Cheeka, the pictures are beautiful! So green and lush. It's already dry here and the hills are brown. Summer squash and tomatoes are on their way, though, so there is an upside!
Smhoekzema, congrats on the new layer. Hopefully she will not always be so loud. I have one in particular that starts hollering about 1-2 hours before she lays an egg! Fortunately she doesn't lay every day. Never thought I'd be glad about fewer eggs!
So, we've had quite a bit of chicken drama around here. The last two eggs hatched (out of 5 eggs) and each chick is being raised by it's own mama, sharing the large ground cage. The Serama hen is not too friendly to the Cochin mama, but I'm hoping the size of the cage will keep the fussing to a minimum.
The first hatch of 5 chicks, that has been peacefully shared between 2 hens, is now down to one mama. Don't know who started it, but found the smaller of the hens with a bloody face and comb from them fighting!
Took the bloody one out, cleaned her up and tried to reintroduce her to Fudge and the chicks. She immediately attacked Fudge, who gave her another good thrashing, so I removed her and put her in the general population. She spent the rest of the afternoon pacing in front of the chick pens, trying to call them to her to no avail, but then roosted in the coop last night, so maybe she is out of broody hormones. I expected her to sleep on the ground near the chicks or in a nest box, but she roosted. At least that has calmed my guilty feelings for taking her away from her babies, and I don't have to build a fourth pen to keep her with a couple of chicks.
These two had shared eggs, nest, chicks, food, and broody duties. Don't know what happened, but the mottled one went psycho, so she is out. Fudge is a better mother anyway, and is slightly larger so can cover the chicks better.
Smhoekzema, congrats on the new layer. Hopefully she will not always be so loud. I have one in particular that starts hollering about 1-2 hours before she lays an egg! Fortunately she doesn't lay every day. Never thought I'd be glad about fewer eggs!
So, we've had quite a bit of chicken drama around here. The last two eggs hatched (out of 5 eggs) and each chick is being raised by it's own mama, sharing the large ground cage. The Serama hen is not too friendly to the Cochin mama, but I'm hoping the size of the cage will keep the fussing to a minimum.
The first hatch of 5 chicks, that has been peacefully shared between 2 hens, is now down to one mama. Don't know who started it, but found the smaller of the hens with a bloody face and comb from them fighting!
These two had shared eggs, nest, chicks, food, and broody duties. Don't know what happened, but the mottled one went psycho, so she is out. Fudge is a better mother anyway, and is slightly larger so can cover the chicks better.
Took the bloody one out, cleaned her up and tried to reintroduce her to Fudge and the chicks. She immediately attacked Fudge, who gave her another good thrashing, so I removed her and put her in the general population. She spent the rest of the afternoon pacing in front of the chick pens, trying to call them to her to no avail, but then roosted in the coop last night, so maybe she is out of broody hormones. I expected her to sleep on the ground near the chicks or in a nest box, but she roosted. At least that has calmed my guilty feelings for taking her away from her babies, and I don't have to build a fourth pen to keep her with a couple of chicks. 
