NY chicken lover!!!!

[Gramma Chick]

Eeeeeee..... I'm So Excited the Run is Finally Secure, and with all the surprise storms it's Perfect!!! Hope we buried the cloth far enough out, is 18 inches enough for most predators that would dig?!?!

I think I heard 6 inches is deep enough ...

Beautiful Coop & Run . A Deluxe chicken Hotel !
Are those metal roofs ? expensive I will bet !
We are putting a new roof on the Coop & run ...& enlarging both ...a little ..on a budget
.I love that I wont have to worry about snow crushing the run this year it will have a real roof !
My husband says we have too many chickens ..I told him the Roos arent staying ..LOL

I saw a FOX today ...the wild birds were making a ruckus in the woods ..I thought maybe my cat was in there ..
So I made my usual perimeter sweep ..I see a red animal in the clearing ....thought it was my tenants cat ..cleaning itself ..
Looked a little closer ..No it was a fox ...I ran back to the house ...but we couldnt locate it when we went back out ..
UGGGH Missed Opportunity !

JLAW - using the roosts I wouldn't think a 1ft drop should be a problem for any chicken.
Most chickies have a ramp for exiting...is she full grown ?

We was wrestling some and he planted his hand on the bee < - it was probably alive till this happened ..They sleep at night if inside
I hope he is okay ..

 

[Breella]

What is Banix ???

The label says Chemically Altered Water. I have a friend who is a vet tech who swears by it. I use it for just about everything on all of my pets from Lizards, chickens, cats, dogs, even the horse

 

[JLaw]

JLAW - using the roosts I wouldn't think a 1ft drop should be a problem for any chicken.
Most chickies have a ramp for exiting...is she full grown ?

We was wrestling some and he planted his hand on the bee < - it was probably alive till this happened ..They sleep at night if inside
I hope he is okay ..

She don't use the roosts. I got her when she was about 3 months old I think. She is full grown. I put a ramp on the ledge but only takes up half the door way so she jumps the other part. My wife don't put it up I don't think when she lets them out so I put it up part way in day. I need to just build a chicken door so there is no chance of her jumping the other part of human door. I wouldn't think a 1ft drop would be bad for any chicken ether but when we brought her home about a month ago she wouldn't leave the coop afraid of jumping the drop. I wonder if they kept her in a cage whole time or had a different ramp set up. I'm using a 2x10 board with 2x2's across it ever 3-4 inch I think. It's not that steep 1 ft drop over like 2-2.5 feet I think. Maybe I need to get some 1x2's instead of 2x2's. I just had the 2x2's on hand from 51 cent wood home depot.

Son is ok they gave him some meds on top of the benadril wife gave him before going.

jlaw

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote:
Glad to hear the boy is okay .

Maybe the non roosting is related to the non jumping ?
She may have had a injury prior to you having her
or like you mentioned she wasnt allowed to exercise at all to strengthen her bone / muscles .

 

[Pyxis]

Lots going on over here this morning. Two of my ducks decided to go broody. One is very serious, and one is not, and is generally making life hard for the real broody by sitting in her nest, kicking the eggs around, breaking eggs, coming and going all the time...needless to say, I'm breaking her so the other one can have some peace. It won't be hard, I don't think - I blocked her return to the nest one time yesterday and this was discouraging enough to her that she spent the whole day out foraging with the flock instead.

And apparently I now have broody fever going around, because my red sex link of all birds has gone broody too. I caught her clucking at Penny's chicks and trying to get them to eat when she comes out of the coop (Penny was not amused, but Lemon's head hen, so what's a girl to do) and today will make her fourth full day on the nest. I'm letting her have five eggs and we'll see what happens. So don't let anyone tell you sex links never go broody, because this one certainly does!

As for the silkies, four hatched and the rest were ruined thanks to the shenanigans of the older three week olds. But in their favor, they love the babies. One in particular likes to show them how to eat and drink and snuggle with them when they need a nap. She's a light brahma/buff orp cross and I can tell she'll be a good mama next year. Anyway, I got two blue, one black, and one splash, which is hilarious because that's exactly the 2/1/1 ratio you're supposed to get from breeding blues to blues.

Anyway, some pictures of the little guys! I apologize for the blurriness, my camera was not in a cooperative mood.

And just for fun, my one non-broody welshie girl taking a nap:

And Lacie goose with her two best friends yesterday. She was raised with them this spring. When she settles down somewhere they run over to cuddle. I've seen them all preening each other.

 

[featherz]

Broody fever here too.. two of my chickens finally gave up in one coop (they were sharing the nest box and one nearly ate the other's head bald out of snuggling together and broody boredom.. But in my other coop, I have four all sitting on top of each other. Argh!

 

[Breella]

Went out after newspapers to check on the chickens. I was in the coop assessing Frenchie for the AM when I hear the most pathetic cry ever to come out of a chicken and onto my ears... I thought that one of the EEs had stuck it's head out and one of the dogs had grabbed it... I left the coop and turned the corner just in time to see






a very red faced Duane attempting to crow. The most pathetic noise I have heard in my life, and that counts my dogs half hearted howl at the fire trucks.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Pyxis---congrats on the babies! They look beautiful! I told Little Man and Legolas they were daddys again but they didnt seem all that impressed. You will have some real nice silkies when they grow up.

Stony--camper is looking good. Cant wait to see inside pics when you get that done.

Breella--I think all roos get embarassed by their first pathetic attempts at crowing, Hilarious to listen to them though.

So I found a hidey spot under the coop that my one silkie hen has been laying her eggs in. Little sneak had two eggs in there. I will be watching that spot now. I did rake it all out to make it less desireable. I think she hides them so I wont take them. Wish these broodys would give up. I keep throwing them out and they keep coming back in. Trying to figure out how to stop featherpicking in my terrorist coop. I have them on 16 percent protein layer feed and they freerange several hours each day so I am not sure why they are doing so. A couple of the girls have bare backs. I tried bluecoat but it didnt seem to make a difference.

Off to see a friend today who had her baby last night. She was 3 weeks early but came in at a good weight and length. Mom and baby are doing well and I am anxious to see them.

Look...a bright yellow orb! Aliens?? Nope...just the sun. I do believe the heat is on again. My daughter in GA said its cooler down there than up here. I told her to keep it that way for our trip down there!

 

[armorfirelady]

Pharmchick I had heard feather picking was from low protein levels. Maybe trying to give them some animal protein for a week or so will help? I give mine some canned mackerel or liver a few times a week if I don't have many leftovers.

 

[marquisella]