Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

The new ones are Nubian mix and alpine mix.

I just lost Uno my first chick. I thought i had them safely tucked away but somehow the other girls got her. And my duckling hatched but died last night. I'm not sure why. So I managed to loose both of my very first babies. I don't think any of the other eggs under her are going to hatch. Feel so bad for her. What do you guys do with your broodies and chicks to keep them safe

My flock is pretty tolerant of the young ones but for the first couple days that mama keeps them in the nest, I put food and water in with them and put either hardware cloth or something similar up to block the opening so nobody falls out. In cars where I feel that the babies are in danger, I have a rabbit hutch that I use to move the broody and babies in to for a while until they're ready.

 

[fisherlady]

The new ones are Nubian mix and alpine mix.

I just lost Uno my first chick. I thought i had them safely tucked away but somehow the other girls got her. And my duckling hatched but died last night. I'm not sure why. So I managed to loose both of my very first babies. I don't think any of the other eggs under her are going to hatch. Feel so bad for her. What do you guys do with your broodies and chicks to keep them safe

As the others said, I give our hens with new chicks some privacy for the first few days either by a hardware cloth partition or by moving to one of our many preset broody areas where they have more room but the flock can still see them. A couple of my experienced broodies don't need separated, but with first timers we always do.
Each flock dynamics is different for safety of chicks, our flock has tons of experience with broodies and chicks so danger from deliberate attacks is about nil, but we like to see the littles be quick on their feet so they can avoid being stepped on better. Accidents can (and do) happen but they are the exception rather than the norm.
If you want to raise chicks in the flock you have to spend a lot of time around your birds when their are chicks mixed so you can observe behaviors and remove problem flock members. Some flock members may adjust to chicks as they get used to them being around but others may never adjust and unfortunately if you want to really broody raise in your flock the problem flock members have to be removed either by selling or culling.

 

[FluffyButt789]

So I have two chickens that have some health issues. Dopey is one of my chicks that hatched this spring. He walks funny, sometimes tilts his head, and bumps into stuff. I don't know how, but we never noticed his eyes before. The pupils of his eyes are not round as you can see in these pics:

He still keeps up with the others and eats fine. I hope he isn't in pain or anything. Have any of you seen this before? I think we will let him live for now, but I'm not sure what to do because we have 4 roosters and already decided to keep one, and I don't really want to cull Dopey. He's my little weirdo.

I'll post about the other one in a bit... she's much worse off than that little guy.

 

[yoopergirl1211]

The problem is my RIR I inherited. They aren't really friendly with me or my new flock members till they've been around a while. I thought i had them safe in dog crate butshe managed to sneak out. My kids are going to be devastated.

 

[fisherlady]

The problem is my RIR I inherited. They aren't really friendly with me or my new flock members till they've been around a while. I thought i had them safe in dog crate butshe managed to sneak out. My kids are going to be devastated.

Chicks can get through incredibly small openings, even regular chicken wire's 1 inch spacing doesn't contain them. You need to line any chick enclosure with 1/2 inch hardware cloth or mesh of similar or even smaller size to at least 8-12 inches high. The height is needed to prevent small chicks from jumping over and big birds and predators from being able to reach over and grab chicks close to the enclosure wall.

 

[yoopergirl1211]

Definitely reworking what I had before other babies get here. Picked up more hardware cloth today.

 

[song of joy]

So I have two chickens that have some health issues. Dopey is one of my chicks that hatched this spring. He walks funny, sometimes tilts his head, and bumps into stuff. I don't know how, but we never noticed his eyes before. The pupils of his eyes are not round as you can see in these pics:
View attachment 556199 View attachment 556200
He still keeps up with the others and eats fine. I hope he isn't in pain or anything. Have any of you seen this before? I think we will let him live for now, but I'm not sure what to do because we have 4 roosters and already decided to keep one, and I don't really want to cull Dopey. He's my little weirdo.

I'll post about the other one in a bit... she's much worse off than that little guy.

I'm not a vet, but I've read that ocular mareks disease can cause misshapen iris in the eyes, and may also cause the other symptoms you're describing. You may want to post this on the diseases forum to get more input.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Good morning all! Exploring the new page!
The last few weeks have had its issues. Got home late one night and a red sex link had been killed. I am thankful that the raccoon did not get my broody sitting on a clutch of eggs. Trapped the fiend and killed it. It was a female and part of me feels bad for its babies but the other part of me feels bad for my chickens.

So now I'm anxiously awaiting babies to hatch! And then of course I found my CCL hen in a bad way. Not sure what is wrong. Has some diarrhea stuck to her bum. So I was thinking egg bound but I didn't feel anything. Problem is I don't really know what I'm feeling for. I soaked her bum yesterday and separated her. Not sure what else to do . I don't want to lose her. I only have two CL and now only 1 EE who is my broody ( second was lost to raccoon I think...disappeared with no evidence.)

Ugh chickens!

I'm glad you were able to catch the perp! sorry for your loss though, it always stinks.

IS your CCL acting differently or sickly? Did you check for mites or lice? Sometimes a dirty hiney can be because of bugs.

So good to finally have BYC back!

So sorry to hear of many of your losses in the past few weeks

I had a couple questions regarding sheds... I found a used one for $500 - it's 10'x12' and needs a little bit of work on the door and maybe bottom edge of exterior walls... My questions are - is $500 a fair price? How much (average) does it cost to have a shed moved? Location is 10 miles from our house, if that helps.

I'm just trying to do my homework and calculate costs, and this is of course a new adventure, so any help is appreciated!

I paid $375 for my used shed including delivery. My shed is a 10x12 A Frame, with a terrible roof. I was able to replace the roof myself, including plywood. It also had some rotting along some of the edges, but nothing problematic for a chicken coop. $500 seem like a fair price, but it's always a good idea to ask if they will give a cash discount for the purchase and delivery. When I have had quotes to move other sheds, it usually runs about $200-$300. Some companies will charge per mile, but it shouldn't be an issue with your distance.

Ana is doing a wonderful job with her babies (as if there was any doubt!). She had all 5 of them coming out from under her to eat and drink this morning. I know it won't be long till she brings them out of the nest to free range and forage. I love having a reliable broody! My last hatch is due on Tuesday and I'm going to try to graft any boys to my silkie hen. She a first timer and has only been sitting for maybe a week so we'll see how that goes. I may try the welbar hen again too. Depends on what hatches.

Love those broodies! My BSL is on her 2nd broody cycle, thankfully she and the other girls had a PERFECT hatch! I didn't find any dud eggs. They are quite busy right now, I think we have at least 23 chicks, since I gave them the 10 that hatched ! The turkey eggs are due to hatch tomorrow. It's a little stinky in the bator, even though I gave the trays a quick wash the other day. Should I put some tea tree oil in there to keep bacteria down? Or is the little bit of stinky okay?

What?! BYC is back! I gave up checking every day and I was expecting an email to tell me it was back up ugh! Still navigating the new website but it's nice. I mainly use BYC just for this forum. Sorry to hear about some of your losses, but congratulations to those with chicks hatching! Things have been quiet here, no losses, no new additions. Working on a 20x30 ft garden this week

View attachment 555897

Adorable!

The new ones are Nubian mix and alpine mix.

I just lost Uno my first chick. I thought i had them safely tucked away but somehow the other girls got her. And my duckling hatched but died last night. I'm not sure why. So I managed to loose both of my very first babies. I don't think any of the other eggs under her are going to hatch. Feel so bad for her. What do you guys do with your broodies and chicks to keep them safe

So sorry. I keep my broodies with the flock, but mine free range, so no one stays in the coop during the day unless they are laying an egg. I do want to do some partitioning eventually, however.

So I have two chickens that have some health issues. Dopey is one of my chicks that hatched this spring. He walks funny, sometimes tilts his head, and bumps into stuff. I don't know how, but we never noticed his eyes before. The pupils of his eyes are not round as you can see in these pics:

He still keeps up with the others and eats fine. I hope he isn't in pain or anything. Have any of you seen this before? I think we will let him live for now, but I'm not sure what to do because we have 4 roosters and already decided to keep one, and I don't really want to cull Dopey. He's my little weirdo.

I'll post about the other one in a bit... she's much worse off than that little guy.

Poor guy. Definitely looks like he would have trouble with those eyes. If you keep him, it may be best if you don't hatch out chicks from him.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

So about the Sickly chick... Yesterday it seemed weak again, and when I checked it a couple hours later, it was near dead, all dug into the shavings in the coop. It looked like it was truly going to die, so I put it in a washcloth in a bowl on the porch, in the sun. I wanted it to at least pass in peace. It wasn't even opening it's eyes. When I came back from church, I heard cheeping. The little booger had perked up, and jumped out of the bowl and onto the ground. It was definitely perking up. I gave it some more drops and put it back under one of the Mamas.

Later in the day I couldn't tell it apart from the others, and the same for this morning. If she makes it, her name will be Hope. We shall see. I figure the turkeys are due to hatch tomorrow, so if she is still weak, I can put her in with them and raise them together.

 

[chickachickayea]

I don't know how much it costs to have it moved, that still sounds like a great price!

$500 is pretty good for the size as long as the floor/ foundation beams are in good shape. If the wall bases are iffy I would look very closely at the bottom of the structure for further rot.
We have a local shed building company which will move sheds, it is like a $250- $300 pick up fee + a per mile charge. Look up shed sales in your area and call around to see how your local companies are for fees.
Then compare the total cost of purchase, delivery and repair (and expected longevity) to the cost of something new at Lowes or Home Depot.

I've only seen pictures, but I can hopefully swing by the place this week to check it out if it's still available. Checked around and a new 10x12 shed is approx. $1500+, so if this hopefully this works out, it seems like a steal.

I paid $375 for my used shed including delivery. My shed is a 10x12 A Frame, with a terrible roof. I was able to replace the roof myself, including plywood. It also had some rotting along some of the edges, but nothing problematic for a chicken coop. $500 seem like a fair price, but it's always a good idea to ask if they will give a cash discount for the purchase and delivery. When I have had quotes to move other sheds, it usually runs about $200-$300. Some companies will charge per mile, but it shouldn't be an issue with your distance.

Yes! I remember you had revamped a shed! I am admittedly not a great negotiator - so I might need my fiancée's expertise in that department I can see it has some rotting in 2 areas - on the bottom of one of the doors and on a spot of the back exterior wall. So if I really needed to, I could patch that up with wood, inexpensively I suppose, as well as repaint it since it's pretty shabby currently. I'll have to check it out in person when I have time on Wednesday, and hopefully talk down the price a bit...

Thanks all for your advice! This would be so wonderful for my chickens, especially in the winter!