Should I give you a day or 2 to decide for sure? I can't imagine that'd be worth it to you for a bag of feed. That'd be the answer to my entire problem though. But 3 wks max will be enough, the little boys start getting black pin feathers by 2 wks. I can find someone to take the little boys or arrange to get them outa' there (without seeing them lol!) by then. That'd be wonderful! Thank you thank you! You're becoming indispensable to us all on the Okie chicken list.
Ksane is the feather loss just a heavy moult? I keep saying I want to mark my birds as they moult-- just so I can keep track.
I spent the morning doing chores, even though not much seems done. Coyotes are starting to get close to our place again, saw one just as soon as I let the birds out to free range. Thankfully the dogs saw it too & chased him off. Then our biggest dog took a nap in the pasture just to make sure the coyote didn't come back. Wore myself out working in the future garden plot. So now I believe I am going to rest for a while. The weather is perfect outside, so after a short break I will go back out & work on a few other chores.
I'm 99% sure it's someone picking at her and I think it's the debeaked sex links, they were debeaked when I got them. Her back is bare in a couple places and the feathers are broken. All this time I thought it was the Marans boys and I feel bad now because I'm sure it wasn't. The debeaked Sexlinks pick constantly at us, our feet, arms, shoes. They pick at the sheep's face all the time. I haven't seen them picking at the EE girl but that's probably because when I'm out there they all come running to me (and are picking at me). But that hadn't occurred to me til a few minutes ago. I guess that EE happens to be the one that just stands there when the sex links pick at her. She'd probably be a bloody mess if they had beaks. Her and her sister-hen are in in with one of my Cochin boys now, I'll play that one by ear and see how she does. I can't put her back with the sexlinks if they're doing it to her but it might not help to have her in a pen with a male either.
I was out moving birds around and had to come in and check on Channing. He's "free ranging" in the RV as my daughter calls it lol! Which consists of him laying on his couch on his blanket in the sunbeams from the window.
I put each of my 3 LF Cochin boys in separate 8x8 pens with 2 girls in each with them. I think the combos will be perfect. And my favorite boy Cochin (gray & black) has a solid black EE and a solid blue EE in with him and the color match is too cool
. I was going to take pics and my battery was dead. I hope 2 girls each will be enough that they don't lose the feathers on their backs from the boys. I very well may have to add more girls but we'll see. The 6 girls I pulled from the layers yard (4 EE's and 2 Orloffs) are the biggest girls I have and they still may not be big enough for these boys. The boys are huge.
