UK Member Please Say HI

[rebrascora]

Hi and congratulations on your hatch so far. That is a seriously cute chick and a lovely looking set up. Have anymore of them zipped?

It does sound like you have had your work cut out with all your new arrivals. Your "chicken math" is more out of hand than mine by the sound of it!

I'm starting to see the start of scaley leg. What did you treat with? Someone told me dipping them in paraffin works really well. It's going to be a big job with all the chickens I have now, that's for sure, especially as they don't like being handled.

My chicks are all active and doing well today and I think Frances is getting the hang of motherhood, but I'm not ready to let them out of the sideboard yet. Wish I could post photos as they are so gorgeous, you could just eat them!!!
I'm having difficulty telling the legbars and legbar/RIR crosses apart. The male legbar chick is paler and has a white head spot but the other 3 which have chipmunk stripes and eyeliner all look alike. Let's hope they are all females. The leghorns are yellow with black splodges. Two of them have little black dots on their heads but I don't think that signifies anything.

Anyway, I desperately need to rearrange my roosting set up because things are getting decidedly cramped and these new arrivals are going to want some roost space soon too.

Best wishes to all

Barbara

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi all in UK, I'm in Yorkshire and have a polish cockerel looking for a forever home. He is black and very friendly you can pick him up stroke him and he will sit on your lap. He is also used to having his crest checked. If any one feels they could offer this much loved bird a home I would very much appreciate it.

. He hatched on30th May 2014 and just started crowing.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Yorkshire coop and welcome.

Sadly I have more than enough of my own cockerels and I'm bracing myself to process them for meat when the time comes....not the sort of home you would want for your lad I think! Anyway, good luck finding your lad a loving home.

My broody, Frances, brought her chicks out of the brooder into the main hen house area today and I'm so very proud of her because she managed to get all 8 back into the brooder tonight instead of me having to chase round trying to catch them and her. Nearly a week old now and all doing really well so far. It's amazing how quickly they learn.

Hope the sun shines on everyone this weekend.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[7OxfordHens]

Hi to all you other UK members

 

[rebrascora]

Hello again and welcome..... glad you found us!

How r things in your part of the world this morning?

Not sure what is going on here but I've had a lame farm cat for several weeks, one of my horses came in horribly lame yesterday and now this morning I have a lame chicken! I really don't need all this worry and vets bills right now especially when I am going into debt to buy the yard. Thankfully the horse, Rascal, is looking a lot better today, which is a relief as the vet was not optimistic yesterday. I've had him from being a baby and he's 18 now, so I've had a pretty worrying night I can tell you!
Will have to get hold of the hen tonight and have a good look at her but she is showing signs of scaly leg, so I'm guessing that is the problem.

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend and the sun is shining as it is here.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[LittleGecko]

Hi Barbara all hatched now! Got six chicks in total butlost one hatching and a second the day after, but the remaining four are doing great and venturing out into the fresh air now and then. They are all totally different from each other! One brown splodges, one black and white, one yellow and one pale orange, so they are going to be a colourful bunch.
Congratulations on your hatch theu sound gorgeous and Frances sounds like a great mum!
I'm treating the scaly leg with surgical spirit, you fill a container with enough surgical spirit to immerse the chickens leg up to the feather line on the thigh and hold each leg in the container for a minute, long enough for it to soak into the leg. This drowns and suffocates the mites and cleans out the damaged parts of the leg. I treat everyone even the unaffected once a week for a month, time consuming but well worth it as the hens seem more comfortable immediately after treatment. A coating of vasiline helps to soften the affected scales and can be used as a treatment itself but is almost impossible on feather legged breeds (I have several).
Another dog attack last week, thankfully no injuries but I was gathering up chicks and juveniles for a whilea aafter and the woman owner was in my garden as the dog a huge pyraneean mountain dog she clearly couldn't control lunged and snapped at the chickens who were hiding in the coop, feathers everywhere, having a major go at me about how my chickens shouldn't be out, while brandishing a piece of wood (also mine don't know who or what she was planning on hitting) while my two year old daughter went nuclear in the house! I had a hard time keeping my cool I can tell you and I spent half the afternoon in tears afterwards. If the dog owner hadn't been of advancing years I would have lost it I think.
Hi Yorkshire your cockerel is a beauty, I unfortunately have four currently and one is already destined for the pot if no one wants him, sadly not many people want them but hopefully your chaps lovely looks and character will secure him a home as my araucana cockerels have (he leaves for his new home and the flock of hens that are already waiting soon).
Also hi to Oxford hens do you really have seventy!?

 

[rebrascora]

Jo that is absolutely shocking! I can understand you being in tears. There are some really, totally irresponsible dog owners who think they have a right to let them go wherever they want and it's always someone else's fault when things get out of hand. I seethed for days afterwards at her audacity for suggesting it was my responsibility to fence against her dog! Although the dog was spotted in my field again I haven't seen her since, so I'm hoping she walks it elsewhere now and I would imagine this woman and her dog that you have had problems with will want to avoid similar unpleasantness and go elsewhere. Let's hope so anyway. Huge relief that you didn't have any serious casualties this time though.
I'm thinking about putting notices on the adjacent footpath warning dog owners of free range hens in the nearby field. The hens and field cannot be seen from the footpath, but of course dogs running loose and exploring, soon find them!

Sorry to hear you lost a couple of chicks but good that the other 4 are doing well. I love that they are multi coloured! It will be much easier to tell them apart. My 11 barred mongrel teenagers all look alike apart from some being cockerels and some being pullets... which hopefully will make it easier to put the males in the pot. The new chicks are pretty and all different though.They haven't ventured outside yet as there is lots in the hen house/stable to explore and Frances is a very nervous hen anyway, so I'm quite happy that she is learning how to keep them together in the safety of the hen house first. She's doing fantastically well though so far. I worry as the hens are always scratching about in the yard under and between the horses and I'm sure 1 of them will get stood on sooner or later, although the horses have been really careful with them so far.

Anyway, I hope you have a stress/dog free weekend.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[7OxfordHens]

Sounds like you have your hands full Barbara, hope your animals get better soon, especially Rascal. Does he live up to his name?

Hi LittleGecko, 7 not 70

though technically it's 9 now, lol. Your chicks sound really sweet. That dog owner would have rattled me too, how did the dog get into your garden? Our dog will only venture into our garden with one of us as an escort, the girls have already pecked her into her place!

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend.

 

[rebrascora]

Well, I've just had another dog attack and I'm shaking with anger and stress. Thankfully I have found both chickens. One was hiding in the garden, the other was 30 yards away paralysed with fear and sitting in the stream under some brambles (I don't think she is seriously injured but just put her in the hen house to get over the shock..... I never would have found her if she had been dark coloured. The dog and owner were the other side of my high garden wall by the time I got out there but I could hear her screaming at the dog and I know who she is because we were best friends at infant and junior school. The annoying thing is that she already knows that I've lost a chicken to a dog and agreed how terrible it was. Of course I can't prove it was her dog as I didn't actually see it but I heard the commotion and I heard her screaming it's name, so I will definitely be speaking to her about it, next time I see her.

@7OxfordHens

Yes, Rascal lives up to has name or rather he was named for his personality, a bit like his brother Rebel. I have my hands seriously full with both of them!! I had hoped that they might grow out of their waywardness, but I'm afraid Rascal will be a juvenile delinquent until the day he dies and he will probably see me off, literally if not metaphorically! He would probably be dog meat now if it wasn't for the fact he is such a loveable rogue!

Thankfully their sister MeMe....(as in me me me me me, give me attention).... is much better behaved. I suppose, living with 2 naughty big brothers, she was always going to need to be assertive to get attention. Rascal just finds it easier to get it by being naughty or getting into trouble.... hence the current bad leg.... I seriously wouldn't put it past him to have done it deliberately! I once saw him walk away from me and stick his foot through some pig wire fencing until he got it stuck just because I was busy treating his mother for mastitis and wouldn't give him the attention he wanted. He did it within sight just to taunt me and kept gently pulling at it to shake the fence and looking across at me as if to say, now you will have to come. No panic, like any normal horse.... just ... "Mam, I'm stuck, you'll have give me attention now!" Took me 20 mins to find a hack saw and cut him out, during which time he just stood and nuzzled me and made the most of me being anxious. He's as happy being told off as praised I'm convinced of it!
I put it down to him being second son. I think he has middle child syndrome!

Anyway, thinking about Rasc has relieved the stress of the dog attack, so thanks for that. Must get out there and get some work done now, as coffee break is long since over.

Regards

Barbara

 

[LittleGecko]

All peaceful here at the moment, the flock and the chicks are getting on fine so am going to get on with some ground work to improve drainage around the coops before winter. Hope you are all okay!