Oh Hai another Newcomer

[TrinityCreed]

Good Evening! Afternoon! Whichever time of day it is. I'm Allie, I'm located in the frigid north, aka central New York! We've had chickens about two years now, but I've been lurking on here for about that long too. Goodness knows I love my birds, although we're slowly discovering which breed we don't want up here anymore >.< next years chick order is going to be a big one, we've lost 10 birds this year alone

Anyways. I'm 31, live out in the middle of the sticks, besides chickens I have a dog, four cats, two ferrets and eight sugar gliders. I pretty much run a zoo, which is fine with me! So hi, from the too cold for me currently central NY!

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

Feel free to ask lots of questions! We're all here to help.

 

[TrinityCreed]

That's good because despite having them for two years I'm still utterly clueless on them! Ha! Like how to prevent prolapses (we've lost three this year because we didn't catch them in time) or how not to bash my head into a wall when they decided to lay eggs all over my woods instead of the coop.

Ah chickens!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! With free range birds, even if you make the nesting boxes in the coop as attractive as possible, if they have access to a lot of places outside that they would consider a good place to hide eggs you usually will have problems anyhow... I wind up putting "hidden" nests outside for them and just collecting eggs out of them like normal (old dog houses, buckets etc) it seems to keep the girls that want to hide eggs happy and I still get the eggs.
With prolapses, if you want to do a search, there are a lot of threads on BYC about it...a lot does seem to depend on breed, the commercial breeds bred to lay a lot of big eggs are more prone to it, especially if management is a little iffy... nice article on it http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/livestock/poultry/prolapse.html

 

[TrinityCreed]

I found eleven eggs in a crate the newest hens had been raised in before being intro'd to the flock. Crazy birds are crazy! Next year we're enclosing their entire run in. Too many got snagged by fox this year >.< Interesting checklist on prolapses - I'm about ready to head desk, fourth hen this year! They get calcium, aren't over or under weight, lights on in the coop for an hour after dark but that's it. Argh. Theyr'e only 2, too. I wish I knew what i was doing wrong

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!!

Sorry about all your losses this year. As Kelsie has mentioned, some breeds are very prone to prolapse. I think, and this is just from my own experiences that the heavier larger breed birds are less likely to prolapse then the smaller breeds. And birds that are egg laying machines tend to have more egg binding and prolapse than the standard egg layers. Hatchery stock is far more prone than pure bred birds from Heritage stock. However these statements are only my humble opinions. If I were you I would stick with the Opringtons, (Buff Orps and Australorps) Wyandottes, Jersey Giants, Barred Rocks....these are heavy breeds that are good on laying and are very hardy over all. Again, just my humble opinion.

Good luck with your flock and we do welcome you to our flock!

 

[Kelsie2290]

TwoCrows has some good points. I guess one other question is are you sure the problem is prolapse? Could you have straight vent picking going on to start with for some reason? Do you have any feather picking with the flock? How are you finding the birds exactly (dead/alive/condition)?

 

[TrinityCreed]

Oddly enough it's the australorps that are giving me the issues! We have golden Wyandotte (well one now), plymouth barred rocks, silkies, easter eggers and the australorps. We've had three from them. We had one barred but it was when I ran out of calcium and all three of my feed stores didn't have any for weeks. That was months ago though. we have a lot of fox.

I'm sad too but I know it happens. I don't know if it means anything but the two this time are the ones with the least amount of back feathers. Like bottom of the pecking order birds. Maybe they didn't get enough feed?

Also it might be picking they look to be bottom of the pecking order. The first to do it was too. They're all alive (except for the one barred, I found her dead, she was fine the day before), but it's very very far out, bleeding and very red. Maybe they're being picked on too much?

 

[TwoCrows]

Birds lowest in the order can be subject to cannibalism. If somebody is going to be picked on, it will be the lowest in the pecking order. Make sure you have enough room in the coop and run at all times. Make sure you put out enough feeders and waterers. More than you think you need so there is no competition. If the higher in the order birds feel threatened in anyway, they will do what they can to run off the lesser birds even if that means killing them. It is possible they are being pecked to death. The vents are a common target for cannibalism. Australorps are pretty docile birds and are often picked on in many flocks.