***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[lonnyandrinda]

I have a broody silkie hen. I am wanting to give her some eggs to hatch. How many eggs can a silkie usually cover. Thanks

Bantam eggs I'd say 8 max. Large fowl eggs probably 4-5. Depends on how big she is.

 

[greenbeetle]

Bantam eggs I'd say 8 max. Large fowl eggs probably 4-5. Depends on how big she is.

Thank you so much.

 

[bardies]

Gentle showers today....
Chickens are all staying inside.
Babies are hatching under two hens and in the incubator.

We have kept up first time heifers and 2nd time cows in the lot to watch for problems with calving. We have two in the lot now. One had her calf on 5/7 and the other lost a calf on 5/9. Both cows had to have help birthing. The one with the live calf (317) is a first time mom and has yet to let the calf suckle unless she is in the squeeze chute. The cow that had the dead calf (384) has been in the squeeze chute to let the calf suckle also. The cow 384 has raised one calf and has now been licking the calf and also stands still for the calf to nurse. We had been alternating the cows in the chute until one of them accepted the calf.
Now that 384 is accepting the calf, we have milked out 317 and have been saving the milk for the freezer until needed by another baby. She has a lot of cream in her milk so we wash her bag each time and I've reserved some of the milk for the kitchen. Yesterday I made butter from the cream from the milk from the day before and last night, I made 4 quarts of yogurt from the milk. There is a full gallon of milk separating in the fridge from last evening's milking. One of the benefits from having a good milk producing line of cows.
We will reduce the amount of milk retrieved over the next several days to allow 317's bag to reduce the milk production and put her in the new calf pasture. We doubt she will allow any of these babies to suckle.

Glad you were able to 'farm' out the calf to a nursing mom. I actually made butter too from a really good milking longhorn. It was my first successful butter making attempt!

 

[bardies]

Se
Touch me not. That's what it looks like to me. It has a lot of different nicknames, but I'm not sure about it's proper name. Edit: I just looked it up. It's called sensitive briar. Supposedly if you touch the leaves, they react. In the mimosa family.

These are prolific in Hawaii

 

[Tony O]

Quote:
That's why I have Guineas. No ticks.

 

[limited25]

5/8/16 Hilde AKA bare butt has let Mattie AKA google eyes (because until recently she has been wearing pin-less peepers) pull her feathers out ... she just stands there and allows it. She had an apron on until recently, and when we took that off we noticed there were no feathers beneath. So we believe Mattie has been lifting her apron and picking her feathers. Now littlebare butt (not on the bottom of the pecking order) has been separated so she can re-grow feathers.


5/14/16 Six days have passed and feathers are sporadically re-growing. Sectioned off a portion of the run so she has more room and some "comforts of home".


5/22/16 Reggie visits her quite often, the 1st week spending 90% of his time close to her.


5/22/16 The gang, and Hilde (on her side). Looks like she has everything but they have another run with all the "comforts of home".


5/22/16 and feathers still slowly filling in. This is not what we were expecting.


5/22/16 In her area (she goes in the carrier and into the house at night, where we can walk around in a wire dog cage). She goes to bed at 8:00 pm and is up by 7:30 am when she jumps onto my lap for a little petting and to be taken outside.


5/22/16 How Reggie looks when we come to see Hilde ... every time.


5/22/16 Back area is getting these little weird feathers here and there. She is getting a lot more under her wings, and on the front and back of her neck. IF YOU LOOK at the tail feathers there is this little weird little bump that I thought a feather shaft was going to grow a feather, but it hasn't, and its been weeks. WHAT is that?


5/22/16 Friendlier to us now, she is very sweet, and it is hard to imagine her always chasing Hermoine AKA Tricky around. Tricky is on the bottom of the pecking order.

She is not due to molt until October .... how long will it take her to get a full set of feathers so she can go back to her feathered friends? We do not want Reggie cutting her when he mates her ... and honestly, just don't like her looking like this.

 

[Kassaundra]

I've been impressed so far w/ the CX. Admittedly I just have the 4, and they are running w/ the group of same age NN chicks, but they run and search and scratch same as any other chicken. They search for food even w/ some food in the feed areas. One girl is substantially larger then the others, and two are the smaller of the group, but still heavier then the NN peers.

 

[beautifulpirate]

[COLOR=262626]5/8/16 Hilde AKA bare butt has let Mattie AKA google eyes (because until recently she has been wearing pin-less peepers) pull her feathers out ... she just stands there and allows it. She had an apron on until recently, and when we took that off we noticed there were no feathers beneath. So we believe Mattie has been lifting her apron and picking her feathers. Now littlebare butt (not on the bottom of the pecking order) has been separated so she can re-grow feathers.[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/14/16 Six days have passed and feathers are sporadically re-growing. Sectioned off a portion of the run so she has more room and some "comforts of home".[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/22/16 Reggie visits her quite often, the 1st week spending 90% of his time close to her.[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/22/16 The gang, and Hilde (on her side). Looks like she has everything but they have another run with all the "comforts of home".[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/22/16 and feathers still slowly filling in. This is not what we were expecting.[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/22/16 In her area (she goes in the carrier and into the house at night, where we can walk around in a wire dog cage). She goes to bed at 8:00 pm and is up by 7:30 am when she jumps onto my lap for a little petting and to be taken outside.[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/22/16 How Reggie looks when we come to see Hilde ... every time.[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/22/16 Back area is getting these little weird feathers here and there. She is getting a lot more under her wings, and on the front and back of her neck. IF YOU LOOK at the tail feathers there is this little weird little bump that I thought a feather shaft was going to grow a feather, but it hasn't, and its been weeks. WHAT is that?[/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]5/22/16 Friendlier to us now, she is very sweet, and it is hard to imagine her always chasing Hermoine AKA Tricky around. Tricky is on the bottom of the pecking order.[/COLOR] [COLOR=262626]She is not due to molt until October .... how long will it take her to get a full set of feathers so she can go back to her feathered friends? We do not want Reggie cutting her when he mates her ... and honestly, just don't like her looking like this.[/COLOR]

I've read that if any of the feather shaft remains in the skin (is they were broken off during pecking and picking instead of the shaft fully sliding out), they won't grow new feathers until those shafts shed naturally during a molt. Hopefully someone else can help shed some light on what may be the issue or if there is a solution.

 

[limited25]

I've read that if any of the feather shaft remains in the skin (is they were broken off during pecking and picking instead of the shaft fully sliding out), they won't grow new feathers until those shafts shed naturally during a molt.

Hopefully someone else can help shed some light on what may be the issue or if there is a solution.

Appreciate your reply. Looks like the shafts were completely pulled out. Any idea if this is going to take weeks or months? Seems like they are growing back slowly but not in any kind of uniform manner. Have been giving her extra protein.

 

[Fallenone05]

The nub that's at the base of their tail is their preening gland! The chickens stimulate it and it releases oils needed for keeping their feathers healthy! Some chickens stimulate their gland too much and it can get infected.
This post here has some good information on feathers! https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/320003/how-long-for-feathers-to-grow-back