Seven dead hens within 4 hours, not attacked. UPDATE: Teflon Poisoning!

[bruceha2000]

Careful with that fork or you'll be eating them WAY before they lay you even one egg

 

[Bobby Basham]

Careful with that fork or you'll be eating them WAY before they lay you even one egg

If I have to go out there with some flour and a skillet of hot grease, somebody's gonna be in trouble, 'cause BobbyB don't play.

 

[lazy gardener]

Sounds to me like you got a couple cockerels.

 

[Hamiam]

I don't think my story is worthy of any thread, but I'll share something else with you. I don't mean to hijack this thread, just wanted to give you some entertainment at my expense.

Well, I can't figure out the pecking order in my gang of twelve...because they're all crazy. Everybody takes turns pecking and jumping on each other like they're having a cock fight then settle down chirping peacefully while they're scratching around.

The icing on the cake today was that I walked into the bathroom and everyone had escaped because my hardware cloth sagged and the box bowed out. They were just hanging out on top of the box, the counter and the floor just having a Pooping Convention.

I was out in the garage for at least seven hours, working like a snail, finishing up to give them this from three sheets of plywood that I mostly assembled a few weeks ago...

Now comes the fun part...You all know I don't like flapping things with a BEAK, so I had to muster up the courage to go in there and round them up. Grabbed a milk crate and two old bath mats, one for cushion/protection in case they poop in transit, and the other for cover to keep them calm.

It sounded like a fox had raided the hen house with all the squawking, flapping and that horrible noise they make once you grabbed them. It was hard trying to hold one under the mat while trying to grab a couple more, slipping on poop at the same time, so this endeavor took several trips and a few lost feathers and was glad when it was over.

Oh, there's more....

I envy you folks that have Delawares because their feathering is nice and they have calm and inquisitive dispositions. They were sold out, so I tried to find the other breeds that look similar because I believe in Affirmative Action and wanted an assortment of colors in my flock...LOL.

Anyhoo, I settled for that new cross breed of RAPTOR called the Austra-White. They are very skinny with long legs and very brave.

They are very sensitive to movement, and one goes after my fork (always carry a weapon) with a vengeance while I'm scraping the bedding out of the waterer and feeder. So, I end up in a French fencing match with it and keep shooing it away, but it comes right back. At least it doesn't go for my hand. Then, the mean RIR wants to get in on the action, but I think it wants a piece of me and not the fork because it bit (not peck) me before. Now we are in a three-way and I have to stab both of them and shoo them over to the other side of the brooder.

Sheesh, what did I get myself into?

@Bobby Basham, funny story, however, I know you didn't stab your babies with a fork! Your full of it! They are only 10 weeks old! You do need to get them moved to their bigger coop. Being cooped up in a small space can make anything go crazy.

 

[Bobby Basham]

@Bobby Basham, funny story, however, I know you didn't stab your babies with a fork! Your full of it! They are only 10 weeks old! You do need to get them moved to their bigger coop. Being cooped up in a small space can make anything go crazy.

Well, I had to give them a good jab to know I mean business. The big brooder is a major improvement from the conditions they had before with lots more room. I have roosts at either end so they sometimes split up to either end.

 

[aart]

I don't think my story is worthy of any thread, but I'll share something else with you. I don't mean to hijack this thread, just wanted to give you some entertainment at my expense.

That's why your own thread might be good Many folks have chat threads.
Course this one has done 'gone chat'...and sometimes that's just fine.

so that I won't be stepping into poop when I set foot in there.

That's gonna be tough to avoid, just wear shoes with shallow, if any, treads on the sole.....easier to clean them off.
Carbonaceous litter in run can really help with this, breaks em down pretty quick, then ya just gotta dodge the fresh ones.

 

[Kneipho]

Terrifying .... teflon in light bulbs ? got one from the dollar store ... teflon coated ... did not use it at all. If there is anything posible it would be in the compost... im just shocked to read this..... anyway please post your findings because it would be a benifit to all of us

 

[aart]

Terrifying .... teflon in light bulbs ? got one from the dollar store ... teflon coated ... did not use it at all. If there is anything posible it would be in the compost... im just shocked to read this..... anyway please post your findings because it would be a benifit to all of us

Welcome to BYC @Kneipho !
If you read the first dozen or so pages of this thread, it's pretty thoroughly discussed.

 

[Marge Carlson]

So sorry. Are they vaccinated?

 

[jeepgrrl]

floor space is about 32 sq ft and the ceiling slopes from 6 ft at front to about 5 feet at back interior height. I had 12 birds. Their door was open today. I'm not sure even a vent could prevent frost in our weather- we just got snow yesterday and today.

This past autumn we ended up adding a couple of wall vents in my coop (one 12" x 12" that opens up into the covered run, and another 6" x 12" above the man door). I also have been leaving the top half of the man door open for ventilation, and I also open the window that opens up towards the run and is under the 12" x 12" vent; we flipped the window upside down so the screen was at the top. We have been having a lot of rain as well as some heavy wet snow, and there hasn't been any frost build up in the coop at all. The hygrometer has been giving humidity readings as high as 82% in the coop, but that's usually when it's 100% humidity outside. I guess what I am trying to say is that with proper ventilation, you shouldn't have any frost in the coop - if there is frost, there is too much moisture. In your case, I would start with one vent and see how that does, and add more as needed. Please see below for what we used as a vent cover (its the wall version, not the floor version). It's extremely heavy duty and no chicken predator will ever be able to breach it.

We had to add some drill holes so it could be installed. It took my hubby about 15 minutes to install it. The grill can be painted to weatherproof it or just to change the color since it is an ugly brown. We have had many frigid days this past winter and while the coop was also very cold, it was dry on the inside and that is what is important for the health of my girls. The added vents will also help keep the coop cool this summer; I will probably add more depending on how high the temp gets in the coop. Whenever I want to close off the vent, I just use those magnetic vent covers to seal it. I hope this bit of info helps you!