Sdwd

[rancher hicks]

Nice view, Cynthia!

I put my EE out this morning and some hens attacked her and the rooster was relentless, so now she's in with the silkies.

Anything I can do about that?

Have you tried putting them together at night. I hate to brag but my Dels are more amiable. I put a pecked on RIR in there and she's looking good. She was nearly bald.

Now I do have some CR's that one night just went in with the Orps by themselves and they took right off. They apparently didn't like the small coop they were in.

How ever I did lose two Del chicks/pullets to injuries from the big orp roosters crushing them. I lock therapists up now and only let the hens out into the yard.

I put a Lt Sus. in with the marans and she took fine too. But I usually put them in at night in the dark.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

 

[speckledhen]

Crazy Emily, trying for her 6th time, is on Day 12 with her two eggs, a Delaware and a DelaRock (Ellie's and Wynette's). Removed Gypsy's, Ida's and Meg's, all not fertile.

Dusty's egg from yesterday out of Suede's pen appeared to have a good bullseye, amazingly, so I took her egg from today along with three Coch'Anvers, and put them all under Emily to test fertility. In a few days, I'll check Dusty's and if it's developing, when time for Emily's two to hatch, will remove Dusty's and the three bantam eggs and incubate in the house.

I don't want to take a chance on losing a Suede baby, if there is any chance at all that it is really fertile. I can't imagine it is, though, since he's been feeling so badly and I haven't seen him dance for or mate the hens in weeks. Why Dusty's egg had a bullseye is beyond me, maybe it's just a faker.

 

[rancher hicks]

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks, Tim! The other lavender Coch'Anver, Misty, laid her very first egg today, so maybe I'll pop that under Emily, as well. Or maybe not. If Dusty's is not developing when I candle, I'll remove the other eggs, too, even if they show veining. I really don't need any bantam chicks, just wanted the Suede baby to have buddies if it was going to hatch. If there is no chick in Dusty's egg, no need to allow the others to continue.


One of my blue Rocks, Alice, is in heavy molt and I discovered that her crop is malfunctioning. I hope it's not too late to save her. Doing crop massage and trying to get it moving again. Why on earth some of them can't molt without the crop failing is beyond me.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Thanks, Tim! The other lavender Coch'Anver, Misty, laid her very first egg today, so maybe I'll pop that under Emily, as well. Or maybe not. If Dusty's is not developing when I candle, I'll remove the other eggs, too, even if they show veining. I really don't need any bantam chicks, just wanted the Suede baby to have buddies if it was going to hatch. If there is no chick in Dusty's egg, no need to allow the others to continue.


One of my blue Rocks, Alice, is in heavy molt and I discovered that her crop is malfunctioning. I hope it's not too late to save her. Doing crop massage and trying to get it moving again. Why on earth some of them can't molt without the crop failing is beyond me.

I wonder if they could be eating dropped feathers?

What works for me with crop bound issues, is getting them to drink some oil (olive or wheat germ or sunflower, whatever) and then massaging. I believe it helps everything slip through and not remain all tied up around whatever caused it in the first place. I've had fantastic luck with it. I think I've saved at least a half dozen birds this way.

 

[speckledhen]

Been through many crop impactions and never had one really loosen without surgery, no matter what I do, except if it was just a bit sluggish, in cases of ovarian cancer where the systems were beginning to shut down one by one. In that case, the crop was the least of the hen's worries.

If the crop actually has ceased to function, massage or even surgery, won't make it work again, Lacy. Sometimes, the crop stops working which causes the impaction, not the other way around. Trust me, I've been through my share of crop issues over the last few years, impaction or sour crop during hard molt being what I dread happening. The molt makes everything worse.

 

[wekiva bird]

Cyn: It would be nice to see more Suede babies.

 

[speckledhen]

Cyn: It would be nice to see more Suede babies.

I so agree, Robin! I dare not hope, but I can't help it.


Seems that Alice's crop is responding to massage so it's probably just a bit sluggish, not truly impacted or we got to it early enough. She is still separated and will have continued treatment for a day or so until we're satisfied that she is okay.

On the other hand, poor Meg had feathers on her back this morning and tonight, she looks like a chicken plucked for dinner! Her back is completely bald...and I do mean completely, from hackles all the way to the oil gland. Poor thing is miserable.

 

[rancher hicks]

I know I could ask this elsewhere on here but the "experts" whose advice I value are here.

I've been thinking about what to do about the chick starter "crumbles" and the waste that goes with them. Lord have mercy the chick coop smells bad and I will clean it tomorrow but how to stop the waste of feed on the floor? I was in TSC today and everything has gone up a dollar!

Would it hurt to mix it with water or milk? Of course I'd have to limit how much I give them each day. Does anyone here measure or limit a daily intake of feed?

Now the Dumor chick starter is 20% protein and the finisher is 14% I think and while the finisher is somewhat cheaper, should I just keep them on the 20% until they start to lay or move them to the finisher after ? how many weeks.

My Dels grow real fast , unlike these CR's from Scott that have yet to mature. Scott did say they take 6 mos. They are nice big birds too. Easily could give a JG a run for the money.

Cyn, didn't you keep any of Suedes kids?

 

[speckledhen]

Pine Grove feeds his birds once a day, Tim. I used to remove the feeders at night (hang them higher) so they'd clean up the floor. You could mix the feed with water, sure, but you take a chance of it molding if you don't make sure you find all of it and keep it cleaned up.

I did keep one of Suede's daughters, but that was Delilah, who passed on recently, if you recall at LH's. She was almost 5 years old at the time of her death, but lived here until she was 3 years old. I never kept any others-Gloria Jean and Ladyhawk had most of the progeny of Suede and his girls. Mostly, I sold hatching eggs from that pen, never really kept any for myself.