Thistlewick Smallholding - Chickens & Sheep (for now)

[Mother of Chaos]

That definitely looks like molting. Those are fresh feathers coming in. Almost all my young pullets molted this year and they hatched in February too.

Maybe my older three (hatched in January) are having a mini-molt. Tons of feathers and down, but I still don’t see any bare patches.

 

[Skyeknight]

2 of my pullets from March have started laying, the exception is the brahma pullet. One pullet born at the end of June has als started laying. I do have artificial light, so that's probably why. But all my older hens are molting right now

 

[thistlewick]

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to everyone!

Just a small update; everything is super boring here. Trucking along. The hawks seem to have given up, they got all the dumb chickens lol haven't had any losses in weeks and weeks now, that I can tell.

Though my entire flock is hella traumatized and they don't forage anymore, they stay near the coop and run, even though they have free access to outside.

It is also winter, and everything is dormant. But that didn't stop them last year. So I'm rather disappointed in them all. Cracker is a much more subdued and conservative Cockerel and he keeps them near the hen house. It IS keeping them alive so, there is that.

I have massive amounts of chicken ennui, 50~ chickens is too many because of poop. It's POUNDS of poop a day, my poor arms and my ADHD aren't interested in handling that lol

I do realize it's valuable composting fertilizer but I don't give a fig about that, I just dump it in a pile in the pasture in some weeds we let go to seed.

I either downsize to ~20 chickens or, we take out the poop tables and re-do the roosts. I need to clean the hen house as well, but molting is never freaking ending!! It's SO GROSS IN THERE.

The issue is I love all the chickens, I really do - we have 3 absolutely lovely cockerels who are all lovely.

Also look; I bred an olive egger

One of my pullets that is Chuck (EE) over Sophia (FBCM) that we hatched and kept started laying about 5 days ago <3

EEs are freakin cute as heck come on

Kitten doing well

Sheep doing well

 

[thistlewick]

Okay loads of updates; we removed the poop tables -- scooping poop of 50ish chickens is NOT feasible for my arms, they were 4 feet tall and it was very hard to reach the back for me. I had to push up against the front of the tables, which were sometimes covered in shit. This is not my kind of chore. No thanks. I will shovel but I don't want to squish into shit.

So, we took out the tables, put them under the lean-to of the barn for now, and just put up roosts.

2 feet high, they didn't even care at the change. I am actually kinda certain that some of my bigger girls are very grateful at the 2 foot lowering.

On to other news; not great news.

I have been having a lot of losses. Dorothy, Jane, Helga, Nixie - among others - Dorothy, gone without a trace. Jane, gone without a trace. Helga, well I know my chickens well and I saw a pile of feather explosion out on the front by the hedge, it looked like her feathers and sure enough at night time, she was not there. But it was yesterday when I happened upon Nixie still being eaten.

It's a Great Horned Owl. Daytime! Morning, around 10:40am, I scared it off Nixie (who was already dead and the Owl was almost done). It was HUGE. I thought it was a coyote or fox initially, the 'shadow' of what I saw run off/take off low was SO BIG. But I went back to my cameras and had to zooooom in to that spot, but it was bird that flew off when I came into view.

Eats the brain, eats the crop, importantly for identification; LEAVES THE SPINE INTACT - explosion of feathers (plucking). Removal of whole chickens in some instances. Owl. Great Horned Owl.

So, nothing to be done about that. I am not cooping them up, I am not using netting over the 6 acres they range.

I will just accept what happens and if I lose every single bird over a year (they eat about once a week) then I start over and probably do some kind of a heritage breeding program for either Marans or Dorkings, cooped up, small numbers <10

Also, I have an egg eater!!!!

She lays and eats her own egg, absolutely making a huge disgusting mess of the other eggs in the nest ARGGGHHH.

I believe it's that little Olive Egger because I have never ever seen another olive egg again since this egg eater has begun.

So I've tried removing them one or two at a time (I have like 4 olive eggers I've bred) but it happened again this morning and so tonight, all 4 are going in the side coop until it happens again, either there or in the main coop. What a pain in the butt!

Got some great pics of Oscar @wrathsfarm he definitely has that 90 degree tail when he stands up tall, so that's not great. It relaxes down when he does, though.


My husband got Cracker, who did NOT like the fact that Wellington got on the fence to crow, crowing even louder than Wellington this morning:

This girl was hatched in a batch of Ameraucana eggs, I swear, I promise they were the same eggs, they all looked IDENTICAL and in this batch I got Ermine and Black Ameraucana and then; whatever this is:

Make it make sense. LOLOL The mom was a Black Ameraucana and the dad was an Ermine Ameraucana. HOW.. lol chicken genetics are hilarious!

 

[WingItRanch]

Okay loads of updates; we removed the poop tables -- scooping poop of 50ish chickens is NOT feasible for my arms, they were 4 feet tall and it was very hard to reach the back for me. I had to push up against the front of the tables, which were sometimes covered in shit. This is not my kind of chore. No thanks. I will shovel but I don't want to squish into shit.

So, we took out the tables, put them under the lean-to of the barn for now, and just put up roosts.

View attachment 4280141

2 feet high, they didn't even care at the change. I am actually kinda certain that some of my bigger girls are very grateful at the 2 foot lowering.

On to other news; not great news.

I have been having a lot of losses. Dorothy, Jane, Helga, Nixie - among others - Dorothy, gone without a trace. Jane, gone without a trace. Helga, well I know my chickens well and I saw a pile of feather explosion out on the front by the hedge, it looked like her feathers and sure enough at night time, she was not there. But it was yesterday when I happened upon Nixie still being eaten.

It's a Great Horned Owl. Daytime! Morning, around 10:40am, I scared it off Nixie (who was already dead and the Owl was almost done). It was HUGE. I thought it was a coyote or fox initially, the 'shadow' of what I saw run off/take off low was SO BIG. But I went back to my cameras and had to zooooom in to that spot, but it was bird that flew off when I came into view.

Eats the brain, eats the crop, importantly for identification; LEAVES THE SPINE INTACT - explosion of feathers (plucking). Removal of whole chickens in some instances. Owl. Great Horned Owl.

So, nothing to be done about that. I am not cooping them up, I am not using netting over the 6 acres they range.

I will just accept what happens and if I lose every single bird over a year (they eat about once a week) then I start over and probably do some kind of a heritage breeding program for either Marans or Dorkings, cooped up, small numbers <10

Also, I have an egg eater!!!!

She lays and eats her own egg, absolutely making a huge disgusting mess of the other eggs in the nest ARGGGHHH.

I believe it's that little Olive Egger because I have never ever seen another olive egg again since this egg eater has begun.

So I've tried removing them one or two at a time (I have like 4 olive eggers I've bred) but it happened again this morning and so tonight, all 4 are going in the side coop until it happens again, either there or in the main coop. What a pain in the butt!

View attachment 4280143View attachment 4280144View attachment 4280145

Got some great pics of Oscar @wrathsfarm he definitely has that 90 degree tail when he stands up tall, so that's not great. It relaxes down when he does, though.


My husband got Cracker, who did NOT like the fact that Wellington got on the fence to crow, crowing even louder than Wellington this morning:
View attachment 4280146


This girl was hatched in a batch of Ameraucana eggs, I swear, I promise they were the same eggs, they all looked IDENTICAL and in this batch I got Ermine and Black Ameraucana and then; whatever this is:

View attachment 4280148View attachment 4280149

Make it make sense. LOLOL The mom was a Black Ameraucana and the dad was an Ermine Ameraucana. HOW.. lol chicken genetics are hilarious!

Wow! An owl hunting mid morning!

Great pic of your boys on the fence.

 

[thistlewick]

Wow! An owl hunting mid morning!

Great pic of your boys on the fence.

Yeah I cannot believe it. No other predator leaves the spine but eats the brain/head and crop but an Owl.

Great Horned Owls are also capable of carrying off a chicken :O

Other raptors eat the breast first (we've had 1 hawk attack on Penelope last year in spring that was precisely that. Feather explosion and breast eaten away.)

The feather explosion is the other clue it was an Owl - they pluck, so the feathers look perfect and whole. A chewing predator, raccoon or fox, they leave saliva ridden chunks of feathers.

All the feather's I've seen have been feather explosions.

edit; also of course the camera evidence of the bigass bird flying away LOL

I SWEAR it was a coyote or fox that shadow was HUGE. But Great Horned Owls have a 5-6 FOOT wingspan :O :O :O

 

[WingItRanch]

Yeah I cannot believe it. No other predator leaves the spine but eats the brain/head and crop but an Owl.

Great Horned Owls are also capable of carrying off a chicken :O

Other raptors eat the breast first (we've had 1 hawk attack on Penelope last year in spring that was precisely that. Feather explosion and breast eaten away.)

The feather explosion is the other clue it was an Owl - they pluck, so the feathers look perfect and whole. A chewing predator, raccoon or fox, they leave saliva ridden chunks of feathers.

All the feather's I've seen have been feather explosions.

edit; also of course the camera evidence of the bigass bird flying away LOL

I SWEAR it was a coyote or fox that shadow was HUGE. But Great Horned Owls have a 5-6 FOOT wingspan :O :O :O

That "feather explosion" might also be a fright response. It's a (sort of) defense mechanism where the chicken will release a ton of feathers. I assume it's to confuse a predator.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Okay loads of updates; we removed the poop tables -- scooping poop of 50ish chickens is NOT feasible for my arms, they were 4 feet tall and it was very hard to reach the back for me. I had to push up against the front of the tables, which were sometimes covered in shit. This is not my kind of chore. No thanks. I will shovel but I don't want to squish into shit.

So, we took out the tables, put them under the lean-to of the barn for now, and just put up roosts.

View attachment 4280141

2 feet high, they didn't even care at the change. I am actually kinda certain that some of my bigger girls are very grateful at the 2 foot lowering.

On to other news; not great news.

I have been having a lot of losses. Dorothy, Jane, Helga, Nixie - among others - Dorothy, gone without a trace. Jane, gone without a trace. Helga, well I know my chickens well and I saw a pile of feather explosion out on the front by the hedge, it looked like her feathers and sure enough at night time, she was not there. But it was yesterday when I happened upon Nixie still being eaten.

It's a Great Horned Owl. Daytime! Morning, around 10:40am, I scared it off Nixie (who was already dead and the Owl was almost done). It was HUGE. I thought it was a coyote or fox initially, the 'shadow' of what I saw run off/take off low was SO BIG. But I went back to my cameras and had to zooooom in to that spot, but it was bird that flew off when I came into view.

Eats the brain, eats the crop, importantly for identification; LEAVES THE SPINE INTACT - explosion of feathers (plucking). Removal of whole chickens in some instances. Owl. Great Horned Owl.

So, nothing to be done about that. I am not cooping them up, I am not using netting over the 6 acres they range.

I will just accept what happens and if I lose every single bird over a year (they eat about once a week) then I start over and probably do some kind of a heritage breeding program for either Marans or Dorkings, cooped up, small numbers <10

Also, I have an egg eater!!!!

She lays and eats her own egg, absolutely making a huge disgusting mess of the other eggs in the nest ARGGGHHH.

I believe it's that little Olive Egger because I have never ever seen another olive egg again since this egg eater has begun.

So I've tried removing them one or two at a time (I have like 4 olive eggers I've bred) but it happened again this morning and so tonight, all 4 are going in the side coop until it happens again, either there or in the main coop. What a pain in the butt!

View attachment 4280143View attachment 4280144View attachment 4280145

Got some great pics of Oscar @wrathsfarm he definitely has that 90 degree tail when he stands up tall, so that's not great. It relaxes down when he does, though.

Boy that tail is high. He's a showing a short back which causes the high/squirrel tail, unless it's longer when relaxed. Yes, try to get some better pics, always relaxed.
Tag me if I'm not around and you could always tag @BlueTheBrahma, he's always a great help with my Marans. I know your not looking for complete SOP, as long as you love your boy that's what matters.

It is hard getting pics, I have that problem also. The boys aren't leaving the coop because of the weather and I started taking pics in there where they should be outside.
I found when they were on the roost they stand more at attention making some appear v shaped. Once I got them down to the coop floor, their breast relaxed and dropped showing better type. So I really know your pain. I may get 10 good pics of each to post out of 30-40. It's a struggle.

So sorry your losing birds and eggs. Hope you find a solution.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Very cool surprise hen there! What have you named her?

It's funny, the more chickens I get the more I want poop boards. I'm afraid the large piles below the roosts are adding a lot of moisture. I'm not afraid of leaning into poop - I wear full PPE when entering the coop.

I HATE it when they eat their own eggs! It makes such a mess and I have to scrub out the nest boxes daily which is much worse, in my opinion, than scooping poop boards.

So sorry, that's a lot of birds lost! I'm very surprised my birds haven't been taken by raptors. I hear Great Horned Owls regularly.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Okay loads of updates; we removed the poop tables -- scooping poop of 50ish chickens is NOT feasible for my arms, they were 4 feet tall and it was very hard to reach the back for me. I had to push up against the front of the tables, which were sometimes covered in shit. This is not my kind of chore. No thanks. I will shovel but I don't want to squish into shit.

So, we took out the tables, put them under the lean-to of the barn for now, and just put up roosts.

View attachment 4280141

2 feet high, they didn't even care at the change. I am actually kinda certain that some of my bigger girls are very grateful at the 2 foot lowering.

On to other news; not great news.

I have been having a lot of losses. Dorothy, Jane, Helga, Nixie - among others - Dorothy, gone without a trace. Jane, gone without a trace. Helga, well I know my chickens well and I saw a pile of feather explosion out on the front by the hedge, it looked like her feathers and sure enough at night time, she was not there. But it was yesterday when I happened upon Nixie still being eaten.

It's a Great Horned Owl. Daytime! Morning, around 10:40am, I scared it off Nixie (who was already dead and the Owl was almost done). It was HUGE. I thought it was a coyote or fox initially, the 'shadow' of what I saw run off/take off low was SO BIG. But I went back to my cameras and had to zooooom in to that spot, but it was bird that flew off when I came into view.

Eats the brain, eats the crop, importantly for identification; LEAVES THE SPINE INTACT - explosion of feathers (plucking). Removal of whole chickens in some instances. Owl. Great Horned Owl.

So, nothing to be done about that. I am not cooping them up, I am not using netting over the 6 acres they range.

I will just accept what happens and if I lose every single bird over a year (they eat about once a week) then I start over and probably do some kind of a heritage breeding program for either Marans or Dorkings, cooped up, small numbers <10

Also, I have an egg eater!!!!

She lays and eats her own egg, absolutely making a huge disgusting mess of the other eggs in the nest ARGGGHHH.

I believe it's that little Olive Egger because I have never ever seen another olive egg again since this egg eater has begun.

So I've tried removing them one or two at a time (I have like 4 olive eggers I've bred) but it happened again this morning and so tonight, all 4 are going in the side coop until it happens again, either there or in the main coop. What a pain in the butt!

View attachment 4280143View attachment 4280144View attachment 4280145

Got some great pics of Oscar @wrathsfarm he definitely has that 90 degree tail when he stands up tall, so that's not great. It relaxes down when he does, though.


My husband got Cracker, who did NOT like the fact that Wellington got on the fence to crow, crowing even louder than Wellington this morning:
View attachment 4280146


This girl was hatched in a batch of Ameraucana eggs, I swear, I promise they were the same eggs, they all looked IDENTICAL and in this batch I got Ermine and Black Ameraucana and then; whatever this is:

View attachment 4280148View attachment 4280149

Make it make sense. LOLOL The mom was a Black Ameraucana and the dad was an Ermine Ameraucana. HOW.. lol chicken genetics are hilarious!

Boy that tail is high. He's a showing a short back which causes the high/squirrel tail, unless it's longer when relaxed. Yes, try to get some better pics, always relaxed.
Tag me if I'm not around and you could always tag @BlueTheBrahma, he's always a great help with my Marans. I know your not looking for complete SOP, as long as you love your boy that's what matters.

It is hard getting pics, I have that problem also. The boys aren't leaving the coop because of the weather and I started taking pics in there where they should be outside.
I found when they were on the roost they stand more at attention making some appear v shaped. Once I got them down to the coop floor, their breast relaxed and dropped showing better type. So I really know your pain. I may get 10 good pics of each to post out of 30-40. It's a struggle.

So sorry your losing birds and eggs. Hope you find a solution.

I though I’d give you a ranking of him, since @wrathsfarm tagged me and I haven’t done one in a while.

He’s my ranking of him. I use the English marans scale of points but it’s basically as effective as the American one.

Type, carriage and table merits: 31/40
Size and quality: 12/20
Colour and markings: 13/15
Head: 8/10
Condition: 10/10
Legs and feet: 4/5
————————————————-
Total: 78/100

Main issue is, I think as you know, the squirrel tail. Good and chunky looking, I deduced two points because the breast could be even more pronounced. Tidy and well built head, I took a few points off because the serrations on the comb aren’t all that even, still good though. I really like his colouring. Very complete and bold copper without excess on the breast. I like the solid red shoulder contrasting clearly with the black wind triangle.

A very good marans, if it weren’t for his tail he’d be in the high 80s.

I did that quickly and obviously the pictures don’t help me judge size or condition very well, but if you want me to elaborate further I will tomorrow.