What did you do with your flock today?

[Nomadicus]

I started the last phase of adding a few to the flocks this morning putting some eggs into lock down. Didn't count but around 30. Tossed one that quit early and kept two that I think have also quit but not 100% sure. Should here cheeping starting possible sometime late Monday or Tuesday. The last batch started early. By this time next week I hope I can have both hatches together while they start feathering out for the outdoor brooder. I've got to somehow manage to get a Dark Cornish pullet back in her coop. Got no idea how she got out this morning. She was on the roost at bed check last night. I'll be tickled if it is one of the girls that went missing a couple months ago and decided to come home.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I was out running errands on this gusty, rainy day until dark. So glad I decided to check on the chooks when I got home even though they've all been faithfully trooping into the coop long before the auto-door closes at dark, for MONTHS now, even with the much-shorter days.

I slogged through the soggy yard and dang if FIVE of the 8 girls weren't all huddled against the side of the coop in the rain, all forlorn, having "missed curfew"! The naughty pullets were so dark-drunk I had to open the big access door and pick them up, one by one, and place them inside, where they hunched rather blearily like, "Where am I? What just happened?" After I checked for late eggs they were STILL sitting on the coop floor, so I ended up placing each sleepy, passive girl on her regular roosting spot while the 3 "good girls" grumped at being disturbed.

Why on earth they decided to be tardy on such a rainy day, I've no idea. And the Queen was one of them! Poor leadership, Miss Pauline! Good thing for y'all I'm obsessive about checking on you at night!

Wonder if they caught a mouse or some tidbit to chase each other over .

Bet they were so glad for you

 

[ChicksnMore]

Oh my goodness! He is doing so well and you are doing an amazing job (as ever - definitely have healing hands ❤).
Is it worth trying a nipple waterer with him?

It just might be! I've never used those before...but he loves to eat/drink from his little eyedropper I've been using to syringe feed him. He gets excited when he sees it and tries to stuff the whole thing in his mouth. At this point I just ooze a little on the tip and he grabs it off on his own. Never had a baby reluctant to drink water before. He was willing to at first until he fell in the water dish. Now he pulls away when I try to offer water. I should have remembered the gravel in the water dish trick

 

[Smokerbill]

Wonder if they caught a mouse or some tidbit to chase each other over .View attachment 3687020
Bet they were so glad for you

I was looking at the chickens in the run from my bedroom window yesterday afternoon and one of them was pacing back and forth a couple of feet along the fence, looking up all the time.

After a minute or two of this she jumped up in the air a few feet and grabbed something and ate it. And quit pacing around. She nabbed some type of flying bug. I felt like giving her a round of applause.

This specific hen is a great forager compared to the others. She looks kind of like she has a little aracauna in her gene pool. She's a little slimmer than the other "Barred Rocks", and has a less pronounced comb and lighter coloration.

 

[featherhead007]

I was looking at the chickens in the run from my bedroom window yesterday afternoon and one of them was pacing back and forth a couple of feet along the fence, looking up all the time.

After a minute or two of this she jumped up in the air a few feet and grabbed something and ate it. And quit pacing around. She nabbed some type of flying bug. I felt like giving her a round of applause.

This specific hen is a great forager compared to the others. She looks kind of like she has a little aracauna in her gene pool. She's a little slimmer than the other "Barred Rocks", and has a less pronounced comb and lighter coloration.

It’s good to be a Rock!

 

[ValerieJ]

No and I'm afraid that she's gone. I've looked all around where she might have gone off to nest in secret. No sign of her coming in for feed. I just have no idea what could have slipped in and took her with out a trace. No feathers left behind at all.

I am just so sad for you. It is so hard not knowing what happened or where she is. I hope she shows back up just as mysteriously as she disappeared.

It is lovely to hear more about you and your flock!
Especially about your older hens who are no longer laying. As you may have gathered, I'm a big lover of ex-battery ladies. I rescue hens when I can and support the British Hen Welfare Trust's work as I don't believe that hens are a disposable commodity for us to exploit. As you know, they are intelligent little beings with so much personality and that doesn't change when their producing life is over. It's great that you (and most others on here) keep them around ❤

I love the older hens too, and think they are my favorites. Wordy, Birdie and Gertie were my second little flock back in 2017, so they will be 8 in February. They are beautiful Australorps. Very instrumental in teaching the new cockerel some manners.

Mine go absolutely crazy in the coconut over a chicken carcass and swarm it like little beaked piranhas! Not much left at the end.
Of course, it's illegal to feed any household scraps to chickens in the U.K. so obviously I don't

What? How can they regulate that? That's the silliest law I ever heard of. Who in the world thought, "Gosh, you know what we need to outlaw? Feeding scraps to chickens instead of the mulch pile. We can't have any privileged chickens around here!" I mean, seriously, that was even a thought in someone's head? SMH

 

[ChicksnMore]

I am just so sad for you. It is so hard not knowing what happened or where she is. I hope she shows back up just as mysteriously as she disappeared.

I love the older hens too, and think they are my favorites. Wordy, Birdie and Gertie were my second little flock back in 2017, so they will be 8 in February. They are beautiful Australorps. Very instrumental in teaching the new cockerel some manners.

What? How can they regulate that? That's the silliest law I ever heard of. Who in the world thought, "Gosh, you know what we need to outlaw? Feeding scraps to chickens instead of the mulch pile. We can't have any privileged chickens around here!" I mean, seriously, that was even a thought in someone's head? SMH

Supposedly there's an old law in Arizona making it illegal to keep a donkey in the bathtub. Really makes you wonder how that came about.

 

[Nomadicus]

Supposedly there's an old law in Arizona making it illegal to keep a donkey in the bathtub. Really makes you wonder how that came about.

Yup. There are lots of old laws like that. I've read a bunch of them a couple of years back. Now I wonder what kind of laws were made concerning chickens?

 

[featherhead007]

Yup. There are lots of old laws like that. I've read a bunch of them a couple of years back. Now I wonder what kind of laws were made concerning chickens?

Only two legal things that can be littered from a vehicle. Water and chicken feathers

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Yesterday I set up the see/don't touch outside nursery for the babies. The weather has been so nice, up in the mid-high 70's during the day. They're 2 weeks now so im hoping to get them out for some field trips later this week. Im nervous about the transport part. I have a cat carrier to take them back and forth, but actually gathering them without risking one getting free is going to be tricky. They're terrified of me and make health checks hard enough as it is.

My big girls are getting sweeter by the day. Funny how they used to be flighty and suddenly as they started coming into lay they've gotten almost affectionate. They come right to me and let me pet them. Even my white leghorn who basically became untouchable once I put them in the run comes up to me for pets.

Well...all except my buff orphington. I don't know what her deal is. She's 25/26 weeks old, barely red in the face and will not let me near her. She will peck at my hand if I even try. I had no idea buffs could be so slow to mature. hoping she gets sweeter when she comes into lay (which im beginning to think might be never). I always read they had a reputation for being super friendly. So far mine is not living up to that. Meanwhile my RIR is basically a lap chicken which ive heard is out of character for the breed.

Next up to lay will be my Easter Egger. she's been red in the face for a couple of weeks now. I check twice a day waiting for my colorful egg. im impatient but it also has added so much excitement to my days.