Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[sharron]

here you go wingstone, we only processed 24 today, was holding the rest back to see if i wanted to keep them going, decided to go ahead and process the rest next week, as you can see had them for supper, two for me and two for husband, sooooo good, had forgotten how good quail are.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Baby count! 2 little chipmunks and one little black one just hatched. All 4 other eggs are pipped and peeping so far we have
1 SLW/Marans
1 Olive egger
1 Marans/Brahma

does anyone know what kind of combs are dominant? I thought straight comb was but one of the babies has either a pea comb or rose comb.i honestly don't know which chipmunk is the olive egger and which is the Wyandotte mix lol. I just know what egg shells I pulled out tonight when I moved everyone.

 

[dheltzel]

does anyone know what kind of combs are dominant? I thought straight comb was but one of the babies has either a pea comb or rose comb.i honestly don't know which chipmunk is the olive egger and which is the Wyandotte mix lol. I just know what egg shells I pulled out tonight when I moved everyone.

Pea and Rose combs are both partially (mostly) dominant over single combs, and are separate in that a chicken can be both, in either a single or double dose. A silkie's walnut comb is double doses of both.

So it's not surprising that you see that effect in the chicks.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I believe the average requirement is 1' of roost space per large fowl bird.... what I have found is that 'teenagers' tend to squabble a lot when getting settled in for the night, and the more timid ones prefer to run away from it rather than stay on the normal roost area.  I have also seen that as the birds get a bit older they have most of their 'pecking order' squabbles figured out and the drama decreases drastically in the evenings.  There are small spats, but not nearly as many as there are early on...now the squabbles do return when new birds are added into the coop, but they usually work out pretty quickly.

I have 5 girls, 2 bantam and 3 large fowl. I have a little under 4 feet of roosting space. My fattest girl always roosts on the bottom little piece of wood. And they are always huddled together on one side, reminds me of "Squah the lemon". Anybody remember playing that on a sliding board?

 

[emorems0]

So, they seem to be pretty upset about their nest boxes being blocked off... they were ALL up on the steps tonight, even the roosters who typically use the roost in the coop. Even better, after I picked each one up and carried each them down to the coop, they kept jumping back out and heading back to the steps. Guess I'm going to have to block off that extra run space tomorrow so they don't have access to the steps anymore. There was major squabbling when I finally got them all in the coop and they managed to push through the cardboard blockade inn the one nest box and all tried to pile in there - my scrap of plywood was only big enough to block two of the 3 nest boxes, so I shoved some old cardboard in the last one... but they really wanted in there! Silly birds

In other news, it looks like the farmstead where we got our RIR and cochin chicks is taking some heat for the health of their birds. Anyone here know of Baumegan Farms? Are they here on this group? They are located in Collegeville, PA so I figured there was a chance they could be here. I haven't been following the drama on their FB page so I don't really know what they were dealing with, sounds like it was a few different things through spring and summer, but I do wonder if my two deaths were related. The two birds that we lost were both from them, all of the ones we hatched have been fine, but two of the four we got from them just didn't grow well and eventually got lethargic and died (the other two look & act fine). They were 4 weeks old when we got them and about 14 weeks when they died. I don't want to make an issue of it... when we bought our chicks we stayed for a while and toured the place. They seemed like great people who care about all of their animals, they do a lot of rescues and everything looked really clean and well-maintained. I just wonder if our deaths could be related to the problems they are/were having and if I should send them a message to let them know about our losses. Thoughts?

 

[stake]

Good evening all:

Have a bit of chick drama and am looking for your thoughts....the other day came home from work to find broody outside the coop with her solo 1.5 day old chick under her, I moved both back to the coop....

this morning around 11:00a, I was out setting things up to go to work and broody comes squawking out of the coop/run....I get curious and find her chick sitting in the run nearly dead....(either was stepped on or pecked)....I ran the chick inside and warmed her with the oven then set up a makeshift brooder....the little tyke could barely move...I set her under the lights put food and drink in the brooder and went to work...

found her tonight in the corner away from the light.....moved her back under the light to warm her...(I have not seen her eat of drink yet)...after and hour she woke up and was chirping and standing( not 100% but alert and moving around).....

So, do I put her back under mom and carry on or raise her solo in a brooder.....neither alternative seems good....????

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Good evening all:

Have a bit of chick drama and am looking for your thoughts....the other day came home from work to find broody outside the coop with her solo 1.5 day old chick under her, I moved both back to the coop....

this morning around 11:00a, I was out setting things up to go to work and broody comes squawking out of the coop/run....I get curious and find her chick sitting in the run nearly dead....(either was stepped on or pecked)....I ran the chick inside and warmed her with the oven then set up a makeshift brooder....the little tyke could barely move...I set her under the lights put food and drink in the brooder and went to work...

found her tonight in the corner away from the light.....moved her back under the light to warm her...(I have not seen her eat of drink yet)...after and hour she woke up and was chirping and standing( not 100% but alert and moving around).....

So, do I put her back under mom and carry on or raise her solo in a brooder.....neither alternative seems good....????

Oh good luck! I had a similar adventure tonight with one of my babies. Just hatched this evening, probably right before I had to move Cloud from her nest (it was after dark and she had 3 chicks hatched so far. I moved then all carefully to a carrier and took them to the garage. I swear I was in the house at least an hour before I went out and checked on them. I found that young, damp newest chick along the edge. It was cold, still damp and a bit stiff. I would've thought he was gone already if he hadn't opened his mouth. I was breathing hot air on him, rushing around to grab the heat lamp, and ran him into the house. I just kept rubbing him and talking to him under the lamp. He eventually dried off, started peeping, trying to stand up, and opened his little eyes. I did put him back under Cloud and made sure he was all the way under and stayed there. I'll be checking on him first thing in the morning. The only little chick with a name so far, Lucky.

Poor little babies....I think the world is against them right now.

 

[fisherlady]

Good evening all:

Have a bit of chick drama and am looking for your thoughts....the other day came home from work to find broody outside the coop with her solo 1.5 day old chick under her, I moved both back to the coop....

this morning around 11:00a, I was out setting things up to go to work and broody comes squawking out of the coop/run....I get curious and find her chick sitting in the run nearly dead....(either was stepped on or pecked)....I ran the chick inside and warmed her with the oven then set up a makeshift brooder....the little tyke could barely move...I set her under the lights put food and drink in the brooder and went to work...

found her tonight in the corner away from the light.....moved her back under the light to warm her...(I have not seen her eat of drink yet)...after and hour she woke up and was chirping and standing( not 100% but alert and moving around).....

So, do I put her back under mom and carry on or raise her solo in a brooder.....neither alternative seems good....????

Can you bring mama hen in to share brooder space with the little one for a few days? The chick is very young yet to be out and about and if the mama hen isn't very experienced or is easily intimidated by the other hens in the coop then separations and/or conflicts can happen and (tragically) effect the chick. Even my most experienced broodies rarely venture more than a few feet from the coop till day 3 or 4, even if they are outside enjoying the sunshine. Day 1 and 2 they stay inside completely (and it is voluntary)... day 3 and 4 they may venture onto the porch or side paddock a few feet for some fresh air, by day 6 or 7 they are outside for majority of day, but mama stops frequently to snuggle the chicks as temps require.
We have one broody (a first timer) who has 'lost' her chicks a couple of times... she heads off with them in tow, but they get distracted and she doesn't realize it... she then starts calling loudly for them but acts unsure of what to do... meanwhile they are cheeping their little hearts out but don't follow her voice if they don't see her. She is getting much, much better now, but I worried for the first week that she just wasn't going to do well. My experienced broodies seem much better at keeping the little ones close and stopping frequently to prevent stragglers, though it does sometimes happen (my barred rock chicks are just ditzy!)

 

[fisherlady]

So, they seem to be pretty upset about their nest boxes being blocked off... they were ALL up on the steps tonight, even the roosters who typically use the roost in the coop. Even better, after I picked each one up and carried each them down to the coop, they kept jumping back out and heading back to the steps. Guess I'm going to have to block off that extra run space tomorrow so they don't have access to the steps anymore. There was major squabbling when I finally got them all in the coop and they managed to push through the cardboard blockade inn the one nest box and all tried to pile in there - my scrap of plywood was only big enough to block two of the 3 nest boxes, so I shoved some old cardboard in the last one... but they really wanted in there! Silly birds

In other news, it looks like the farmstead where we got our RIR and cochin chicks is taking some heat for the health of their birds. Anyone here know of Baumegan Farms? Are they here on this group? They are located in Collegeville, PA so I figured there was a chance they could be here. I haven't been following the drama on their FB page so I don't really know what they were dealing with, sounds like it was a few different things through spring and summer, but I do wonder if my two deaths were related. The two birds that we lost were both from them, all of the ones we hatched have been fine, but two of the four we got from them just didn't grow well and eventually got lethargic and died (the other two look & act fine). They were 4 weeks old when we got them and about 14 weeks when they died. I don't want to make an issue of it... when we bought our chicks we stayed for a while and toured the place. They seemed like great people who care about all of their animals, they do a lot of rescues and everything looked really clean and well-maintained. I just wonder if our deaths could be related to the problems they are/were having and if I should send them a message to let them know about our losses. Thoughts?

It is certainly ok to message them and let them know you lost two... doing so doesn't mean you are 'accusing' them of anything and by providing them with factual info about what you saw (symptoms) may help them determine if there was a problem they hadn't recognized.
My only other thought.... a bird who has thrived in one environment may not do well in another one. Germs/microbes may vary greatly from one soil plot to another.... so things the little ones had developed (or were born with) immunity to in their home environment may be totally different than what they became exposed to at your place. It doesn't mean that either place is dangerous, or unclean or anything like that... they are just different! And immunity systems deal best with things they are familiar with, and sometimes can be overwhelmed when faced with new challenges.
I don't know what caused the death of your two chicks... so my take on the subject may not be accurate or from the right 'direction'.... but is just my $.02 view....

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Just got in from helping set up at the Lebanon Show, it's going to be a big show! Also wanted to share some pics...baby Polish and blood moon.