Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[Laney]

Well I went out to work on cleaning out one of the new coops. I had my bucket of diluted bleach water, and my scrubber. I ended up getting a hoe to reach some of the yuck and scrape it and help me remove the high nest boxes. These coops were originally made for homing pigeons so the nests were up in the attic so to speak. I have removed them and it leaves a nice roost.

However, not so nice presents were left behind and getting this clean is going to be a bit more intense than I thought. There were some skeletons, a few old eggs and a whole lotta feces up there in the attic. I'm just throwing those nest boxes out. Now I'll get the pressure washer to clean up top, and the back side I couldn't reach and it should be ready for the new Hen. But OMG YUCK!!!!! I'm not looking forward to cleaning the other two coops now.

Laney

 

[delawaregirl09]

Oh no Cynthia!

I hope you can break those coyote-delawares into being lady delawares! It would be a shame to see you lose Delawares, but I understand. Would you keep Gracie and Ike if you sold the hens? I would hope so... Man, the attachment on chickens when you have to sell them kills ya. When I sell Heffner and his women, It will be a sad day. The Delaware older girls I have were the first chickens I had

Ooooh, Laney! We posted at the same time

Man that is gross about those old coops. Skeletons??????? And old EGGS? Oh god, bombs right there! Lol.

 

[kathyinmo]

What if you put on some of that black salve stuff ... forgot the name of it .... to discourage picking. ??
I had a Jersey Giant, that the others wanted to keep picked clean to the skin. I greased him up with that stuff ... and they never bothered him again! Now he has all his beautiful feathering in!

 

[speckledhen]

Nothing is for sure with this bunch. I'm going to try to put Isaac in with them in the mornings when he's really frisky and they are all trying to avoid him, LOL. Then I'll take him out before they can do anymore damage. That way the eggs stay fertile.

 

[delawaregirl09]

I wish you luck Cynthia! I hope those girls get themselves in line, or else... Lol. One of my friends bought some Delawares from me earlier this summer, and I just heard from her a few minutes ago. She told me the two Delaware roosters were in with their girls and one day, one was out there with no comb!! But he was running around, bleeding, with the girls occasionally pecking at him, but he was eating and drinking. Shes not sure how it happened, and neither am I. Any ideas? I feel sorry for the boy, and she decided to keep him alive in a separate cage for a few hours and see how he is. She treated him, cleaned him up, etc, but how odd!

 

[speckledhen]

Kira almost pulled Ike's comb off. It was separated from the back of his head. She gets hold of a point and yanks it and shakes her head like a pitbull! Your friend's rooster just wasn't as lucky as Ike and actually lost his comb to one of his cannibal wives.


We have tried everything. The no pick stuff from Rooster Booster that has coal tar in it? They just eat it off. Doesn't help one bit.

 

[kathyinmo]

Well, I do know they are very strong, even as chicks. The other day I sat inside the brooder, with my camera in my pocket. The cord hung outside my pocket. Those little buggers kept tugging on it and shaking their heads. They did finally pull it part way out of my pocket. I thought it was cute. But, yes, I can see that pit bull strength emerging! The little darlings!

So, Cyn, have you seen this in the past? Or, is this a new behavior they are displaying?

 

[speckledhen]

This is fairly new. Isaac's wattles were very dirty one day and they started picking off stuff, but got to bare skin and kept going. They just pick and pick. They got into that habit and it's hard to break now. The same thing happened to my BR rooster, Dutch, and I sold the main culprits. Now, his comb is fine. Guess I need to let them freerange more often to dispel some of that energy they have. They are super-observant and seem to need lots of stimulation so they don't get into trouble, more than the Barred Rocks do. They notice everything and I believe Kira is the worst of the bunch about picking at everything on Isaac's face.

 

[delawaregirl09]

I've got it! They are OCD about keeping their MAN clean, and they work so hard that they pick down to the bone! Jeez, ladies, cleanliness isnt everything!

You know, I noticed that Bologna has a scab on his wattles, I'm thinking his and Rockys girls may be picking at them both, hence the blister/infection/thing I mentioned in the emergency thread about Rocky. Dang.

 

[that_crazy_lady]

Oh my....what brats! My older EE mix hen is the only picker so far, and that only when she wants up to the feed and the younger birds are in her way.

I was thinking about the comb thing to, Tank has 4 spike/points, with Tonka has 7 with an added bump on the blade but the comb as a whole looks better. So far Tanks is a little bigger, but Tonka is such a doll. But they are young, and I only have the four, so I'll pair them up, get a cluch from each pair swap pairs, get another cluch and go from there.