The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

Here are a few pictures of my flock of six:



Daisy- WR- 11 weeks, she's the one remaining of my 6 11 week olds and is doing good hanging in there with the big girls and is almost there size now.

Very nice flock. I wouldn't know by these pictures that anything had happened to them. Daisy is my fave. What a pretty bird.

 

[aoxa]

I haven't been on much, only to skim through. I have over 1,000 posts to catch up on someday. Mom is having a rough time with her chemo. Only 2 more to go. I keep telling her 23 days left before she's done with the chemo and any other treatments. Such nasty stuff. Thanks for asking.

George came home and slipped right in his old place with his family here. This probably brings me up to 5 roo's now.

aoxa-I'm curious how you do so well with Barred Rocks. Twice I've incubated eggs. The first time 1 out of 6 hatched and the second 2 out of 12. Armorfirelady has the pullet and I've got the roo. His father was huge and gorgeous. His markings (the whole reason they're called Barred) are very pretty. I seem to do so well with BCM but not the Barred Rocks. What gives?

It's 88 degrees here and the humidity is awful Just makes you sick. Last night was the first time EVER that I considered leaving the door open to the chicken coop for added ventilation. It was awful. 6am was already too warm for me. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse. (I didn't leave it open)

Hoping those two treatments are over quickly and your mother is cancer free after it.

I am not sure why you had issues. Shipped eggs?

I had quite a good hatch with my recent barred rock hatch. I think there were four or five that didn't hatch. The rest all hatched with only one death. I have between 20 and 25 chicks. I am really bad for keeping count. :S

 

[aoxa]

I think one of the rabbits is dying. Heat stroke. I am going to wrap her in a cold towel and mist her ears. She is lethargic and just very off. This 108 is so not good for rabbits...

She was in the mud trying to cool off when I found her.

Wish me luck...

 

[Kassaundra]

I'm sorry about your rabbit, hope you are able to save it. They are really affected by the heat.

 

[delisha]

Here are a few pictures of my flock of six:

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Ash - RIR 22 weeks and 4 eggs the past 5 days

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Pepper- BR 22 weeks- she was a runt BR but is squatting now and finally getting some comb and wattle growth

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Big Mama- BO- 22 weeks- the one in a trance with one eye closed and not eating after the dog attack. She is eating well now and gained her coordination back and is back to normal mostly, she is nervous around people though, never was before and her eye that remained closed works fine now.

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Olivia- EE- 22 weeks- My most standoffish chicken that could never be touched but now squats for me and lets me rub her back, so I guess colored eggs sometime soon.

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She is just so pretty, Olivia again.

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Oreo - BR - 22 weeks- She was a huge chicken before the dog attack has really slimmed down but is acting mostly normal now. You can see the blue kote on her back, she still has a healing dog bite and bare places under her wings. I removed the vet wrap and tried to put a hen saddle on her, but she would not settle down with it on so I took it off and so far she is letting her back heal now. You can see her combs and wattles still don't look as healthy as they should. She's a fighter and is eating a lot now, so I think she is going to recover okay.


Daisy- WR- 11 weeks, she's the one remaining of my 6 11 week olds and is doing good hanging in there with the big girls and is almost there size now.

x
Ash and Olivia in the garden


The End

Beautiful flock..you have done an outstanding job.

Quote: I hope your mom is cancer free in no time.
I made a whole screen door with hard wire for the summer. The door stays open. Not much of a breeze to speak of, but I think as night approaches it makes it much better at night.

I think one of the rabbits is dying. Heat stroke. I am going to wrap her in a cold towel and mist her ears. She is lethargic and just very off. This 108 is so not good for rabbits...

She was in the mud trying to cool off when I found her.

Wish me luck...

Good luck..My dad raised rabbits and he had put coolers of ice out for them on the extreme days. He still lost a few over the years. He did not free range, they were in cages so the ice really helped.

 

[aoxa]

Good luck..My dad raised rabbits and he had put coolers of ice out for them on the extreme days. He still lost a few over the years. He did not free range, they were in cages so the ice really helped.

She seems to be moving around a little more. She fought us really hard on the towel, which is an improvement. She is in the storage room right now, which is the coolest room in the barn. I brought some iceberg lettuce to hydrate her, because apparently rabbits do not drink when they are over heated..



Quote: Also brought her carrots as well.

All other rabbits seem fine.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Wow, Lynn. Those "kiddos" are looking good after such an ordeal!

 

[aoxa]

Leigh, CONGRATS! Coop of the week! Awesome!

 

[Sally8]

She seems to be moving around a little more. She fought us really hard on the towel, which is an improvement. She is in the storage room right now, which is the coolest room in the barn. I brought some iceberg lettuce to hydrate her, because apparently rabbits do not drink when they are over heated..



Also brought her carrots as well.

All other rabbits seem fine.

Thanks for the info on bunnies. A few weeks ago we adopted a Lionhead bunny that my grandson named Pester. Since we have air in the house, I guess I'll bring Pester in during the very hot hours of the day and then put him back out after temps get cooler. Funny how kids hear things. My comment "QUIT PESTERING THAT RABBIT!" and he hears a good bunny name. lol

 

[Bulldogma]

What a surprise to log on today and see my little grow-out coop up there as Coop Picture of the Week!

I have to admit, you all are cracking me up a bit with the hot weather talk. Now, remember, I live in East TX where the summers are always crazy hot and humid (100 degrees + is par for the course here). I don't know ANYONE that doesn't have A/C in their house...

I was thinking the same thing! I'm just east of Dallas, and this rain has been a blessing! I'm from Northern California and we never had AC, nor did anyone we know, here in Texas, people die in this heat with no AC, I'm considering putting an AC unit in the chicken coop!

Y'all - I lived around Dallas (Little Elm, Carrollton, Addison, Grand Prairie, Irving...) for a big chunk of my adult life. Yup - it gets HOT. Dallas isn't so bad for humidity - East TX is almost LA, - - and my sis lives in Lafayette, LA. Good golly it is humid there! Her chooks do pretty well though.

So I have a question about broody girls. I have a 2 yr old Jersey Giant that keeps wanting to go broody, but she is very easy to shoo off the nest. I just wave my hand at her, she squawks and gets up. Because of this, I've never let her sit. In fact, I've never hatched chicks from either a broody or an incubator - just always bought them... I don't want to hatch chicks now - too hot - but I'm thinking about in the future. If you have a "broody" that is easy to shoo off the nest, am I correct that she probably won't be dependable enough to see the clutch all the way through hatch?

I had one that kept going back to the wrong nest box so I put her in a little private area in my trailer coop. She hatched 2 lovely chicks yesterday and today had them free ranging. I'm all for giving them a chance in a place where they feel safe.

I think one of the rabbits is dying. Heat stroke. I am going to wrap her in a cold towel and mist her ears. She is lethargic and just very off. This 108 is so not good for rabbits...

Good luck! Hope she makes a full recovery!

Leigh, CONGRATS! Coop of the week! Awesome!

LOL! It was a BIG surprise!! Big surprise and my smallest coop.