What did you do with your flock today?

[Smokerbill]

I shared some of the sardines I had for lunch with the chickens. They liked it.

 

[Nomadicus]

It's that time again. Need to get movin and make sure everyone has fresh water to drink and something to peck at for the evening. Might as well gather eggs while I'm at it.

 

[Nomadicus]

I sat a spell hand feeding a new special needs pet. A 3 month old White Giant pullet that escaped the jaws of death a few nights ago. She lost all the feathers and all the skin from her neck on one side for about an inch and a half down from her head. I picked her up running from a free ranging rooster brigade and she wants to be in my lap constantly since. I hold feed in my hand until she has a crop full then take her for a private drink. Next we have to talk about bedtime and how that's what the nighttime box is for. That's the only time she fusses is about going to bed. She seems to be mending nicely all things considered. It's not been a good year so far for pullet injuries. One has had all of her comb pecked or pulled off and another had a lot of skin pulled off by hormonal young punk roosters begging to meet up with some dumplings.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Found 2 lizards under the couch after finding this in the corner this morning...

Think he is feeling bad about his crime spree or leaving me the mess...?

Me thinks not. Looks like the guilt free nap.of a serial killer. I disposed of the bodies, so I'm now a co-conspirator.

Further inspection of Mazie I found a few of those darn stick tight fleas on her. Don't know how I missed that with my first 2 inspections. Now we are in the solution with a spa treatment. Vaseline on legs, comb and wattles, bug spray, vitamins and fresh grass. This is at least the 3rd, 4th time I have seen ST fleas bring a bird down to some degree. Little 's.

 

[Smokerbill]

Let my chickens have some freedom again today. Some of them explored about 20 feet from the run. They discovered the little flower garden patch that was here when I bought the house and ate some of the plants. They sampled one of the artichokes I planted there, and scratched over the other one. Oh well, they were having fun.

 

[Devyn Nagy]

Chased a coyote out of their pen just now. Luckily everyone's okay!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Moving about 30 that I hatched out of an indoor brooder into an outdoor brooder coop. I've got one injured 3 mo old pullet that only eats if I hand feed her. I can put her down in front of a pan of feed and move a few feet to a chair and she will look at the feed and then fly up to my lap and sit and wait for me to pick up the pan and sit down with it so she can eat properly. I know why she is doing this. She is being picked on by the rest of the flock and she has found security in my lap.

Poor baby. Sounds like she's found her safe spot and wants to stick to it

I put an old broken oak chair in the run to give them some new "mental stimulation". LOL

Then I mixed up a quart of mash and gave it to them, which was a welcome treat! They snarfed it down. Piled a bunch of big rocks at one corner of the run that wasn't as secure as I wanted it to be. It'll take a strong, persistant animal to move those rocks out of the way.

I might let them out of the run for a little while again today and see how far they'll range from the run. First day no farther than 6 feet. Yesterday, 10 feet. I think the open sky frightens them.

I do know they have a genetic knowledge of sky predators. A few days ago one saw the shadow of a crow flying over in the grass outside the coop. I heard the warning call and they froze. Interesting!

I just love how chickens behave their first time out in the great outdoors

Found 2 lizards under the couch after finding this in the corner this morning... View attachment 3515234Think he is feeling bad about his crime spree or leaving me the mess...? View attachment 3515245Me thinks not. Looks like the guilt free nap.of a serial killer. I disposed of the bodies, so I'm now a co-conspirator.

Further inspection of Mazie I found a few of those darn stick tight fleas on her. Don't know how I missed that with my first 2 inspections. Now we are in the solution with a spa treatment. Vaseline on legs, comb and wattles, bug spray, vitamins and fresh grass. This is at least the 3rd, 4th time I have seen ST fleas bring a bird down to some degree. Little 's.

Definitely the face of a serial killer

That puppy I found had what I thought were baby dog ticks covering his ears. I mean hundreds of them in tight little clusters. I was telling my kid about them as I searched the rest of him for more and she said those were stick tight fleas! I used a little jewelers loop to look closer and sure enough, they had legs on one side only. I didn't think we had them here due to our dry climate and I've never seen them. So I read about them in more depth and they sound awful. Think I got them all from the puppy but I'll keep a close eye on the other animals for a bit just in case.

I'd been considering re-trying deep litter and now I'm thinking I'll skip it. I had deep wood bark mulch all over my garden for years and then we got hit with dog ticks. They thrived in that wood bark mulch so I chose to remove it all as part of a non-chemical way to rid ourselves of the ticks. Took a lot of time and effort but it worked. Haven't seen a tick in years. In your tropical climate there's probably not a lot you can do but what you already are though.

Let my chickens have some freedom again today. Some of them explored about 20 feet from the run. They discovered the little flower garden patch that was here when I bought the house and ate some of the plants. They sampled one of the artichokes I planted there, and scratched over the other one. Oh well, they were having fun.

View attachment 3515425View attachment 3515428View attachment 3515430

They look so happy! If they're too destructive in your flowers, you can stick some sticks upright in the dirt to keep them out of your flowers. I do that a lot to keep chickens out of areas or cats from using my food garden as a litter box.

Chased a coyote out of their pen just now. Luckily everyone's okay!

Glad they're ok! Good job chasing it off and it stays away.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Thread 'Mountain lion...IN THE COOP!' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mountain-lion-in-the-coop.1581278/

Did any of you folks catch this one?!!!

 

[TropicalBabies]

@ChicksnMore I think our sticktights may have come from Forest or maybe Koke'e. IDK, no way to tell, but wish we had never gotten them. I go months without seeing one and then I'll have a bird sick and just a few on its comb. Too much to be a coincidence, they must make the birds feel bad. I checked the rest of the flock with my readers on and did not see more. I hope none jump off that pup. These little have been a pain. They say to remove 4" of soil and treat... sounds easy right? Good news is they die easy with Vaseline. If it gets bad I'll treat flock with invermectin and do battle in the soil too. Think serious treatment of animals Better go kill that darn rat (and co) too.

 

[Nomadicus]

Thread 'Mountain lion...IN THE COOP!' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mountain-lion-in-the-coop.1581278/

Did any of you folks catch this one?!!!

Yes I have read it. Dangerous with the small kids outside playing.