A broody hen will pluck her own chest and belly to aid her in the process, she has better temp and humidity sensitivity through direct contact with eggs. It wouldn't surprise me if she either plucked one or two she shouldn't have or if her flockmates did the damage after seeing bare skin.Trying to catch up from my hiatus... I am on page 6626/6708...
I hope everyone is doing well! Greetings to new members! I'm very pleased to report that my 3 girls made it through their first winter! :yiipchick I was pretty worried not only because this is my first time with chickens, but I chose not to heat their coop (after much research) but simply insulated the interior and wrapped the exterior wiring. I am very fortunate to have my fiancee's dad next door who was able to check on them during the day, and give them fresh water during those extremely low temp days. (SN: I DO have one of those handy heated pet bowls, but no electric in the coop :/ Wishlist...)
Tiny & Ginger hanging out in the cold! With the extremely nice weather this past weekend I decided to let the girls have some supervised free-range time - their first time out, unless you count the two days blustery winds knocked open the pop door and Ginger & Pepper had quite the adventure outside all alone! That was a not so great surprise to come home to! They also got to hang out with our dog, for the first time without a fence between them, and it was wonderful! Girls got to stretch their legs all weekend, and came when beckoned (with some treats in hand, of course) so I am pretty comfortable and excited to let them out during the spring/summer with supervision.
All 4 ladies coexisting in harmony Tiny does have blukote on her chest due to some feathers being plucked out (not sure from who...) She went broody for about a month. I checked on them one day to see a ton of feathers outside, picked Tiny up to see sparse feathers on her belly but the area did not look sore/injured. Then saw her the next day with a small blood spatter on her chest with what looked like broken blood feathers? Since it sticks out like a sore thumb, I thought it safe to spritz her with blukote. I'm assuming the feather loss is due to her broodiness and protein-deficiency. She's been getting supplementary scrambled eggs because of that. Now that spring is quickly arriving, I am doing more research regarding building their run once weather and time permits. I am also considering getting a couple additions to our little flock, but have not decided on what yet, and am open to suggestions.
PS: They will all be 1 year old next month!
Not a great picture but my kids made me a "birds spoiled here" sign for my new duck house. Added a little "and goats" after we told them we were buying them. And we are getting two hubby gets his way. Going Thursday hopefully. All of my new ducks seem to be getting along other then one getting out yesterday and caught again tonight.
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Oh no, @Blarneyeggs
, I'm so sorry!!! What a heartbreaking thing!
Thanks again to all for the kind words for my little old lady, Chamomile. She is still convalescing in the basement, looking totally fine and bored and ready to go back outside, but I'm keeping her in until she finishes her course of Corid and antibiotics. If I can find time to rig her up an isolation pen in the coop tomorrow I'll put her back out there while the weather's nice, so at least she can see and hear her subjects--I mean, flock.
Labradoodle? Or as my husband likes to call our Pooladors lolTrying to catch up from my hiatus... I am on page 6626/6708...
I hope everyone is doing well! Greetings to new members!
I'm very pleased to report that my 3 girls made it through their first winter!I was pretty worried not only because this is my first time with chickens, but I chose not to heat their coop (after much research) but simply insulated the interior and wrapped the exterior wiring. I am very fortunate to have my fiancee's dad next door who was able to check on them during the day, and give them fresh water during those extremely low temp days. (SN: I DO have one of those handy heated pet bowls, but no electric in the coop :/ Wishlist...)
Tiny & Ginger hanging out in the cold!
With the extremely nice weather this past weekend I decided to let the girls have some supervised free-range time - their first time out, unless you count the two days blustery winds knocked open the pop door and Ginger & Pepper had quite the adventure outside all alone! That was a not so great surprise to come home to! They also got to hang out with our dog, for the first time without a fence between them, and it was wonderful! Girls got to stretch their legs all weekend, and came when beckoned (with some treats in hand, of course) so I am pretty comfortable and excited to let them out during the spring/summer with supervision.
All 4 ladies coexisting in harmony
Tiny does have blukote on her chest due to some feathers being plucked out (not sure from who...) She went broody for about a month. I checked on them one day to see a ton of feathers outside, picked Tiny up to see sparse feathers on her belly but the area did not look sore/injured. Then saw her the next day with a small blood spatter on her chest with what looked like broken blood feathers? Since it sticks out like a sore thumb, I thought it safe to spritz her with blukote. I'm assuming the feather loss is due to her broodiness and protein-deficiency. She's been getting supplementary scrambled eggs because of that.
Now that spring is quickly arriving, I am doing more research regarding building their run once weather and time permits. I am also considering getting a couple additions to our little flock, but have not decided on what yet, and am open to suggestions.
PS: They will all be 1 year old next month!
