What did you do with your flock today?

[kurby22]

It's amazing how spacious a coop seems when you move the young birds in from the brooder....compared to how cramped it becomes once they grow up. I'm so thankful these coops were already built when we bought this place. But having them built and clearly decades old, we made the mistake of assuming the previous owners had everything in place that was needed. So we learned as we went along. We have the chickens and guineas for insect control as much as for eggs. So that's why we have so many birds. We dont expect them to patrol the entire 36 acres of course, but they took is from absolutely infested with ticks to no ticks in less than two weeks. That all by itself makes all of these birds worth gold to me. Plus they're hilariously entertaining .

I can totally appreciate wanting guineas for tick control!! I am just terrified of ticks and their diseases and would probably own a whole barn full of guineas if it meant no ticks!

I also feel like you that it’s frustrating to feel like your babies are suffering from your own learning curve missteps. I feel the same way…I tried so hard to read up on everything possible so I was prepared and I still made and keep making so many errors that I learn from but sometimes the consequences of the learning suck. :-( I hope you don’t get too much snow and cold!

It sounds like the chicken dynamics are
getting figured out but a little bumpy! Hopefully they figure it out without you needing to stress too much!

 

[kurby22]

Awww thanks!

I'll post some "Holy crap! What the heck is this stuff?" photos in the morning when I open the coop door and the reds see snow for the first time. The youngs will likely have gotten out and seen it before I get out of bed though. And DH let me know just now that he'd gone out around midnight (1:34 am for us now) and the dumb guineas were back outside on the roost in the enclosure getting snowed on instead of staying in the warm(ish) dry coop.

Hahaha seriously never knew how accurate the phrase “bird brained” actually was till owning quail and hearing stories about guineas and such hope they manage to stay warm enough!

 

[kurby22]

Today I got my Christmas presents installed finally! No more constant jumping up while working to run outside at every strange Chicken noise!

I love it!! They’re obviously still needing to be positioned in better places to see more completely, but I love being able to check on them whenever I start to worry! Woohoo!

Also, I haven’t posted a cute kitten pic for a couple days, so I had to add some

And last, my spoiled old lady Frenchie got a new hoodie today…safe to say she’s not really a huge fan of the hood

 

[629864]

Today I got my Christmas presents installed finally! No more constant jumping up while working to run outside at every strange Chicken noise!

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I love it!! They’re obviously still needing to be positioned in better places to see more completely, but I love being able to check on them whenever I start to worry! Woohoo!

Also, I haven’t posted a cute kitten pic for a couple days, so I had to add some

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And last, my spoiled old lady Frenchie got a new hoodie today…safe to say she’s not really a huge fan of the hood

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Wooohooo! Chicken cams.... those are awesome! My chicken "cam" is my office window.

To quote one of cinema's greatest films (with a little tweak): Miyuki is so fluffy, I'm gonna die! ❤❤❤

Your frenchie looks super fly in her new hoodie. I just love spoiled-with-love animals.

 

[629864]

Hahaha seriously never knew how accurate the phrase “bird brained” actually was till owning quail and hearing stories about guineas and such hope they manage to stay warm enough!

We describe our guineas as "survival challenged".

We started with 26 and all survived until we moved them from the brooder cages to the coop. The coop, mind you, was originally built with high roosts especially for guineas...which our current flock of EEs and BLs have successfully roosted on since they were 8 weeks old. The guineas, however, ... well, 6 managed to kill themselves by breaking their own necks on the bottom of the roosting bars, 6 got killed by their flock mates the first week in the coop (3x the SF of the brooder, but somehow they suddenly felt cramped???). Finally, 7 got taken by coyotes because they couldnt resist flying to the lower unfenced pasture and 4 by our LGDs because they couldn't stop hopping over into that paddock). The remaining three seem hellbent on following in the footsteps of their brooder mates.

 

[629864]

Good morning everyone. As promised, here are some photos of this morning's excitement.

The dogs thought they'd died and gone to heaven:

The enclosure is covered in 1-inch chicken wire on top. I did NOT expect it to hold snow. I am shocked and super thankful that it didn't collapse under the weight (this is very old and sketchy wood):

But it did mean that the littles came out of their coop to a relatively snowless run.

Hawk still didnt like it though.

The reds weren't too phased by it and everyone appreciated (and used) the paths I cleared through the chicken yard.

I've got them confined to their coops, the run, and the chicken yard. If/when the snow melts, I'll let them out to the rest of the area they typically roam every day.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Good morning gang,, happy Aloha Sunday! Loving the good stories, fabulous and fun photos ♡ from high tech to high fashion to fuzzy and snow flake beauty.
I've been waiting for Miaki updates ♡♡♡ love the hood, love the cam. I def want one, just don't want another thechy item or headache. How was instal and learning curve?
Snow is beautiful and very classic picturesq. I had no idea that guinea were so dumb.

My first year losses were coccidia. I knew nothing about it and then started fining my second batch of babies all puffed up a few days after a rain. After my learng curve and loss of one or more I could not find any corid on island and shipping was weeks away. I had the sweetest babies dying in my hands and could not do anything about it. It was sad and overwhelming and I felt like a horribly stupid human and failure. I did finally get my corrid and my losses stopped but that was not my last big lesson.
My little dog started to pick my chicks off and I did not figure out it was him till he killed my favorite chick 10' from my husband.
My biggest knowledge gain was from a BR pullet. Beautiful but sick. A number of symptoms that started compounding. I had the great luck to have the most wonderful and supportive gal on byc take me under her wing. She helped me stock up and throw the kitchen sink at this bird. It was hard as everything I had to order online. Our feed stores had squat. I lost the bird, culling her after about 2 months of intense trying and the whole while fearing she may infect my flock but I kept the lessons and that has helped me have more wins than losses now. Thank goodness.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Good morning everyone. As promised, here are some photos of this morning's excitement.

The dogs thought they'd died and gone to heaven:

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The enclosure is covered in 1-inch chicken wire on top. I did NOT expect it to hold snow. I am shocked and super thankful that it didn't collapse under the weight (this is very old and sketchy wood):

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But it did mean that the littles came out of their coop to a relatively snowless run.

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Hawk still didnt like it though.

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The reds weren't too phased by it and everyone appreciated (and used) the paths I cleared through the chicken yard.

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I've got them confined to their coops, the run, and the chicken yard. If/when the snow melts, I'll let them out to the rest of the area they typically roam every day.

Absolutely beautiful photos of a stunning and fabulously functioning flock ♡♡
Hows being a chicken farmer in the snow going? 🌨

 

[629864]

Absolutely beautiful photos of a stunning and fabulously functioning flock ♡♡
Hows being a chicken farmer in the snow going? 🌨

The snow is melting fast, thank goodness. Leaving a sloggy mucky mess behind, but that's ok. It'll get up to about 40F today, so the birds are all out enjoying the sun. Even our two new ladies are starting to become part of the flock I hope:

They still refuse to leave the run, but that's good...establishing a home base before venturing further.

And one of my reds was mated by the BL rooster who I believe is establishing himself as Alpha. He has a little more white starting to poke through on his tail and the other roosters always make way when he approaches.

 

[629864]

I had no idea that guinea were so dumb.

Our neighbor said his sister keeps trying to have guineas, but "they're too talented at dying." Everyone else around here has similar things to say about guineas. One guy buys about 2 dozen each spring to control ticks..knowing full well he likely wont have any that reach winter.

My first year losses were coccidia. I knew nothing about it and then started fining my second batch of babies all puffed up a few days after a rain. After my learng curve and loss of one or more I could not find any corid on island and shipping was weeks away. I had the sweetest babies dying in my hands and could not do anything about it. It was sad and overwhelming and I felt like a horribly stupid human and failure. I did finally get my corrid and my losses stopped but that was not my last big lesson.
My little dog started to pick my chicks off and I did not figure out it was him till he killed my favorite chick 10' from my husband.
My biggest knowledge gain was from a BR pullet. Beautiful but sick. A number of symptoms that started compounding. I had the great luck to have the most wonderful and supportive gal on byc take me under her wing. She helped me stock up and throw the kitchen sink at this bird. It was hard as everything I had to order online. Our feed stores had squat. I lost the bird, culling her after about 2 months of intense trying and the whole while fearing she may infect my flock but I kept the lessons and that has helped me have more wins than losses now. Thank goodness.

I'm sorry you had to learn through such tough experiences. That's rough ☹. But thank you so much for sharing. It definitely helps.