What did you do with your flock today?

[Roxadee]

my geese are cool my gander follows me everywhere and of course the girls follow the gander I called my male Papa; I haven't named the girls, and I am not sure why I haven't. I should. I can't pet them anymore; when they were little, they didn't mind, but now, for some strange goose reason, they won't. Papa is only friendly to me; everyone else gets a hiss, including my husband, who loves Papa dearly. I brought my husband into the pen last night to help me look at a lump on one of the females jaws that went south real quick. I wish I had a better idea of how to look into it.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Today was THE winter preparation day for the coops and OMG am I exhausted. We cleaned out and added fresh shavings to ALL 15 coops and the 6 breeding cages, filled the feeders, cleaned, scrubbed, and filled all the waterers, laid down straw and PDZ for the mud, refilled oyster shell, cut down annoying new tree branches and made them into roost bars, and set up tarps and draft blockers. Took from 7 am till 3 pm…chickens and quail were so happy to have clean bedding and dust bathing piles it helped make it worth the agony to my back! It was an all hands on deck kind of operation…kids cleaning coops, husband hauling feed and shavings and crap all over and trouble shooting auto doors and battery changes, me scrubbing algae waterers in the mud…good day of hard labor. I hope they appreciate it! By 5:30 the sky opened up and dumped for the rest of the night, so so much for the drier runs But at least tarps will help keep some areas dry-er.

We leave at 6 am for a short family vacation to see my friend up in Seattle tomorrow so they better stay alive and healthy! My friend has a cabin 25 mins from Leavenworth so we are going to go enjoy a fun German Christmas town with reindeer visits and a sleigh ride, and maybe some sledding and evenings in the hot tub. The chickens better behave so I can enjoy the time away without stressing! Must sleep now! Goodnight chicken friends

Hope your not sore today! I'm sure your birds are all glad for the trip preparation!
Hope your Seattle trip goes well without hiccups. It certainly sounds fun!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Ooh, nice! What are your geese like? I’ve never known any to be super friendly, but to be fair I never spent a lot of time with them. I feel like they could be some pretty cool birds.

I have two friendly geese... they're delightful! One is an old girl that likes to stick her head under my skirt and honk up a storm. She also pesters me during breeding season until I smoosh her back and give her a little shake . My others an almost year old gander that follows me around like a puppy dog, shivers his neck at me, nibbles my hair and still wants to be picked up and held. I'm not sure yet what breeding season will look like with a pair...but hoping both keep behaving the same. They're looooud, adorable goofballs. I have a ceramic planter I filled with little rubber duckies...they take the rubber ducks out and throw them in their pool. Then every water clean I put them back in the planter. Funny birds!

 

[kurby22]

15 coops?? How many chickens do you have? Do you keep them all separated for breeding reasons?

Haha yes, I have 4 coops for my general population chicken flocks, and the rest are for showing and breeding flocks I may have a problem focusing on one breed I sell bantam EEs and bantam Cochins, and breed/show d’Anvers, Watermaals, and bantam Ameraucanas.

 

[Nomadicus]

I had a pullet escape while being put in a travel pen. Found her late this afternoon outside her coop without a dry feather on. Brought her inside and dried her up with a hair dryer. She sat perfectly still in my lap and enjoyed the warm air fluffing up her feathers.

 

[PhantomSlayer]

Geese are entertaining. Unless the gander sees you as a threat but I'm lucky enough to not be on that side yet. I like to believe our two geese have bonded to me well. It's become routine on days the flock free range they find themselves outside our frontdoor until I come out with food and they all escort me to their run. Gus stays closer to me than Gizzy.

Geese are like toddlers or puppies of the bird world. Atleast thats my experience with our 2 that are under a year old. Their loud, they wont stop chewing stuff they shouldn't be chewing, they drop things into their pool. We've found sticks, food dishes and toys. If they can they will dump their water bowls. Ours don't like to cuddle sadly. If they see me come out they escort me around but if I'm not they go around with our chickens. We have a male toulouse and a female american buff.


Technically I didnt get to do much with our flock today unless you count me cleaning out a vehicle while having our geese yelling at me from the run. And I ran into a issue checking to chicken eggs. I think our geese are breaking them to eat. So I need to fix our collapsed nesting box asap diy instead of waiting for money. Why couldnt they wait a month..

 

[PopoMyers]

Welcome to the crazy chicken lady club!

And the gentlemen, too, @LTAY1946 @Smokerbill . Our love for chickens and poultry is what binds us together.

 

[PopoMyers]

It happens so fast! I started June and already added 4 more and extended the run. Next project is new coop!

You are not alone...I think we all have and cannot count the changes we've made to our coops and runs. Chicken Math is real! X= ?

 

[PopoMyers]

Today was THE winter preparation day for the coops and OMG am I exhausted. We cleaned out and added fresh shavings to ALL 15 coops and the 6 breeding cages, filled the feeders, cleaned, scrubbed, and filled all the waterers, laid down straw and PDZ for the mud, refilled oyster shell, cut down annoying new tree branches and made them into roost bars, and set up tarps and draft blockers. Took from 7 am till 3 pm…chickens and quail were so happy to have clean bedding and dust bathing piles it helped make it worth the agony to my back! It was an all hands on deck kind of operation…kids cleaning coops, husband hauling feed and shavings and crap all over and trouble shooting auto doors and battery changes, me scrubbing algae waterers in the mud…good day of hard labor. I hope they appreciate it! By 5:30 the sky opened up and dumped for the rest of the night, so so much for the drier runs But at least tarps will help keep some areas dry-er.

We leave at 6 am for a short family vacation to see my friend up in Seattle tomorrow so they better stay alive and healthy! My friend has a cabin 25 mins from Leavenworth so we are going to go enjoy a fun German Christmas town with reindeer visits and a sleigh ride, and maybe some sledding and evenings in the hot tub. The chickens better behave so I can enjoy the time away without stressing! Must sleep now! Goodnight chicken friends

Have a lovely time in Leavenworth. So funny, I live here and haven't gone there yet. Maybe the Christmas lights are still up?

 

[PopoMyers]

Haha yes, I have 4 coops for my general population chicken flocks, and the rest are for showing and breeding flocks I may have a problem focusing on one breed I sell bantam EEs and bantam Cochins, and breed/show d’Anvers, Watermaals, and bantam Ameraucanas.

I think this is the first mention of the actual number of coops you maintain. Wowza! That was a huge job. Yay for teamwork. Now for a.much deserved playcation.