Thistlewick Smallholding - Chickens & Sheep (for now)

[thistlewick]

So it looks like Harriet really enjoys Tilly's chicks and wants to help a lot -- she went back on her nest -- but she might end up abandoning it - we will see.

https://imgur.com/a/oq2g8rj

Ginger is now off the nest and acting like a mama. She's is trying to horn in on Tilly a little, but while I was there, I literally pushed her with my foot away, several times. She got the message and finally f&cked off. We will see how THAT goes. I will not give her the babies, no way, she pecked the one so hard it lost it's eye and possibly, it's ear. Insanely, it's doing well, and eating and drinking and glad to have a little buddy, it's clutchmate, who is doing well, too.

It's a bit graphic so I put a spoiler tag.

We THINK the eye is missing, it's hard to tell.

The whole flock is starting to integrate during the day - the teens were out with the bigs all day in the hedge, even the ducks.

Oh I forgot to mention that Oscar is trying on the hen duck, Spitfire >< what an idiot. We stop it when we see it but we're not around all the time.

We will be selling some cockerels and chicks at our local small animal auction either this week or next, we have too many -- in the sense that I have something like 40 eggs incubating and I don't have room for everyone... really. I kinda do actually but I feel like it's too many.

The Cracker Jacks finally learned where to sleep after two nights of me sneaking in the pitch black hen house and moving them over lol

Chocolate really loves Chuck hehehe

 

[WingItRanch]

So it looks like Harriet really enjoys Tilly's chicks and wants to help a lot -- she went back on her nest -- but she might end up abandoning it - we will see.

https://imgur.com/a/oq2g8rj

Ginger is now off the nest and acting like a mama. She's is trying to horn in on Tilly a little, but while I was there, I literally pushed her with my foot away, several times. She got the message and finally f&cked off. We will see how THAT goes. I will not give her the babies, no way, she pecked the one so hard it lost it's eye and possibly, it's ear. Insanely, it's doing well, and eating and drinking and glad to have a little buddy, it's clutchmate, who is doing well, too.

It's a bit graphic so I put a spoiler tag.


View attachment 4144654

We THINK the eye is missing, it's hard to tell.

The whole flock is starting to integrate during the day - the teens were out with the bigs all day in the hedge, even the ducks.

Oh I forgot to mention that Oscar is trying on the hen duck, Spitfire >< what an idiot. We stop it when we see it but we're not around all the time.

We will be selling some cockerels and chicks at our local small animal auction either this week or next, we have too many -- in the sense that I have something like 40 eggs incubating and I don't have room for everyone... really. I kinda do actually but I feel like it's too many.

View attachment 4144670

The Cracker Jacks finally learned where to sleep after two nights of me sneaking in the pitch black hen house and moving them over lol



View attachment 4144671

Chocolate really loves Chuck hehehe

That last picture is the BEST! You should put in for one of the photo competitions on that one.

As for your little hurt chick.. I'm not expert with wounds like others on here but I try to read through Emergency posts so I can learn. It seems like a lot of people think their chick or adult chicken is missing an eye from an injury but it turns out that it's just so swollen that you can't see it. This little one my bounce back and heal well, especially since it sounds like she has a strong will to live.

 

[thistlewick]

So the little chick with the pecked eye is struggling today - looks like it's struggling to breathe and sleeping a lot. Not at all surprising.

The other chick cuddles it a lot, which is sweet - but it also tries to get to Ginger, who calls for it.

I am unsure what to do!

I don't want to just throw that other little chick to the vagaries of Ginger, who might suddenly decide to peck the shit out of this one, too.

Conundrum!

 

[thistlewick]

Ginger is pecking at Tilly's babies but not a lot. Tilly just kind of mildly tells her off when she does, but Tilly is extremely chill. Her babies seem fine and thriving.

She took them out to the Spa today

Harriet went with her because Sophia is on her nest, laying an egg. Sophia has religiously sat and laid in Harriet's nest every day since Harriet went broody. So, while Sophia is sitting, Harriet eats, gets a dust bath, hangs out with Tilly.. lol She DOES go back to her nest. I think this whole thing is adorable.

I decided to NOT give Ginger the chick. I don't want to just put the chick up for possible injury. The injured one has brightened since the morning a little - eating and drinking and walking around the brooder, being annoyed with its scab on its face. It's protective, though, and it is not infected, so I'm leaving it alone. Its breathing isn't great - so it's still touch and go.

We put up new nest boxes

$80 on amazon, smells like China cancer in a box but dang it's cute as heck

Jane liked it

Their favorite is still inside the hen house though, most of them lay in the converted side table.

The FOOD issue with babies with a mama hen -- oh my godddd so much waste. I put out a little dish (the base of a baby feeder, essentially) like 4x a day only to get it completely knocked over, dashed into the floor of the hen house, only to have Tilly scratch to the FLOOR to get all the tidbits. lolol

Well, she's turning the bedding that's one silver lining. I don't have to do that job right now.

I have one of these kinds of feeders:

gonna try this after it dries and see if it works any better.

I really love going out there in the lazy hot afternoons, a lot of the youngsters are in the cooler part of the shady run - the ones too shy to go out with the bigs to the hedge.

I candled the 20 eggs in my 360; they ALL look good, lmaooooo they go into lockdown Friday

Day 5 of my Welsummer/Ameraucana batch in my Brinsea - out of 20 eggs only 2 Welsummer eggs were not fertile. LAWD. Some look WAY more developed than day 5 should --- not sure what that is about lol

 

[WingItRanch]

$80 on amazon, smells like China cancer in a box but dang it's cute as heck

 

[thistlewick]

So Tilly is kinda derpy I guess....

This was lockup last night. I just kinda laughed. I moved her down three times. She stayed on the last time I moved her down.

Ginger does NOT want to stop being broody/mama-ing, she stubborn wants to sleep on the nest, I need to go out later in the night and move her (it is not my favorite thing to go out late out there lol)

I am really struggling this year with the humidity and heat here - so much so I am daydreaming about a nice place up in the north east. North West too rainy.

If you haven't lived in the deep south, you don't know lol It's sub tropical here! It is relentless and for a long time of the year, this basically lasts until September, easily - and it's 'warm' until October. It's really only 'cold' December, Jan and Feb. And even then, it's not very cold. The chickens water froze like only 4 days last year.

Anyway I have been trying to just remember that I love this place lol I built this house and everything in it is me and mine and decorated as I would love it and has everything I've collected my entire life and suits me and my needs and then, I have this;

Not to mention 8 acres of woods I never go into in the summer because I love my sanity. But yeah, trying to dislodge this adhd of always looking to *something* novel. It's a beast - it drives a lot of creativity and fun curiosity and I learn and learn and learn but it also is a cruel taskmistress and whips me to looking for places when where I am at is just fine.

That pic of Harriet with the chicks is just cute as heck. Harriet was off her nest a TON yesterday - I am thinking those eggs won't hatch but she has 2 weeks to go so we will see.

I don't need anymore chickens, when these two incubators hatch I will officially be over the limit of what my 'henhouse' can house for nighttime. I have enough roosting space, but the 4sq foot rule is out the window, if I keep them all.

Though I've been reading that 2sq foot is fine if you free range all day, which I do. In which case I have plenty of space for 40 MORE chickens lol

But probably not!

Lockup is fine btw, no scuffles, surprisingly peaceful, for now. Just dumb chickens trying to roost in places that aren't roosts!