***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kyzmette]

I'm still waiting for the last stragglers to go to coops so I can lock down the doors...there are about 10 of the 8 week olds still in the lot and front yard! Mandy has been a great teacher.

Earlier this evening I moved a floor nest box and a huge nest of baby mice started scurrying out from under it. The young chicks were going crazy running around with inch ling babies in their beaks. The hens let them keep the tiny babies but scarfed down the big ones. Soooo funny.

 

[HeyBigRhondaq]

X2
I hate mice.

 

[NanaKat]

Our cat Murdock has been camping out with the hens for the past six weeks. The milder weather has turned the barn mice into breeding machines. I have been using traps, bait and peppermint, but still don't have control. He no longer comes to the house for his cat food. Between the starlings, sparrows and mice he is keeping fat. I religiously worm him on schedule since he is catching rodents. /blind in one eye, he is still the best mouser ever!
Murdock leaves the chicks alone and the hens are so used to him, they just hop over him when he is targeted on his prey. Tonight he was focused on the grass outside the Buckeye pen...either a mouse or a grass snake.
I'm not surprised that I don't have a snake problem this year.

 

[Kyzmette]

Our cat Murdock has been camping out with the hens for the past six weeks. The milder weather has turned the barn mice into breeding machines. I have been using traps, bait and peppermint, but still don't have control. He no longer comes to the house for his cat food. Between the starlings, sparrows and mice he is keeping fat. I religiously worm him on schedule since he is catching rodents. /blind in one eye, he is still the best mouser ever!
Murdock leaves the chicks alone and the hens are so used to him, they just hop over him when he is targeted on his prey. Tonight he was focused on the grass outside the Buckeye pen...either a mouse or a grass snake.
I'm not surprised that I don't have a snake problem this year.

He's not blind in that eye: he has you fooled. That's really a bionic eye with xray vision and laser beams!

 

[HeyBigRhondaq]

@NanaKat I am not the biggest fan of cats, but if I had a cat like Murdoch, I might change my tune!

My broody didn't much care for the new SFH chicks. Apparently she only wants to raise one baby at a time. So, here's my temporary set-up: milk crate, towel and heating pad under half, takeout containers (clearly we go to Chuy's too often), and you can't see it, but a netted food tent to keep them inside, just in case. In hindsight, I probably should have chosen a different color of crate, but it was the first I found in the house. They love it...sleeping on the warm side right now.

 

[HeyBigRhondaq]

I forgot the pic. Ergh.

 

[Nuggetirl]

Picked up two birds off craigslist and I think I ended up with a Sumatra or SumatraX. Very cool. Brought the two home because I wanted the mille fleur adorableness that was with her. Not sure I have a place for the SumatraX when they are out of quarantine, though I might just make one.

 

[BetsyOK]

Silkies with high vaulted skulls are more likely to have problems if the right/wrong spot is pecked or bumped than those without the vault. There is a hole in the top of the head, much like a human baby's fontanel, but it is only bridged by an arched, narrow strip of bone and doesn't ever close in. One can find pictures of silkie skulls on the internet. The brain protrudes into that vault. It appears to me heat/cold makes a difference as to how much it protrudes at any given time. Those with high vaulted skulls have larger crests for the most part, but not all silkies have vaulted skulls, and I've had many that have pretty large crests anyway. At least half of my silkies have vaulted skulls to one degree or another; you can tell at hatch which ones do, and you can feel the protrusion the rest of their lives. I've only had a few with neurological problems because of the vault, and unless the blow that caused the problem kills the bird, you can usually relieve the problem with rest, vitamin e, and/or PolyVisol drops for children (without iron). Some people give them prednisone and other mdications. Even some birds that have a fairly severe injury, causing them to "sky gaze" (wry neck), can often be treated successfuly, but are still prone to other injuries because of the lack of brain protection, though they may never have problems again.

 

[Kassaundra]

I forgot the pic. Ergh.

Brilliant idea for keeping food clean. You should post this on this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/631861/diy-thread-lets-see-your-inventions

 

[MrsDickey]

Oh no!! Yesterday my 3 year old son was running with the chicks because they chase him and he thinks its so fun! Anyways, in the midst of the chasing game he accidentally stepped on the leg/foot of one of the chicks. Now the poor thing is limping around. Poor little hop-along. Do you think the chick will be okay? Should I keep it penned up so it can heal? I feel bad for it because I know that leg has to be sore but I have no idea what to do with it.