Sitting with a cup of coffee. (coffee lovers)

[Alaskan]

they were just hatched on Friday through Sunday... probably should have said that!

anyway, super cute and new fluffies!

Now, give yourself a good hug, read a chapter of the good book, while drinking a big glass of water, and get yourself off to bed.

The sleep will do you good.

 

[tjo804]

That is very good advice I think I will take it.
Thank you for spending time with me tonite!
Good night and God Bless you.

 

[Alaskan]

 

[perchie.girl]

@tjo804

I know your pain and anxt... take some proactive steps... its the only way to deal with loss... fence even with just hot wire will keep doggies away... One bite from the wire zap and most dogs will avoid a single strand of hot wire like the plague. Its not cruel its teaching them a life skill... to stay alive you stay on your side of the fence.

Chickens get zapped from hot wire too so you got the two of them staying a good distance from the "boundary"

I have now lost three whole flocks in the past twenty years... It never gets easy...

Right now I am without chickens because of it.

deb

 

[tjo804]

@tjo804

I know your pain and anxt... take some proactive steps... its the only way to deal with loss... fence even with just hot wire will keep doggies away... One bite from the wire zap and most dogs will avoid a single strand of hot wire like the plague. Its not cruel its teaching them a life skill... to stay alive you stay on your side of the fence.

Chickens get zapped from hot wire too so you got the two of them staying a good distance from the "boundary"

I have now lost three whole flocks in the past twenty years... It never gets easy...

Right now I am without chickens because of it.

deb

I am thinking about hot wiring my coop and run see this new addition to the neighbor hood is 2 doors down!
Was back at my coop terrorizing my Ladies first thing this morning.
DH is going to buy a bigger gun! we have lost 4 ladies to this dang thing

 

[saltandpepper2]

Spi

I am thinking about hot wiring my coop and run see this new addition to the neighbor hood is 2 doors down!
Was back at my coop terrorizing my Ladies first thing this morning.
DH is going to buy a bigger gun! we have lost 4 ladies to this dang thing

im so sorry. It's so hard to lose birds

 

[TeaChick]

Some sex links and leghorns will start laying eggs at 16 weeks.

Orpingtons will not start that early usually. You would expect them to start after 25 weeks old.

This has been my experience.
"Early to mature" seems to mean they'll probably start laying around 5-6 mos old.
"Slow (or late) to mature" seems to mean you're waiting for at least a year.
And these time frames only hold true if the pullets don't hit that age during the winter, otherwise, you're just waiting for spring.

Quote:
Wow! Thank you!!!
She's my Bantam Cochin Frizzle, "Snoodle". I lost her last summer, but she's been my favorite chicken!
The coop is easy to manage. I have the kids muck it out in October. lol Otherwise, it's super easy.
I guess DD is good at photography. She takes almost all my pictures. I don't currently have any white birds, but they always turn out looking much cleaner in pictures than they do in real life. Pictures are very forgiving. lol
But thank you very much! I'll pass along your compliments about the pictures to my DD; she'll appreciate that. =)

For ya'll that live in the woods and deep country, do any of you just have bugs living in your coop? I'm not talking about mites or lice... Just bugs. Every time I clean my coop ( which is every few days. My coop is GLORIOUSLY clean) I check around for little red critters that would indicate mites, but instead I'll find the odd Beatle, or these tiny, tiny skin colored or clear bugs that seem to decpose the droppings on the bottom layer. For a while I would freak out and treat the coops and birds with everything under the sun, and it never helped, and never got rid of them. So, now my birds and these critters coexist, and I haven't seen any symptoms that it's affecting the health of my birds. Should I be more worried about these clear insects?

Yup! I muck out my coop annually b/c I use the DLM. (By "I" I mean "I have the kids").
Lots of bugs hiding under there, especially cockroaches.
No need to freak out. I do add DE to pine shavings and add either pine shavings or hay (or dead leaves or grass clippings, dry) as needed throughout the year.
I would say "no" you don't need to worry, but I'm a native Floridian so I just don't worry about bugs except the ones that bite or sting and even those are on my live-and-let-live list (except cockroaches, "exterminate...exterminate...exterminate" (think Dr. Who's Dalecs).
But post a pic of them so someone who knows something about bugs (or internet research) can tell you (or find out for you) what they are and what they do and don't do, and especially whether to worry about them. =)

I find black beetles sometimes.

I just say here chicky chicky! and the bug is gone.....

Snoodle used to go behind the shed and just scratch around eating cockroaches. Her eggs had the darkest yolks of all my chickens!!! I just tried not to think about why they were so dark when I was eating them.

 

[TeaChick]

My currant coop / Run issue is mosquitoes neighbor has a huge pool that has not been working or cleaned in 2 years. I have no Idea how to get rid of the mosquitoes but it sure would be nice for me and my ladies.

Any ideas on how to kill em without fogging my Birds?

I understand (but have no experience) that oil on the surface of the water will sufficate (sp) the larve (sp) and then the population is reduced significantly.

I think the Mosquito is also the biggest transmitter for foul pox. ?
Is that a seasonal thing?

Yes, they are.
Yes, mosquito season.
I had a bad run-in with fowl pox last year (right after we got the cocci thing fixed, or so we though, anyway). I lost several chicks to it, but the good news is that chicks that survive are immune and pass on that immunity (or at least a level of it) to their chicks genetically. (or so I understand, I don't have any offspring from the chicks that survived, but I have a broody due this weekend).

encephalitis, west nile, foul pox and other diseases. We do not have malaria here but that too. In some parts of the country, Florida for sure, Dengue fever I think.

I'm from Fla and I've never heard of mosquitoes passing around Dengue fever. (I'm not saying it's not so; I've just never heard of it.)

do you know any chicken safe way to at least minimize them?
I am sure the old fogger is not the best idea for the Ladies to be breathing.

Can I use off naturals in the coop or on the Ladies?

Citronella is a natural bug repelent (sp). I would start with about 4-6 drops of citronella EO per gallon of water and spray down the entire inside of the coop, and then the doorway inside and out, and then start working my way around the outside of the coop. I would do the ground and the roof and all; although, it won't stay on the ground for very long.
You might even think about adding some Tea Tree Oil in there, maybe 3-4 drops of each? I don't really know, but that's where I would start, and I'm very careful with my chickens and I wouldn't use anything harmful on their coop.

 

[TeaChick]

Actually.. Simplest is a fan.... Mosquitoes are not good fliers.

Trouble is inside the house for observation and my Ladies in the coop are scared to move and in morning they are singing a low throaty song and checking to see who is there. They scattered and hid all over the yard it took 2 hours to find them all (except for Baldy who I still hope is ok) I thought they had all met Moe's fate. I had that *my child is missing in the store feeling!*

I gave Trouble some aspirin water with vitamin/electrolyte powder hoping it will help with the stress and pain and the Coop got a 5 gallon drinker with vit elec powder. Is there anything else I can do for a chicken in shock she is in the dog crate in the house and I put a blanket over it to hopefully make her feel safe. she was stiff as a board so I wrapped her in a blanket and let her watch tv with me she relaxed and fell asleep but when I put her back in the crate stiff again. not sure how to make her relax and feel comfy as my boasted about DH is sure he will NOT tolerate a chicken in bed tonite.

Hope Trouble gets better. I'm sorry about Moe. I hope you've found Baldy!!!
My DH won't let me bring chickens to bed either.

I hadn't thought of that but If she doesn't settle by the time this rain from Bill stops I will try to put her back out there.

I just kinda feel like

 

[ronott1]

I understand (but have no experience) that oil on the surface of the water will sufficate (sp) the larve (sp) and then the population is reduced significantly.




Yes, they are.
Yes, mosquito season.
I had a bad run-in with fowl pox last year (right after we got the cocci thing fixed, or so we though, anyway). I lost several chicks to it, but the good news is that chicks that survive are immune and pass on that immunity (or at least a level of it) to their chicks genetically. (or so I understand, I don't have any offspring from the chicks that survived, but I have a broody due this weekend).




I'm from Fla and I've never heard of mosquitoes passing around Dengue fever. (I'm not saying it's not so; I've just never heard of it.)

It started last summer--It came from immigrants and it is still rare. It is common in puerto rico.