Ribh's D'Coopage

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Hello everyone! I haven't been piping up much lately because life has been too hectic for BYC, but I've got something special to show you.

Remember I lost my old cat Charlie to lymphoma recently? Well, I decided to honour her memory by adopting another senior feline and providing a stable home for an unwanted cat. Kittens are generally snapped up, so I always take seniors.

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She's called Blossom. She's 10. She spent most of her life on the streets, graduated to a shed two years ago, and a foster home one year ago. Now she's in her forever home. I'm hoping her street smarts will keep mice at bay.

So the menagerie is at 3 chooks and one cat.

@Kris5902 My barnevelder (Janet - named adter mum who didn't like animals at all except where they granted her social status eg horse riding in hyde park when she was 15) is the exact opposite, nest, egg, decamp within 15 minutes. Very businesslike. Mary the Australorp is the lingerer. Sandy is also fast. By the way, she's almost fully integrated. Janet picks on her a little too much for them to spend the day enclosed in the coop, but they can share the whole chook yard with coops. They sleep in the big coop every night.

Good on you for adopting an older cat MJ! She has gorgeous coloured eyes.

Tsuki, my leghorn, appears to be finished with her molt and most of her bald spots are covered. I've been giving my girls a warm mash of left over chick starter, whole oat seed and rolled oats most mornings for that bit of extra protein and to warm them up. The two big girls have been eyeing the babies through the fence for the last few days and get up close to them, especially when I'm handing out meal worms!

 

[Ribh]

Poor old Namaste! She really is in a sad way. Her comb is pale, pale, pale. Her feathers are in tatters. She is skin & bone. I think she has just about replaced every feather she owns. Anyway I was sitting in the coop doling out mealworms [95% protein should be working wonders on the girl] when every single chook surged towards the back fence.

Chooks really are sticky~beaks! A Willy~Wagtail was having his say on the other side & every single chook was fascinated. It got interesting as Kirby was in my lap & while he will ignore the chooks a Willy~Wagtail is a very different matter!

 

[Ribh]

Good on you for adopting an older cat MJ! She has gorgeous coloured eyes.

Tsuki, my leghorn, appears to be finished with her molt and most of her bald spots are covered. I've been giving my girls a warm mash of left over chick starter, whole oat seed and rolled oats most mornings for that bit of extra protein and to warm them up. The two big girls have been eyeing the babies through the fence for the last few days and get up close to them, especially when I'm handing out meal worms!

I can't wait till Namaste finishes her molt. It has been very hard on her. Meal worms work all sorts of miracles. Glad your babies & biggies are getting along.

 

[rjohns39]

Evening folks

@MaryJanet Beautiful Cat, glad you adopted it.

@Aussie-Chookmum go light on the oat treats. Oats and Barley contain a substance that can act as a nutrient blocker in chooks. But only when given in too high a quantity. General rule of thumb when making feed is to limit them to 12% assuming we'll give 10% treats.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Evening folks

@MaryJanet Beautiful Cat, glad you adopted it.

@Aussie-Chookmum go light on the oat treats. Oats and Barley contain a substance that can act as a nutrient blocker in chooks. But only when given in too high a quantity. General rule of thumb when making feed is to limit them to 12% assuming we'll give 10% treats.

Thanks for the info rjohns, I'm really still just learning.

 

[Ribh]

The old tree stumps are everyone's favourite perch. They get the morning sun. Overnight our weather went from being a mild autumn with everyone still walking round in Ts to a bitter, windy winter. I have whinged so much the man lit the fire for me. I refused to crawl out from under my blanket. The girls don't seem bothered. Everyone is out & about though they have all looked for warm sunny spots. Can't blame them. It is nasty outside today.

 

[Ribh]

This is how you know you are a crazy chicken lady: you get excited by a new layer! lol It is confirmed. All my known layers were in the outside run ~ as was the MBR. Therefore the brown egg must belong to the Favorelle in the coop & the white egg is a Campine ~ smaller even than the bantam's but her very first so we can expect improvement! They are such good girls!

 

[MaryJanet]

@Ribh may I ask about Namaste's poops? Mary's are ridiculously lliquid.

 

[Ribh]

@Ribh may I ask about Namaste's poops? Mary's are ridiculously lliquid.

Yes, some really runny poops. Perfectly normal in a molting chicken. I always have apple cider vinegar in their water [helps with gut health] & you could add vitamins ~ which is pretty much what that stuff is I'm adding to their feed @ present & why I'm doing meal worms regularly just now too. I do corn occasionally ~ heats them up a little but too much is bad, bad, bad! Someone else may have good advice too.

EDITED TO ADD: One thing that did concern me was Namaste going off on her own & just lying down somewhere all day. Now her pin feathers are coming through she is doing better. And she slept in a nesting box for a couple of nights but I thinks she roosted too late & wasn't able to jostle for a position on the top roost. I noticed she roosted early last night & had a prime position in the middle of everyone! The antisocialising was when I decided she needed a little help with this molt.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Jeannie