So glad you could join us!
Today's update on the Raggedy Flock: I'm glad to report that the flock is slowly warming up to my presence. Not as warm as they used to be but still walking towards me now instead of running away. They are consuming the fermented feeds well and I'm noticing more red combs and wattles with a slow color change coming back to beaks and legs.
I've noticed the rooster and the largest hen, Moby Dick II, are still occasionally digging at the lice and mites at their back end. I am currently cooking down a fresh batch of wood ashes to give them a deeper and better application for this. The rest of the flock are not showing any signs of this and are showing noticeable improvement in feather growth...and this only after a week since their arrival.
They have consumed 2 suet cakes and will receive a third one next week. When we kill some deer this fall, all the fat will be carefully trimmed and saved for feeding to chickens and dog this winter. Any meat scraps unfit for our consumption will be ground later and rationed out this winter. I don't normally act this careful about flock nutrition but, then, I've never had a flock in this poor of condition before.
Water with ACV and a sprinkle of epsom salts is still being offered. Only time will tell if the epsoms has helped with the gleet. The next examination of the flock will include combing vent feathers with a large toothed comb and clipping out any gleet clumps. Then a reapplication of NuStock will be applied.
Side Note: The last roost I placed in the coop was a 2x4 with the 4 in. side as the roosting surface. The chickens do not prefer this flat roost at all! They all want to crowd onto the round roosts on either side and only use the flat one for a bridge between the two. My birds have always had round roosts made from large saplings and I think they are spoiled at the comfort of these types of roosts. They definitely conform to the natural curl of the foot more than the square/flat roost. I'll have to put a round roost in its place soon.
Well, well... I have always wondered about the 2x4 roost thing... When I look at mine they always seem uncomfortable.
So glad you could join us!
Today's update on the Raggedy Flock: I'm glad to report that the flock is slowly warming up to my presence. Not as warm as they used to be but still walking towards me now instead of running away. They are consuming the fermented feeds well and I'm noticing more red combs and wattles with a slow color change coming back to beaks and legs.
I've noticed the rooster and the largest hen, Moby Dick II, are still occasionally digging at the lice and mites at their back end. I am currently cooking down a fresh batch of wood ashes to give them a deeper and better application for this. The rest of the flock are not showing any signs of this and are showing noticeable improvement in feather growth...and this only after a week since their arrival.
They have consumed 2 suet cakes and will receive a third one next week. When we kill some deer this fall, all the fat will be carefully trimmed and saved for feeding to chickens and dog this winter. Any meat scraps unfit for our consumption will be ground later and rationed out this winter. I don't normally act this careful about flock nutrition but, then, I've never had a flock in this poor of condition before.
Water with ACV and a sprinkle of epsom salts is still being offered. Only time will tell if the epsoms has helped with the gleet. The next examination of the flock will include combing vent feathers with a large toothed comb and clipping out any gleet clumps. Then a reapplication of NuStock will be applied.
Side Note: The last roost I placed in the coop was a 2x4 with the 4 in. side as the roosting surface. The chickens do not prefer this flat roost at all! They all want to crowd onto the round roosts on either side and only use the flat one for a bridge between the two. My birds have always had round roosts made from large saplings and I think they are spoiled at the comfort of these types of roosts. They definitely conform to the natural curl of the foot more than the square/flat roost. I'll have to put a round roost in its place soon.
[quote name="BeekissedSo glad you could join us!
Today's update on the Raggedy Flock: I'm glad to report that the flock is slowly warming up to my presence. Not as warm as they used to be but still walking towards me now instead of running away. They are consuming the fermented feeds well and I'm noticing more red combs and wattles with a slow color change coming back to beaks and legs.
I've noticed the rooster and the largest hen, Moby Dick II, are still occasionally digging at the lice and mites at their back end. I am currently cooking down a fresh batch of wood ashes to give them a deeper and better application for this. The rest of the flock are not showing any signs of this and are showing noticeable improvement in feather growth...and this only after a week since their arrival.
They have consumed 2 suet cakes and will receive a third one next week. When we kill some deer this fall, all the fat will be carefully trimmed and saved for feeding to chickens and dog this winter. Any meat scraps unfit for our consumption will be ground later and rationed out this winter. I don't normally act this careful about flock nutrition but, then, I've never had a flock in this poor of condition before.
Water with ACV and a sprinkle of epsom salts is still being offered. Only time will tell if the epsoms has helped with the gleet. The next examination of the flock will include combing vent feathers with a large toothed comb and clipping out any gleet clumps. Then a reapplication of NuStock will be applied.
Side Note: The last roost I placed in the coop was a 2x4 with the 4 in. side as the roosting surface. The chickens do not prefer this flat roost at all! They all want to crowd onto the round roosts on either side and only use the flat one for a bridge between the two. My birds have always had round roosts made from large saplings and I think they are spoiled at the comfort of these types of roosts. They definitely conform to the natural curl of the foot more than the square/flat roost. I'll have to put a round roost in its place soon.
Well, well... I have always wondered about the 2x4 roost thing... When I look at mine they always seem uncomfortable.
What kind of diameter are we looking at on these sapling/branch roosts?
And...How ever will they warm their feet on cold winter nights if they can't hunker down over them on those flat roosts?
