the sultan thread

[K Epp]

How cold hardy are Sultans? This is my first winter having one. Is there anything I need to do extra for it?

 

[fishnet1971]

X2 my first winter as well

 

[fishnet1971]

Uh oh... 4 days with no posts? is everyone OK? everyones babies OK?.... talk to me!!!!!!!

 

[CedarAcres]

Haha

All good here! Slippers broke another blood feather on his foot yesterday. It was a little one though. He needs to settle down and stop flying with obstructed vision! Do they break their foot feathers all the time? Slippers is our first sultan. Maybe he is just more active than he should be, I'm not sure. He makes me nervous when he's flying because I don't know how he could possibly see where he is going. But then he lands perfectly on top of something, so he must be able to see well enough to do that.

 

[OlivesMama]

I'm here! I just don't check in often. Little Nugget keeps getting picked on, then she flies over my big fence into the side yard. Twice now I've come home from work to her on the other side of the fence. It's maybe a 4 ft. fence with chicken wire extending it another 2 feet. She can't get out of the 6 ft perimeter fence, so she's safe!

It's been pouring down rain the past few days andI felt bad for her this morning, so I brought her in the house and washed her up. Now she's sitting on my lap wrapped in a towel making the happiest little noises! Her feel feathers get so muddy and dirty. Sultans don't appear to do well in the rain. Poor girl. I told my husband awhile ago we should make Nugget a house chicken! I'd totally put a chicken diaper on her and put her in a big bird cage. She looks like an exotic parrot-type bird anyway. Nobody would even know I was a crazy chicken lady! Sigh. I thought the bullying was getting better, but if she's so desperate to get away from the flock that she's flying over the fence, I'm back to not knowing what to do with her.

 

[fishnet1971]

Cedar, I have never had any issues with my two girls and their feet feathers yet. I keep hearing about everyone having broken feathers, bleeding, etc. Maybe mine are just to prissy... LOL

Olive, it just means that you need to build her her own coop and get her some sisters~

 

[OlivesMama]

I really do! I need a bantam coop. Really, we need to move so I can make this happen. Our house is for sale and we have acreage picked out. We just need to sell first.

 

[hokankai]

I really do! I need a bantam coop. Really, we need to move so I can make this happen. Our house is for sale and we have acreage picked out. We just need to sell first.

OlivesMama where are you located? I'm in SW Washington (Vancouver) and have had terrible rain too. Fortunately my banty run is covered, but that doesn't stop their feet from getting yucky. I'm considering trimming the sultans' foot feathers to make it a bit easier for them, and I want to get a load of wood chips to put in the mucky pens since the sand needs to be cleaned.

Jasmine is just about done molting, and Genevieve is LAYING! Yippee . Her eggs are silly white oblong things that are bigger than I expected them to be. She's so dainty and adorable

 

[OlivesMama]

I'm just north of Eugene, Oregon. We're practically neighbors!

We had the same weather- inches of rain over the weekend. My run is a mucky mess. My coop is elevated, so they have a dry area under it that's a pretty good size. They usually don't go under unless it's really pouring.

I'll be trimming Nugget's crest feathers today, along with clipping a wing so she can't fly over the fence. I'll probably try to trim her foot feathers and vulture hocks as well. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[CedarAcres]

We went to one of the fairs nearby our house and there were actually two Sultans! I couldn't believe it, since I've never seen another one other than mine. I took some absolutely horrible photos with my phone.