Official Squatch Watchers

[CapricornFarm]

1, 2, skip a few hundred...

@FlyingNunFarm Sorry to hear about your bird. Are the others doing well?

How are all the babies doing? Cappy, how are your buns?
(I wish there was a way to see just the photos from a thread).

I saw @KikisGirls balut situation.. really interesting & gross at the same time. Have you noticed any movement? I didn't read through the 63 pages of your thread. Did you check the sign by the quail eggs to see if they're sold the same way?

I went to TSC this weekend to get feed and they had buckets full of the cutest baby chicks and ducks. They also had some marked down to $1! I didn't get any, but they sure were adorable. I bought a bag of grit and PDZ while I was there and as I was looking for somewhere to stash the PDZ I happened upon a 1/2 full bag of grit behind a bale of straw. SMH.. of course I'd already opened the new bag of grit.
How do you all serve grit? I was thinking of tossing a pile in the corner of the run instead of having to keep filling their bowl. Not the whole bag, but a few cups of it.

I try to remember to post pics here of the baby buns, or put them in my albums here on BYC. They are doing great, thanks!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I have several feed stations around the coop. The main bucket feeder and the milk jug feeder. Then up high for my Bantam Frannie and very frightened Sugar.

At the dollar store I found little 2 x 2 containers that will stack together. Like what you would use in a drawer. Screwed one to the wall then placed the second one in the first. That way I can take out and dump/clean the food dish easier.

 

[staceyj]

Good idea! I currently have a cat food dish w/ 2 sections that's raised up a bit, but they keep kicking crap into it... I don't want it too high b/c I have bantams and they need to get to it.. I like Cappy's feeder design, but I'm not very buildery and I won't be attempting that for a while.

I have a screw on dog crate dish hooked to the inside of my run. Cheap. From Walmart.

 

[staceyj]

A few years ago I lost a high ranking hen. Mine were acting off much like yours are doing.

It was sad to see all the confusion going on. They did return to normal after a few days.



They are very good at training us to come running.

Thanks for letting me know I’m not imagining this ...and for letting me know it’ll settle down.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Good idea! I currently have a cat food dish w/ 2 sections that's raised up a bit, but they keep kicking crap into it... I don't want it too high b/c I have bantams and they need to get to it.. I like Cappy's feeder design, but I'm not very buildery and I won't be attempting that for a while.

You can buy those rabbit feeder bins for oyster shell and grit. Or i look in second hand stores for metal wall pockets cheap.

 

[staceyj]

A shift in ranking. There will be a bit of squabbling until the rank and order falls back into place without her.

You guys are great friends.

 

[staceyj]

Terrible for you, brave girl to do it. Sometimes we forget how small chickens are and overdo what a treat consists of. Easy to do.

Thanks Cappy. I had to do it. Thanks for understanding and your encouragement.
(All of you)

 

[CapricornFarm]

Omg, i am so glad i crack eggs in a bowl before adding them to the slop pot! Hit a bad one today and i only ruined one other egg rather than the whole batch of slop! Had to double bag that mess!

 

[apryl29]

Attaching a container to the wall atchicken head height seems to really help keep them from getting gunk in the dish. If you don’t want to buy parrot dishes or need something bigger, you could probably poke a couple holes in a plastic Tupperware dish and zip tie it the run wall (assuming the run is some sort of wire mesh)

It's not wire, all wood. If I had something wide enough I could screw it into one of the 2x4s though. I'll have to look around. I liked those pvc pipe things, but read too many people having trouble w/ the birds emptying them out to want to deal with it.

I use a rabbit feeder in my big coop and a coffee can that I cut a section out of then screwed to the wall in the other coop.
Plastic coffee can of course.

They both work BUT the coffee can gets less kicked into it.

I thought about a rabbit feeder, but wondered if the stuff would fall through the holes in the bottom. I might check those out again. I could always cut something to fit in the bottom.

Exactly.
Also since were in a “neighborhood” the chickens have trained US to come outside and give them bribes to be more quiet.

Also of note today, or more of a question I suppose....

They are being EXTREMELY noisy today and keep milling about between the run and the open yard beyond.

I’m sure (maybe) that I’m reading something into this that may not be there, but it’s almost as if they are looking for her.

Even when I opened the pop door this morning there was a lot of hesitation to them coming out since normally Margaret would stick her head and shoulders under the door and push it up with her body in her excitement to come out, followed by the rest of them....

Many seconds went by this morning and a lot of bickering noises from inside before Dolly finally emerged.

I agree.. it's probably b/c of the pecking order change. When we gave away Steve, then lost Jaiden my birds didn't seem to notice at all, but in each case, none of them were near the top of the pecking order. Now, when we lost the white one last summer mine were acting very off, but I attributed it to the fact that they probably heard her trying to escape from the animal that killed her, but it could also have been b/c she was one of the leaders.

I try to remember to post pics here of the baby buns, or put them in my albums here on BYC. They are doing great, thanks!View attachment 1311694 View attachment 1311695 View attachment 1311696 View attachment 1311697

Baskets of buns!! Adorable! I want to just hug them all. Do you have homes for them yet?

 

[apryl29]

I have several feed stations around the coop. The main bucket feeder and the milk jug feeder. Then up high for my Bantam Frannie and very frightened Sugar.

At the dollar store I found little 2 x 2 containers that will stack together. Like what you would use in a drawer. Screwed one to the wall then placed the second one in the first. That way I can take out and dump/clean the food dish easier.

I have a screw on dog crate dish hooked to the inside of my run. Cheap. From Walmart.

All brilliant ideas! You guys are the best!