Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

So, what you're saying is that chickens are like dogs - they don't know their size.

Haha, yes, exactly! I even have some large fowl hens that will actually move out of the way for some of the bantams because they're feisty little squirts.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

So, went to meet the guy with the cochin bantams. Yesterday he told me to meet him at a local gas station. Before I left, I asked what vehicle and where will he park. I leave the house and I'm almost to the gas station - he texts me that I can come to his house which was just down the road.
I don't know how many horror flicks you watch, but it crossed my mind that today could be my last.
I texted my hubby to tell him goodbye.
The guy has a set up of what I would consider breeding pens, but they were about 2' from the shed wall and built in two levels. From my limited knowledge, it looked like he mostly had black oegb birds. The cochins were the only ones that were different.
Now, I did check them while I was there and noticed poo on their feet feathers, but the bottoms of the feet were clean and no bumble. They had small living areas, but big enough I guess (not the recommended space per bird of course). The area seemed clean enough. Their eyes and skin looked good from what I could tell.
I got them home and did another check in better lighting. I'm pretty sure they have scaly leg mites. Plus, I found a nit cluster and saw a louse on the rooster. So, they got treated. They were going to get treated regardless because who knows how good my eyes are. Lol
How do I remove the nits? Or will the treatment take care of it and it will die off? I tried to pull them, but he said "ow".

Besides all that, I'm already infatuated with them. They are so cute and were even talkative - which I thought they would just be stressed and not want to interact. The rooster did shake a little bit as I was holding him and checking him over. But, he probably isn't used to being held much.
The pullet/hen has a long beak, do I need to trim it or will she take care of it once she's got things to file it on?
Also, I'm not sure where I should keep them when quarantine is over. They were in a shed with no real access to outside. They didn't have heat, but pretty much cut off from all of the elements. Do you think they will do well outside even if the temps aren't warm once I put them in the run?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Phew, glad things seem to have turned out okay!

What a set of cuties!!

Poop in the foot feathers happens, unfortunately, unless you're out there picking up poops all the time to prevent it. If it's big orbs of mud or poo stuck to feathers or toe tips, then they probably weren't kept in very clean conditions, but a little poo happens sometimes no matter how clean you keep them. It should dry and flake off as long as they're on clean bedding.

Yes, that looks like scaly leg mite to me. When I brought Winston and Sybil home, they had it as well. I treated it by mixing sulfur powder like what you would get for gardening into some Vaseline (melted to mix the powder in and then allowed to re-solidify) and then slathering their legs. This is tricky on feather-legged breeds, of course, but certain treatments for external mites and lice would also take care of scaly leg and avoid that difficulty. What was it you treated them with for the lice?

As for the nits, you can try to carefully snip them out, but if the birds are uncooperative to that, then yes they should go away on their own after the lice are eliminated. Some of my boys are like that, too; big, tough guys when they're on the ground, but shaky little scaredy cats when I pick them up to look them over.

The hen's beak, she might be able to wear that down once she's on the ground, but you can trim it pretty easily to be safe if you want. Any set of pet nail trimmers would work, just keep them level with the bottom of her beak and only snip the overlap off, about where the line is I put in the below screenshot. It does look like there's a bit of a crack there, so it may just pop off when you try to snip it, but should be okay if that happens as it doesn't look overly short even where the crack is.

And as for keeping them in winter, if they were not under heat where they came from, they should be just fine outside without heat as long as they have shelter from the wind and weather.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Thank you for the advice! I clip my dogs nails so have plenty of clippers around here. I think I might even have a small set that I used when we had guinea pigs that would be perfect for her.

I used poultry powder for the lice. I also have ivermectin which I used for the scaly leg mites. I know its controversial, but also less mess.

I went out to check on them and they were perched up on the top of the 4' enclosure I put them in. I had read that their perches needed to be accessible by no more than 2', so I figured they didn't need a top on that enclosure. Wrong.
They were just chatting away when I went in. ❤

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

You won't catch any judgement from me for ivormectin, I've used it in the past as an antiparasitic for my birds. Sounds like you've got everything pretty well set on that front!

They sound like absolute darlings. Remind me, are these your first bantam Cochins? Yes, I've found that, while the silkied Cochins are not great fliers, the smooth-feathered ones do just as well as any average chicken. They aren't overly motivated to fly until roost time in my experience, but as you've now seen, they still want to roost as high as they can.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Yes, these are my first bantams ever. Just lucky that I got cochins (listed as silkies).
You were right, I don't think the guy knew the breed. It sounded like he got them with a group of others. He said he only had them for 3 months.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Ah, definitely a great breed to start with bantams, then! I love my lil Cochins You might find that they're a little bit shy of you at first because they're unfamiliar with you, but they should warm up to you once they realize you bring the food. My shyest Cochins are very cat-like--well, not Casper cat-like, but stereotypical cat-like I mean--acting like they don't want anything to do with me but they'll come over and hang out if I'm sitting out with the birds and don't mind if I pet them as long as it's all on their terms.

Yeah, it's weird, I've seen that same mix-up happen before a few times, thinking Cochins are Silkies or vice versa. It sounds like he's more of an OEGB type of guy, not into the more frilly, showy bantam breeds, which is totally fine! Lucky for you, anyway!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I heard a noise while taking the dogs out - thought my hens were getting murdered. Then realized, oh yeah I have a rooster now.
Mind you I had already taken care of every bird out there by this point. His crow is just too funny.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, they have the cutest little crow, don't they? Does that little guy sound like he leaves a syllable off? Most of my Cochin bantam boys do, like they're going 'Cock-a-DOO-DULLLL' instead of 'Cock-a-Doodle-DOOO!' The tiny OEGB boys are even shorter, 'A-DOO-DULL!'

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Yes! That pretty much sums it up!