed store. I'm getting little bantam eggs on sunny days. The silver lace wyandotte, our prettiest one, died a few weeks ago suddenly. She didn't seem sick, nor do the other birds appear to have anything wrong. So now we have 3 bantams and a big old hen. I free range them in my back yard. They love it, and hate being "cooped up," although once or twice they've flown over the fence, and last summer one of them laid a whole clutch of eggs over in the neighbors' yard and was trying to sit on them. Somehow she avoided being discovered by the dog!
I would like to get 2 or 3 more bantams this spring, but I remember too well what it was like to introduce the new birds to Buffy. I was playing "musical" chickens, putting the big hen in a box until the juveniles were asleep, and then slipping her in the roost when it was dark. Then getting out there early enough in the morning to let her and Buffy out of the run so the young ones didn't get picked on by Ms. Meanie or didn't gang up on Buffy. It took a week before they established their pecking order. Thankfully there was a lot of good advice on here about getting them used to each other. I also have a full time job, so it was hard not being here to watch them all day. I'm not sure I'm ready to got through that again yet. We are thinking about retiring to our property up north in the Fall, and then I can have a Rooster and many more hens!! How many hens can handle a rooster? or vice-versa? is there a ratio?
About me: I work at a hospital in the foodservice department and my husband, Dan, does maintenance for the city schools. We have 4 grown kids, and 6 grandkids, ages 3-11, that we adore. We want to be farmers when we grow up!!
Nice to meet you all,
Linda
