The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

Whoops...forgot to say we got 1 SKUNK IN THE LIVE TRAP TOO!

It wasn't as bad as you'd think getting him out of there. You cover the trap with a blanket or tarp then transport to release area. We were able to release with "no incident". It was the first time I've ever seen a skunk RUN. They usually just saunter around like they own the world.

 

[nova022]

Whoops...forgot to say we got 1 SKUNK IN THE LIVE TRAP TOO!

It wasn't as bad as you'd think getting him out of there. You cover the trap with a blanket or tarp then transport to release area. We were able to release with "no incident". It was the first time I've ever seen a skunk RUN. They usually just saunter around like they own the world.

You are lucky, or the skunk is, that you have a release area. It is illegal here to release animals once you catch them in a trap. They feel you could be introducing diseases into a new area by doing so.

 

[Sally8]

My ONLY knowledge of sexing Silkies (and might not be true) is that females feathers on her head are poofy, the males tend to sweep backwards. How's that for SOP? Anyone want me to judge? Thor's little feathers poof backwards. I KNOW he's a he. What a cocky attitude. I'm only asking for a little lesson to learn since I'm the proud owner of a misfit Silkie. I'm waiting for someone to look at a pic and say, "Man, he should have been culled, never saw anything so ugly!" (Only kidding)

 

[delisha]

It's day seven on my new eggs. They don't seem to be developing. If they're duds I'm going to be so mad. These suckers were expensive.

Relax..sometimes day 7 is a bit early for some breeds and some eggs are hard to see.
If you have duds..I am sorry
Early deaths in shipped eggs can and do happen

Loan wizard - no need to comment. My hackle feathers have been up more than once this week end. The nice thing about this thread, no one gets mad and stomps off, or at least I haven't heard the stomping. Never heard the song "pants on the floor"

2 more poults hatched this week end. These 2 are requiring more care on my part. One apparently got injured by the older ones so they are separated. I've been feeding them with an eye dropper. (Liquids). Everyone loves the ff and they wear it well.

i'm missing seeing pic's. when are the Silkie pic's and other breed's, going to be posted and we have a sex guessing contest? Chicken sex guessing has to be part of Natural Chicken Keeping? sue

I agree sue! On with the pics! (I need to post some too)

Quote: Doc looks like a hen..however it has those spikes that says its a male..streamers? I forgot what they call them. I think my little guy has them too.

Congrats of the Coop!

Skunks and coons are opportunistic killers. They will steal eggs and sometimes eat young. They rarely kill older birds. They usually look for dead or dying chickens. If you find a coon or skunk eating a chickens, you have a different killer.

My ONLY knowledge of sexing Silkies (and might not be true) is that females feathers on her head are poofy, the males tend to sweep backwards. How's that for SOP? Anyone want me to judge? Thor's little feathers poof backwards. I KNOW he's a he. What a cocky attitude. I'm only asking for a little lesson to learn since I'm the proud owner of a misfit Silkie. I'm waiting for someone to look at a pic and say, "Man, he should have been culled, never saw anything so ugly!" (Only kidding)

Pictures !!! Pictures!!

 

[Arkansas81]

Woke up this morning to Tagalong eating on her own..I was worried she wasn't eating. Looks like she has weak legs...she can stand /walk but not for long, hops /wobbles then sits. Its like she can't support her weight, she /all of them are little butter balls. I dnt see any slipped tendons or signs of splayed legs. Her feet are normal too, the 3 that died ddnt move around freely either. I was gone almost a week, my sister was watching the critters for us -she ddnt notice anything wrong but she works all day. So I guess by the time I noticed them being weak it was to late. We are very sad but I think tagalong will be ok.

Is there anything I can give tagalong to help her legs? Will vitamins help, I feed her wet mash with electrolytes and sugar water about every hour...anything else I can do?

Thanks

 

[kian]

My husband converted our brooder box to a grow out pen so the babies are FINALLY out of the house!

Sorry for some that blurred, my camera focused on the box and not the birds:









My white EEs are no longer white. They enjoyed the dust bathing a little too much yesterday!

 

[aoxa]

Relax..sometimes day 7 is a bit early for some breeds and some eggs are hard to see.
If you have duds..I am sorry
Early deaths in shipped eggs can and do happen
I agree sue! On with the pics! (I need to post some too)
Doc looks like a hen..however it has those spikes that says its a male..streamers? I forgot what they call them. I think my little guy has them too.

Congrats of the Coop!

Skunks and coons are opportunistic killers. They will steal eggs and sometimes eat young. They rarely kill older birds. They usually look for dead or dying chickens. If you find a coon or skunk eating a chickens, you have a different killer.

Pictures !!! Pictures!!

I was so successful sexing my silkies up until Doc. I am not ready to say it's a girl (though I think it is) because I want it to be a boy Oh and she looked so manly at 8 weeks!

You won't see streamers until 18 weeks or so.

If I were to go by appearance I would say female. Round crest, feminine beak, no comb development.. The legs are longer than I remember my girls being, but other than that all signs point toward girl. Unless you think of what she looked like at 8 weeks..



Here is another facial close up.

Where is Mumsy? lol

Sally, you are right about the globular crest for girls and swept back for boys - but the better the quality, the less 'swept back' the males crest is.



Now Hope.. I knew she was a girl from the beginning. She had the scrawniest toes! At 2 weeks I bet Susan $5 it was a girl. Now at 10 weeks, it's 100%. No way is she a boy. I think it was 100% at 8 weeks too.

 

[Bulldogma]

BDM sorry about the losses. Did you find out what happened to your power? This weather has been nothing but a pain in the arse. I've been trying to get my new ones out of the garage and can't .below freezing wind whipping and another foot of snow on the way.

The farm house we are renting is 100 years old... the wiring is newer, but in the bad weather a breaker snapped. Since it only took out the power in part of the house, we had no idea until it was too late.

Thank you everyone for your condolences. It was a tough loss, but I'm so thankful for the chicks that made it!!

 

[loanwizard]

My ONLY knowledge of sexing Silkies (and might not be true) is that females feathers on her head are poofy, the males tend to sweep backwards. How's that for SOP? Anyone want me to judge? Thor's little feathers poof backwards. I KNOW he's a he. What a cocky attitude. I'm only asking for a little lesson to learn since I'm the proud owner of a misfit Silkie. I'm waiting for someone to look at a pic and say, "Man, he should have been culled, never saw anything so ugly!" (Only kidding)

You're a step or two ahead of me. Only way I know is when she lays an egg.... Even then, I am not sure.... I can't even bring myself to call them chickens....

 

[krcchickens]

P

I was so successful sexing my silkies up until Doc. I am not ready to say it's a girl (though I think it is) because I want it to be a boy Oh and she looked so manly at 8 weeks! You won't see streamers until 18 weeks or so. If I were to go by appearance I would say female. Round crest, feminine beak, no comb development.. The legs are longer than I remember my girls being, but other than that all signs point toward girl. Unless you think of what she looked like at 8 weeks.. Here is another facial close up. Where is Mumsy? lol Sally, you are right about the globular crest for girls and swept back for boys - but the better the quality, the less 'swept back' the males crest is. Now Hope.. I knew she was a girl from the beginning. She had the scrawniest toes! At 2 weeks I bet Susan $5 it was a girl. Now at 10 weeks, it's 100%. No way is she a boy. I think it was 100% at 8 weeks too.

purty birdie