Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Lil Go Peep]

Wait. A GALLON feeder? Please tell me you have 30+ of the little brats!

oh boy I guess it's been a long day, had to go look after you asked...lol --- 3 lb feeder... so yea went through 3lbs in 4 days... but what baffles me is its bantams... you'd figure the bigger chicks would do that more so than bantams...hahaha

have question:

Anyone ever deal with chicks not feathering properly? --- couple chicks from our shipment are growing, have "full" wing feathers, but no feathering anywhere else.. and they will be 3 to 4 weeks old this week. We only had this kind of thing happen once when we first started with chickens. Chick grew, feathered in the wings, but no where else.. then stopped growing and died.

I'm thinking we should separate the ones who haven't feathered properly from the ones who are already almost all feathered. Also have a cochin who is the size of our bantams... to me doesn't seem to be growing. I'm thinking this shipment of chicks we got have issues. We lost 7 of them in the beginning during and after shipping. Sadly we didn't receive the full order and we canceled it.. due to all the things we're coming across with them. Now this - *sigh*

 

[OverEggstended]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/381118/chick-not-feathering-out-the-same

 

[OverEggstended]

Ok, bedcheck. 6 lively chicks that do not appear sleepy. They DID stop running when I looked in... and started eating. If all are alive tomorrow I shall consider my modifications to be nondetrimental and hope we are past the worst of it! BTW... They are jumping and flapping wings in an attempt to reach sides of kiddie pool... And getting CLOSE! Good thing that wire spool cover surrounding it is over 2 ft high!

 

[Lil Go Peep]

Ok, bedcheck. 6 lively chicks that do not appear sleepy. They DID stop running when I looked in... and started eating. If all are alive tomorrow I shall consider my modifications to be nondetrimental and hope we are past the worst of it! BTW... They are jumping and flapping wings in an attempt to reach sides of kiddie pool... And getting CLOSE! Good thing that wire spool cover surrounding it is over 2 ft high!

everything will be ok for you in the morning.


As for our non feathering birds, I'll just keep them separated for now and hope that it's just slow feathering - I don't need chicks dying around the others and have them go all velociraptor on the bodies. Least just to ease the worry of losing them

 

[OverEggstended]

3am... All presently still breathing. (A few are doing a good impersonation of their fallen comrades, but I can tell it is only a ruse... breathing is shallow and slow, iow... normal)

 

[sphinxface]

So today was a bad day as well for us- I lost one of my Lavender Orpington hens- think she wound up injured and today couldn't stand up, she just fluttered around trying to move- also had to put a baby chick down as well. Poor thing couldn't use its leg properly and during inspection of it found it had a nodule where the leg bends, so it wasn't able to have full use of the leg.

I know these things happen sometimes but doesn't make it any easier to still have to put a bird down - esp a baby. Everyone else tho are doing great - one I think it's nickname is Happy Feet, I've never seen a chick so excited to do a little shuffle like it does, couldn't help but crack up at the antics - least I felt a little better after my day watching little Happy Feet

I'm sorry to hear that! I don't even know what I would do if I lost one of my girls ;(

Do you have any pics of Happy Feet? That just sounds too cute <3

 

[sphinxface]

Not growing vines because of bindweed, is like not growing daffodils because of dandelions!

Bindweed is HORRID. I'd STILL trade it for horsetails. If you just stay consistent ripping up the bindweed, it will stop growing and can't reseed. The more you rip horsetail out , the more it grows and spreads! Granted, horsetail tea rinse for your hair will beat ANY salon treatment for thicker, stronger hair! I like to infuse mine with rosemary and mint. Hair is shiny and smells good for DAYS, and it is a natural insect repellent. So is lavender, but I just do not like the smell of lavender. I grow it, for medicinal properties... but I'm just not a fan. My daughter adores it. To each their own!

That's true, I just don't want things to get out of hand.. The person who owned our property before us didn't do anything about the blackberries, holly, and bindweed infestation so it's a mess. They also will regrow from broken roots and little pieces you accidently drop on the ground..

I never knew that about horse tails! I don't have any growing in my yard so maybe that's why. I've been rather obsessed with stuff that grows in our yard, I'm Kindof glad it's not a perfectly manicured lawn. Found a patch of strawberries where the wild bird droppings fall from the pine trees! Haha idk anyone who is as obsessed with "weeds" as I am, but there just isn't any use for bindweed, the chickens won't even eat it ;(

 

[JennysHens]

Don't feel too bad about killing cacti, I've done it too and somehow I miraculously have a green thumb now. I moved from FL to AZ and everything I brought with me/bought there died (cacti, succulents, a desert rose, a pepper plant... indoor plants too!) the only thing that survived the AZ plant slaughter was one desert rose that's actually thriving here? It's indoor all winter, outdoor in the spring/summer and for the first time in the 4 years I've had it, it actually flowered! Which may not sound like a lot, but my friend back home in FL who got a seedling at the same time as me has had flowers every year since she got it and it's triple the size lol. I think there's just something in the air here in WA that makes this easier. Even in FL, where gardening is supposed to be super easy, I had no luck. My mom just put in 3 big raised beds and they're producing like mad

Out here, I've actually had really good luck keeping things going. My mom sent me an african violet (which I thought was mad, I've killed 3 before) and it's completely covered in flowers. I didn't have luck with the garlic I planted last year, but everything else is thriving. Trying my hand at tomatoes for the first time and they're happy as can be. Downside of things surviving now is I have the gardening bug and my raised bed isn't big enough anymore!

Unless you have bad luck (which I have in the past!), violets are a really easy indoor plant and super low maintenance. They're small, rest right on your windowsill, only need their water filled every few days, and come in some really beautiful colors. And if it starts to die and you don't understand why, you can grow another with a leaf cutting, if you snag one before it gets too poorly, and try again

 

[sphinxface]

I killed my violet, not sure what I did wrong ;(
All the soil that comes with plants from the store always seems to dry out faster than it should and get rock hard... I wonder if that did it ;(

 

[ochochicas]

My chicks are in a kiddie pool covered with bird netting so they don't fly out. When they are about 4 or 5 weeks old I have to "raise" the center like a circus tent so they can stand up all the way. Then around 7 weeks they finally move outside.

@OverEggstended Maybe there was something wrong with the vaccine your chicks got - dirty equipment? allergic reaction? I've only ever had one brooder raised chick die. I think the other chicks laid on it and it suffocated/overheated.

Even when my chicks are a day old they have a big brooder (about 4' x 2') with a heat lamp on one end. They can stand directly under the heat lamp if they want, but usually prefer to be away from it where it is more around 80 - 85 degrees. By the time they are 3 weeks old they are living at room temp at night and have the heat lamp on during the day "just in case". I'm not sure who came up with the 95 degree rule for the first week and then drop the temp 5 degrees per week until they are fully feathered. My chicks are panting at 90 degrees and don't like it that hot. In December I hatched out 7 tiny chicks with a broody hen. She had them outside foraging at 2 days old. It was 22 degrees out and the ground was frozen solid! About once an hour the chicks would crawl under mom for a nap and to warm up. Those chicks taught me that they are a lot tougher than we give them credit for. They all survived to see spring.