What did you do with your flock today?

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

@Luv Ducks I’m glad you’re here! I love hearing about other birds besides chickens! Someday I plan to have call ducks because they are tiny and adorable They aren’t practical in my suburban neighborhood but some day when I have acreage and cows and goats, I will have all sorts of poultry!

I won’t go into the whole long story as it’s late and I should be sleeping—but Axel is showing signs of improvement and I’m very tentatively hopeful. Last week he couldn’t walk at all or move his right wing…today he actually stood up on his own for a second and walked a step and his right wing partly flapped. I have been giving him vitamin B Complex for about 1.5 weeks and it’s paying off. He also ate a bunch of scrambled quail eggs I made him today and some chick feed. Fingers crossed he’s even better tomorrow **Note to self, don’t use medicated chick starter for longer than 4 weeks

I enjoyed the coolest morning we’ve had in weeks this morning and took a couple pictures. Such good birdies and had to throw in a couple pics of my kids and the pets!

U have some amazing babies!!! So glad to hear Axel is some better! Prayin full recovery soon for him...he's gorgeous!
Is that a splash EE?! Just gorgeous! And your d'uccles!!!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I was taught to not use medicated as then the birds do not build their own imunity JMHO

 

[ChicksnMore]

I tried to take a video of the ducks playing today and failed miserably! I somehow turned it off without realizing. I'll try again another day...but ducks playing in water is about the most joyful thing.

I ended up working on my garden the rest of today as I need helping hands for my duck project. Had to refresh a couple mini beds and cleaned up the scrap wood. Then had to do some work in the tortoises area...the cooler weather had him being frisky and mischievous.

We were getting teased with a storm passing over us...but it didn't even give us a tiny spit of rain. It sure made for comfortable work though!

One of my roses is getting ready to bloom.

 

[kurby22]

I was taught to not use medicated as then the birds do not build their own imunity JMHOView attachment 3204834

Yeah, I wish I’d had more people caution me on the use of it. I feel bad that my lack of research essentially killed them

U have some amazing babies!!! So glad to hear Axel is some better! Prayin full recovery soon for him...he's gorgeous!
Is that a splash EE?! Just gorgeous! And your d'uccles!!!

Thanks! I sure hope he recovers soon too! He makes a big mess haha She is actually a true Splash Ameraucana and I just adore her. She’s so beautiful and so sweet I love my d’Uccles they are just the nicest birds! Definitely not show quality, but they are amazing little birds we enjoy!

Oh WOW, Beautiful Chicks and Child too!!! I am so glad to hear that yours is doing better. Glad you got a cool morning too and hopefully your weather will get better. We are heading into the 90's here and I am dreading it. My Ducks have plenty of shade and get to take their daily baths so they seem to be fine at this point. Thanks for sharing those beautiful pictures, I loved them!!!

Thank you! I do love seeing my kids with the animals, it always makes my heart swell Yes, I will take my heat over heat out your way though! You all have so much more humidity and I would just DIE in 90+ degrees and over 50% humidity all the time It’s nice that sucks can spend time in water in summer! My chickens just won’t do it! They will sit and stand on ice packs, but not stand in water. Although Spider my big Polish boy will stand right under the misters and get wet that way. Only bird who does that haha. He’s so pretty, I just love how his coloring is coming together.

Well, kind of a rough morning for me. Got woken up by the alarm dog @12am. Had those 2 cute pooches back in our yard, one trying to get on the lanai again. Me and the cats attached ourselves to the ceiling with Elliotts first initial alarm crazy. Just kidding, they scrambled under beds as I clamored for flashlight and jacket but my goodness ... Took a few times to get the dogs gone and cats coaxed back out. Did not sleep well as I wanted to be on the ready.
I did have a "conversation" with the dog owner a few days ago and asked that she tie her dogs up or keep them out of my property as I have chickens and well... nuff said. They had chased a few wild pigs through that day... anywho, she... they.... I heard a baby... are squatting at a tree house left by an old property. Why-o-why she would bring her baby and why-o-why would she cop and attitude with me when she is in the triple wrong ? Possibly just a hippee adventure but she is not supposed to be there. And well, I have not called DLNR but I may today. Unsupervised dogs wandering freely makes me nervous to say the least. Afraid to leave my chooks in the run let alone unsupervised. Anywho, maybe I'll go try and have another "chat" and just keep a loaded pellet gun for when dogs come back. So much more complicated that way. lol.
Def not enjoying my time much yet but probably just getting used to things. Not many walk/hikes cuz dogs and plus gave myself food poisoning lol. Just trying to stay close, rehydrate and do chores... and this too shall pass.

So there is today's fussy gripe lol.
Other than that, flock is awesome!

I’m sorry to hear about the dogs! That’s a scary thing to wake up to, plus super frustrating!

Good job with Axel! I'll keep my fingers crossed he keeps improving

I've never used medicated chick starter and would love to hear what you've learned from your recent experiences.

Your frizzle makes me think of Phyllis Diller What a head of hair on that baby!

@TropicalBabies Too late for before pics...but I'll get some during and after! I pulled the vines this morning and tried to lift the sunken side. Instead of lifting, it shifted forward just a tad. Oops! But I'll try again with a helper tomorrow. If I can lift that side, I can put brick under it with spaces to let water drain. I still want the water done there so it waters the tree and vines...but I think I'll add some kind of platform with drainage there inside the run. And slant it so the water drains where I want. Didn't quite know what I was starting! Thought it'd be a quick simple thing to move the ducks there...it wasn't til I looked at that front panel and thought about how to drain their 80 gal bucket that I paused. Of course, by then I'd already pulled out all the chicken roosts and shelter. Still...I'll make it work...

I know isn’t that frizzle look just the best?? I’m entertained by her everyday I see her haha. I came close to naming her Phyllis but chose Josephine Baker instead hehe.

The medicated feed is not bad…it just needs to be carefully used and only for a short time I guess. I didn’t know, but the Amprolium used in the feed is a thiamine blocker which is how it prevents coccidiosis in baby chicks. However, the thiamine blocking properties can create nutrient deficiencies if you keep them on it for more than the first 4-6 weeks. And Polish and silkies are super susceptible to deficiencies anyway, so it was just a bad combo of things. I was told chick starter was good till they first lay and didn’t realize that wasn’t the case with the medicated feed. So lesson learned. A bunch of Polish breeders told me when I shared his issues that they only feed for first 4 weeks and then begin a feed ration of 80:20 non-medicated:medicated until 8 weeks and then no more medicated. It wasn’t an issue for ANY of my other chicks but the Polish and Spider and Josie seem to have made it without issue as well. Weakish genetics could likely play a role as well. I just hope this is the last of it!

 

[TropicalBabies]

So walked up the road to get a photo for you folks cuz it is just so darn pretty up here. I decided to stop by the tree house to check on the family to see if they were ok and ask one more time if they could be sure to secure their pups. The husband was there and he had to be the nicest, salt of the earth, total kind soul. So, instead of dlnr I'm going to pack them a basket of fresh papaya and star fruit from our yard and some fresh eggs lol. Think they would like that and I'd feel way better about asking for support instead of demanding.
Sometimes I just forget how well GOOD karma works as opposed to self will run wild.
Oh, and here is the promised photo.

And another of Forest the chicken herder in his element.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Splash Ameraucana

Wow! May just have to add that to the list! Beautiful!

Spider my big Polish boy will stand right under the misters and get wet that way. Only bird who does that haha. He’s so pretty, I just love how his coloring is coming together.

Oh the coloring is stunnin!!!

Amprolium used in the feed is a thiamine blocker which is how it prevents coccidiosis in baby chicks. However, the thiamine blocking properties can create nutrient deficiencies if you keep them on it for more than the first 4-6 weeks. And Polish and silkies are super susceptible to deficiencies anyway, so it was just a bad combo of things

👁 what?! OMGeeze!
I've never heard this and always fed this to all my babies! And since I only have Joey as a big boy and all others are under 4 months old they ALL have been eating it!!!
And I just bought new 50lb bag! What do I do? I've not had any problems at all with any of em. How'd yall hear bout this? I must have missed some posts somewhere along the way.
I hadn't heard anyone talk on Silkies thread bout this have you @kurby22 ?

 

[kurby22]

Wow! May just have to add that to the list! Beautiful!

Oh the coloring is stunnin!!!

👁 what?! OMGeeze!
I've never heard this and always fed this to all my babies! And since I only have Joey as a big boy and all others are under 4 months old they ALL have been eating it!!!
And I just bought new 50lb bag! What do I do? I've not had any problems at all with any of em. How'd yall hear bout this? I must have missed some posts somewhere along the way.
I hadn't heard anyone talk on Silkies thread bout this have you @kurby22 ?

If you've had no issues I’d say don’t worry about it. I have a feeling it’s only a problem when the genetics in the chicken make them prone to issues. I am guessing that large fowl Polish are more susceptible to the issue since they grow so fast and thiamine is a pretty essential vitamin. I probably won’t use it ever again just because of my experience, but many people use it and never have issues. I’d say use what you bought and just be aware of the possibility it can happen. Providing them with vitamins in their water is always a good idea too! I have started that and think it will just be part of their routine! The other option you can have it to buy non-medicated and mix it with the medicated…that way it’s not all they eat! Don’t worry!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Good morning everyone. We are still in heat wave ..
Better half did not realize I had blocked the nests yesterday.
Birds had one nest in the shavings behind the nest boxes? made another.

 

[Luv Ducks]

So walked up the road to get a photo for you folks cuz it is just so darn pretty up here. I decided to stop by the tree house to check on the family to see if they were ok and ask one more time if they could be sure to secure their pups. The husband was there and he had to be the nicest, salt of the earth, total kind soul. So, instead of dlnr I'm going to pack them a basket of fresh papaya and star fruit from our yard and some fresh eggs lol. Think they would like that and I'd feel way better about asking for support instead of demanding.
Sometimes I just forget how well GOOD karma works as opposed to self will run wild.
Oh, and here is the promised photo.View attachment 3205034
And another of Forest the chicken herder in his element. View attachment 3205040

Beautiful pictures!!!! Thanks for sharing. You are so right that a little bit of Honey goes a lot father than a taste of vinegar. Kindness can make people think twice about looking out for their neighbors. I pray that this works out well for you and I am happy that you decided to go this route.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Yeah, I wish I’d had more people caution me on the use of it. I feel bad that my lack of research essentially killed them


Thanks! I sure hope he recovers soon too! He makes a big mess haha She is actually a true Splash Ameraucana and I just adore her. She’s so beautiful and so sweet I love my d’Uccles they are just the nicest birds! Definitely not show quality, but they are amazing little birds we enjoy!

Thank you! I do love seeing my kids with the animals, it always makes my heart swell Yes, I will take my heat over heat out your way though! You all have so much more humidity and I would just DIE in 90+ degrees and over 50% humidity all the time It’s nice that sucks can spend time in water in summer! My chickens just won’t do it! They will sit and stand on ice packs, but not stand in water. Although Spider my big Polish boy will stand right under the misters and get wet that way. Only bird who does that haha. He’s so pretty, I just love how his coloring is coming together.
View attachment 3204987


I’m sorry to hear about the dogs! That’s a scary thing to wake up to, plus super frustrating!

I know isn’t that frizzle look just the best?? I’m entertained by her everyday I see her haha. I came close to naming her Phyllis but chose Josephine Baker instead hehe.

The medicated feed is not bad…it just needs to be carefully used and only for a short time I guess. I didn’t know, but the Amprolium used in the feed is a thiamine blocker which is how it prevents coccidiosis in baby chicks. However, the thiamine blocking properties can create nutrient deficiencies if you keep them on it for more than the first 4-6 weeks. And Polish and silkies are super susceptible to deficiencies anyway, so it was just a bad combo of things. I was told chick starter was good till they first lay and didn’t realize that wasn’t the case with the medicated feed. So lesson learned. A bunch of Polish breeders told me when I shared his issues that they only feed for first 4 weeks and then begin a feed ration of 80:20 non-medicated:medicated until 8 weeks and then no more medicated. It wasn’t an issue for ANY of my other chicks but the Polish and Spider and Josie seem to have made it without issue as well. Weakish genetics could likely play a role as well. I just hope this is the last of it!

That's so funny! My birds are the opposite...I tried giving them ice and they wouldn't go near that bowl until it melted...but they love standing in plain water!
Gosh that bird is a stunner! I definitely want to get some of those...because I'm nuts and really need more birds right? But none the less...just seeing him makes my heart smile.

So walked up the road to get a photo for you folks cuz it is just so darn pretty up here. I decided to stop by the tree house to check on the family to see if they were ok and ask one more time if they could be sure to secure their pups. The husband was there and he had to be the nicest, salt of the earth, total kind soul. So, instead of dlnr I'm going to pack them a basket of fresh papaya and star fruit from our yard and some fresh eggs lol. Think they would like that and I'd feel way better about asking for support instead of demanding.
Sometimes I just forget how well GOOD karma works as opposed to self will run wild.
Oh, and here is the promised photo.View attachment 3205034
And another of Forest the chicken herder in his element. View attachment 3205040

O wow that view is to die for! Thank you so much for sharing it Hawaii is such a beautiful place and you get to enjoy both the ocean side and the mountains! Sounds as close to an ideal life as a person can get.

I absolutely love how your handling your situation. When you said there was a baby there as well living in a tree house...it must be a scary time for that family. I hope it all works out well for both you and them. Can I just say thank you for being you?

I spent the day on the garden again. My helper was busy today...so maybe tomorrow I pulled apart a lot of the coop I pulled out though. Planted some green beans, yellow squash and some kind of Japanese squash that sounded yummy... forgotten the name, but I kept the seed packet. It was teasing us on rain again and actually did sprinkle a little...I think maybe 30 drops fell Just enough for me to leave my phone inside!
So instead of chicken pics... I'll share pics of my oldest daughters kitty. This is Maggie...she's named for the female boxer in Million Dollar Baby. She loves to bat people in the face while purring

And her dog Billybob.

And her dog Charlie...lol.