The Old Folks Home

[microchick]

Nobody dubs better or quicker than Mother Nature.

All of my boys look good so far. When I opened the pop door this morning only two went out to stand guard over the two lone hens that ventured out in the snow. Everybody else is happy to stay tucked up on the roosts. I figure we have two bad days to get through here before we get a break in the cold temps.

At the moment I am boiling rice and lentils to take out for them to warm their insides with.

PS Just found this on the Weather.com site:

https://weather.com/science/nature/video/chickens-cant-resist-drum-set

For some reason it won't let me embed the address but it will cut and paste. At least somebody is having fun with their birds. Note. No Snow!

 

[Beer can]

That's pretty funny, seen something similar chickens pecking a xylophone on the wall.

 

[chickadoodles]

Alaskan and Cynthia love the pics!

 

[chickadoodles]

Scg I love the cute chickie pics! You make a great chick momma!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I have my Halloween chicks still under a light, (it's only 125 watt) in the building with the roosters. I plan on moving them to the coop as soon as it turns nice.

Do whatever works for you. I was very nervous when I first got chicks and was very strict with the 95 degrees for a week, reduce by 5 degrees a week rule. And then I had broodies... in the middle of Maine winter. I saw the chicks on frozen ground, cold wind blowing, happy as can be. Sure, they'd go warm up under momma, but I was amazed at their resilience. After that I let the chicks dictate how much and how long they wanted heat. The first week (until they get loud at night and too stinky for the house) they spend upstairs in the living room getting used to humans. It's between 55 and 75 in here. Then they'll move to the basement, which is minimally heated but generally stays around 65 but can get as cold as 45. It's at this point that they start to lose the heat lamp. The first hour or so they're all huddled up and cold, and then they realize they aren't going to die, and just start running around acting normal. It's pretty amazing. I keep a close watch on them and will turn the lamp back on if needed. I raise my chicks on 22% protein and they feather out pretty quick. Depending on how many I have I'll move them out to the coop all at once or in groups. They'll spend a few days in a cage in the coop, then be let loose. I have never lost one to the cold and they're generally outside by mid-Feb.

 

[perchie.girl]

Nobody dubs better or quicker than Mother Nature.

All of my boys look good so far. When I opened the pop door this morning only two went out to stand guard over the two lone hens that ventured out in the snow. Everybody else is happy to stay tucked up on the roosts. I figure we have two bad days to get through here before we get a break in the cold temps.

At the moment I am boiling rice and lentils to take out for them to warm their insides with.

PS Just found this on the Weather.com site:

https://weather.com/science/nature/video/chickens-cant-resist-drum-set

For some reason it won't let me embed the address but it will cut and paste. At least somebody is having fun with their birds. Note. No Snow!

cool... the only viedo BYC can handle is from YouTube or Vimeo. I have had soime success locating a video say on Facebook also on Youtube... just have to do some searching.

deb

 

[microchick]

We have a winter weather advisory through tomorrow night and then a wind chill advisory until sometime Sunday. Maybe 3-5 inches of snow or 1-3 inches, they aren't quite sure. I just love definite maybe's. KC is supposed to get close to 8 inches and we are in the I-36 belt that they are saying will get the higher amounts so we shall see. Right now we just have a dusting but the chicken run chain link fence is coated with ice and I was chanting the 'don't break a wrist' mantra as I went out to top off their food and water.

This is why I never complain about hot weather, LOL!

My two guard roosters followed the two brave hens inside before noon and nobody has stuck a beak outside since then. I went ahead and closed up the pop door and took them treats throughout the day but they seemed content to just wait out the weather by occupying their favorite spot on the roost boards.

I do have a bit of a puzzle going on. One of my cockerels from a June hatch is really a bit bizarre. For the longest time I thought he was a she, then she started growing out hackle and sickle tail feathers so I thought, great, another boy. But the other two Buff O cockerels from that hatch are crowing and their combs are more than double the size of my bizarre rooster. He is a sweetheart, letting me pick him up when ever I want to but lately, the young cockerels are starting to want to mount and mate him I think due to his hen like comb and wattles. naturally he doesn't like that at all and doesn't fight with them. He simply retreats to a safe spot and tries to hide from his admirers as best as he can. I usually wind up having to rescue him. The last time he was in the storage area under my nesting boxes with his 'suitor' standing guard outside.
Here is 'Rosie' when he was about 3-4 months old. He started out as a 'Rose' until he started getting his 'boy' feathers but you can see how small his comb is. It is still this size.

This is his half brother Rocky at the same age. Rocky has matured into a moose of a cockerel. Thank goodness he grew out of his gangly phase. I thought that maybe Rosie needed time to catch up with the other cockerels but no such luck. I was talking to my husband about him and he asked me if I was certain he isn't a hermaphrodite. Well no, I'm not certain, now that he mentioned it. I've never seen Rosie approach the hens. Rock and the other half brother, J.R. have, especially the last 2 months.

Anybody have any experience with hermaphrodite roosters/hens, what-evers? I know Buff O roosters mature slowly, but this slow?

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Mother Nature - The Master Dubber. Lol!

The drum set is cool. Musical chickens...lol. I think they want to eat the little red heart.


When I bought the first sets of chicks last summer, 2 week EEs and 3 week old OEGB, I didn't give them a light at all...lol. It was summer and warm.
Kept them in a box in the house at first, and covered them for the night. The EE chicks came from a rabbit cage with 2 heat lamps in the house. They all did well.

I didn't start using a heat lamp until my hatches later on. I buck the trend there too because I use clear. I bought red after being told I should have red, but once they're used up...I'm going back to clear. No pecking issues here...ever...at any age. (I HATE the red lights) Yes, on the chick starter...everyone here gets it all year long. And yes on the tough chickens as well.
(Although I will have some that will end up for pets/egg production. My heart does get in the way sometimes. Ok, most of the time)

Now that the roosters are forever separate and I have X3 the space...I'll be able to get have a flow going now better next year than I did this year.

Love the costume!!

I have not had any experience with hermaphrodite roosters/hens. Yet. Could he just be that slow at maturing?

 

[Cynthia12]

SCG...cute! The baby chick and you. Nice jammies.

Wicked..loving the bottom photo of the Marans roosters. Beautiful! Too bad he won't tuck his head in to keep his comb warm. I think I showed a photo of my leghorn doing this. She is my first leghorn in a long time to do it. They usually just sit on the roost with their heads out. And, get frost bit. Oh well, they seem fine, and they still lay the same, just not as pretty.


I know a couple of you have heard the story, but here goes here.
We got snow today! Still snowing off and on, and will through the night, and through tomorrow.
Those chickens had been out when all of a sudden the wind comes up. Then it gets really hard. At first, they just lay there. Then we had ice start falling. My husband and I went out to shoo them into the coop/run area. They hurried under the coop. Man that wind took the power out of most of our town. We were lucky up here on the hill. Good thing..I have eggs in lock down!


This amount of snow is nothing. But it's coming.
I like my apple tree in the winter and spring.

 

[Cynthia12]

Hmm, wondering why it double posted.