What did you do with your flock today?

[Shetland lover]

Well I think I told you all that JoJo my frizzled Polish boy had a bad case of lice? He recovered slightly from the lice but couldn’t seem to find his stride. I found him passed away yesterday afternoon :-( Sadly, I think Nohope is only a few days off from a similar fate, but I keep holding out in hopes he responds to the vitamins. He sleeps a lot and still eats but not as much :-( Sent JoJo off to be necropsied so hopefully I will learn more about this crap—whatever it is. I did read somewhere that MG affects roosters worse than pullets and hens for some reason. So it explains why the losses are boy heavy I guess. I was painting today and sent my husband to the ups store and he came back laughing because the people at the store were full of questions “Wait, you want to ship a dead chicken? Are you required to? So it is like packed in ice and stuff? Do you have a commercial chicken operation? No?? What do you do with these chickens and why do you need to send it away?” He is pretty sure, as am I, that he will be a story for them for some time! I will miss the weird little beautiful boy-like chicken

We haven’t floated away here yet—but they have issued evacuation notices to lower lying areas in the old floodplains of the rivers that converge here. My younger dog Koda is going insane and running zoomies back and forth from the living room down the hall and into our bedroom…just to get some exercise. My chickens are also totally over it…I went to check on them and Sia was running around just drenched. Silkies look just hilarious when wet I can’t wait till Tuesday when we are supposed to get a bit of a break for longer than a day…I haven’t gotten to just sit and enjoy my babies in weeks :-( I also want to start putting my coop together but can’t really until it dries up more. Need enough dry space to put it up!

Anyway, popped in to say hi. @ChicksnMore i hope you are right and your chickie just had eye irritation! My experience with MG so far has varied enormously from a few eye bubbles that crop up and disappear in some, no signs at all ever, to I’m guessing the deaths I’ve had that ravage their lungs and bring on massive secondary issues and vulnerabilities to the slightest stressors. I’m finding that my MG vaccination works as well as the flu or COVID vaccines. Seems like about 85% success rate and 15% appear as if they never were vaccinated and get super sick. So I hope that your case is just an eye irritant! I think MG sucks. :-(

I'm so sorry, Kurby22. You are having such a rough time with them. Hopefully the necropsy will give you some answers

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

@kurby22 I cannot begin to understand how devastating this has been for yall!
And the mud and downpours!!! That on top of everything else is too much!
I did get a laugh and ibby gibbies out of your 1am fun! I have to trudge around between my run and coop door and sometimes I feel like I'm on a merry go round going back and forth lol!
But doing that in rains and mud or snow and ice is no fun at all!
I hope the necropsy shows what's been going on.

@FBMcrazy8 I can't imagine knowing how to treat and handle poor fellow much less havin to make that decision.

@TropicalBabies how much was that nice greenhouse at costco!? It looked amazing!!!

I overslept in my clean sheets this morning...they were hot out of the dryer last night so guess my rheumatoid body didn't wanna escape that warmth and sleep! I never sleep that long...so went down before coffee and opened pop door for all the babies and noticed poor Daisy (recessive white Satin) was covered in poop from probably ole Joey mating and having poop on his feet...and as freezing cold as it is here a bath would not be good even with blow drying! So I sure.hope she gets down in the dust bath really good!

I definitely see a warm summer day or week rather of chicken baths in our future!

 

[TropicalBabies]

@TropicalBabies how much was that nice greenhouse at costco!? It looked amazing!!!

More than likely at least a few hundred $ cheaper on the mainland. From what I see people charging -and needing to charge cuz ain't no easy thing- to build a coop and for what you get and can get out of this one.... I'd totally do it. Heck, hardly have to think when putting it together and just enough personal upgrades to keep it interesting.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Oh, yeah, the roaches! I do not miss those at all. Had them in TX, and Okinawa Japan as well. Boo will be so beautiful with her shiny new coat, and eyes. How old is this young lad? Mine looks almost like yours, just a little darker with a few brown and dark green hackle sprinkled in. 24 weeks old.

A week over 4 months in that photo. Big good looking boy. He will make a good flock watcher for someone.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

View attachment 3375988
More than likely at least a few hundred $ cheaper on the mainland. From what I see people charging -and needing to charge cuz ain't no easy thing- to build a coop and for what you get and can get out of this one.... I'd totally do it. Heck, hardly have to think when putting it together and just enough personal upgrades to keep it interesting.

Wow....we don't have Costco but my daughter does...may have to get her to look!
But DH would never!!! Lolol...especially after he heard me asking Google while my phone was on charger how many sqft to chicken lolol

 

[TropicalBabies]

Wow....we don't have Costco but my daughter does...may have to get her to look!
But DH would never!!! Lolol...especially after he heard me asking Google while my phone was on charger how many sqft to chicken lolol

Tell him you want it as a green house. Set it up (where you want) and then point out what a great coop it will make and how fun it will be to add some vents and roosts lol. Easy peasy (for me to say )

 

[TropicalBabies]

Sore all over again, after getting the rest of the run area turned by hand. The roof is a bit lower on this side, luckily I'm short, but not short enough to avoid constant bending while doing it. Tarps we have up also sweat! It is 91% humidity, so with the colder temps at night, and warming days, it's drippy. My hair and back were wet by the time I was done. Moved the mole trap. Nothing caught, yet. Asked DH to put Sam cat inside the chicken enclosure tonight when he gets in. Exposed and destroyed all the rat tunnels today, so maybe the cat will catch them. Took the dive and ordered two treadle feeders, which should help, as rats cannot get inside them, unless they weigh over 1.8 pounds.
A dozen eggs from two days. Found a misplaced egg as I was stirring the dirt under the coop. Not sure how long it's been buried in there, but at least it like a refrigerator, and not a summer oven.

Sorry about the sore all over... ☹ but I bet it looks great and hope you get the drainage you are hoping for
How hard would it be to add hardware cloth to the floor of coop and then add dirt and mulch or straw? Easy for me to say right?

Like the cat idea. I would have done the same if the cat did not decide to on its own first. I swear mine and all the strays that like to visit are a saving grace. Have not seen a rat since 1, neighbor cleaned up 50yo junk pile next door and 2, I got Mango, Mochi and especially Forest. Not even on camera, nothing (yet). They used to be a fairly big problem hiding Mango seeds in the shop and we have found some burrowing under and into the old wood burning water heater room.
Was going to put a snap trap under a crate to keep animals safe.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I'm so sorry, Kurby22. You are having such a rough time with them. Hopefully the necropsy will give you some answers

such a good idea ♡♡♡ Too many beautiful babies gone. Many beautiful babies to protect. Never thought of having to ship a bird through the mail looking forward to hearing the results and hopeful mystery solved.

I don't want to sound weird... but I wonder what the land was used for b4 @kurby22 house. We have some pretty questionable spots over here because of the sugar industry.

 

[TropicalBabies]

@Shetland lover I admire your obsession with sharks ESPECIALLY after Jaws lol. Most all people went the opposite direction after watching that movie . I hope your DH can pull it off, your location is terrific AND the weather holds. A heck of a birthday present

 

[ChicksnMore]

Well I think I told you all that JoJo my frizzled Polish boy had a bad case of lice? He recovered slightly from the lice but couldn’t seem to find his stride. I found him passed away yesterday afternoon :-( Sadly, I think Nohope is only a few days off from a similar fate, but I keep holding out in hopes he responds to the vitamins. He sleeps a lot and still eats but not as much :-( Sent JoJo off to be necropsied so hopefully I will learn more about this crap—whatever it is. I did read somewhere that MG affects roosters worse than pullets and hens for some reason. So it explains why the losses are boy heavy I guess. I was painting today and sent my husband to the ups store and he came back laughing because the people at the store were full of questions “Wait, you want to ship a dead chicken? Are you required to? So it is like packed in ice and stuff? Do you have a commercial chicken operation? No?? What do you do with these chickens and why do you need to send it away?” He is pretty sure, as am I, that he will be a story for them for some time! I will miss the weird little beautiful boy-like chicken

We haven’t floated away here yet—but they have issued evacuation notices to lower lying areas in the old floodplains of the rivers that converge here. My younger dog Koda is going insane and running zoomies back and forth from the living room down the hall and into our bedroom…just to get some exercise. My chickens are also totally over it…I went to check on them and Sia was running around just drenched. Silkies look just hilarious when wet I can’t wait till Tuesday when we are supposed to get a bit of a break for longer than a day…I haven’t gotten to just sit and enjoy my babies in weeks :-( I also want to start putting my coop together but can’t really until it dries up more. Need enough dry space to put it up!

Anyway, popped in to say hi. @ChicksnMore i hope you are right and your chickie just had eye irritation! My experience with MG so far has varied enormously from a few eye bubbles that crop up and disappear in some, no signs at all ever, to I’m guessing the deaths I’ve had that ravage their lungs and bring on massive secondary issues and vulnerabilities to the slightest stressors. I’m finding that my MG vaccination works as well as the flu or COVID vaccines. Seems like about 85% success rate and 15% appear as if they never were vaccinated and get super sick. So I hope that your case is just an eye irritant! I think MG sucks. :-(

Glad your doing the necropsy and hope it gives helpful results. I had one year long ago where I lost a lot of birds and it drove me half nuts trying to figure out what was going on. Definitely feel for all you're going through.

Think I'll definitely keep her quarantined for longer then. That both eyes bit makes me worry. I'll have to re-read a bit. If I remember right they stay carriers for life but can't remember reading anything about whether they can relapse. And can't remember if they can spread it from droppings or only from head liquids. Assume droppings would carry it too though. I'd sure like to save her.

Thanks @PopoMyers he was a beautiful boy and I will definitely miss his quirky weirdness. Polish are a trip!

Sounds like you worked hard today!! Those rodents are persistent just like mine!! I was just getting ready to get some sleep when my coop camera notification buzzed. So I looked and it appeared the camera had fallen off the upper rafter where I keep it and I had a close up view of a rat butt! So, not knowing what had happened…I rolled out of bed, put on my glasses, sighed and put on my robe, went out back, found my mud boots in the dark that had been left out by my child and they were all wet…and put them on the wrong feet and said “Screw it” and trudged up our super soggy backyard slope to the coop. Opened the run gate and was rained on from the droplets sitting on the bird netting…so now my glasses are all spotted with water and opened the coop door. Not sure where it came from, but the rat came flying toward me and as I flinched it darted past me to the front corner where I’d recently discovered they’d dug a hole. So I assumed given the mess in the coop that it had scurried down some hole and run away. So I picked up the camera, wiped off the dirt and plugged it back in in its spot and figured I’d do a quick health check and see if there were eggs. I moved around my bricks and hardware cloth to see where it had breached the coop. The bedding was in major disarray and piled like it had been dug around in all along the base…so I spread things out but couldn’t find find the hole, cursed and stood up to go and what’s staring right at me in the rafters at the back corner—the big brown rat. Frozen and likely hoping I didn’t see it. So I cursed again, propped open the coop door and went out to open their door to the run. I finally figured out this rat must’ve snuck in before the door closed and then was panicking trying to get out and moving bedding everywhere to find a hole. So I opened the pop door and then trudged back into the coop, sliding ever so slightly back and forth in the soggy, very slippery mud and used a stick to poke the rat hoping I wouldn’t regret it and end up with a rodent in my face or hair. Instead he ran towards me and then turned down the roost bar and climbed ONTO my chickens to get across the roost. They just sat there like lumps! No wonder chickens are so easy for predators at night Anyway, the dismount off the last Cochin hen was sloppy and it fell off the roost into the bedding on the floor and then tore off out the pop door. I told him he was lucky I’m nice and a total weenie about killing things and then locked the coop up. The eggs I found were in my pocket of my robe and as I came down the soggy muddy hill I slipped and ran into the tree and two of them broke in my pocket So it’s now almost 1 am and I’m back in my bedroom, wet, a bit muddy, with a robe pocket full of egg yolks. I’m officially a crazy chicken person. Washed out the robe pocket, washed my hands, dried my hair, cleaned my glasses and finally I’m back in bed and too revved to relax and sleep so I just had to share with people I know can sympathize and laugh because you’re crazy chicken people too

What an adventure! You make it sound far more fun than I'm sure it felt!

I have been hand feeding a wild robin all winter (and a mouse that dropped on my hand from the fig tree!) and a few days ago he flew down to my olive tree for his live mealies. I put my hand out but he didn't come over straightaway and seemed a bit hesitant. So I moved my hand to the fig tree where he's normally fed while watching and chatting to him and as i did so, i felt something land on my hand. "That bloody mouse!" I thought and looked around. And there was the robin - lil' Robs - that I normally feed sat on my hand. The other robin came over for it's food after that. I think it needed lil Robs' s reassurance that it was safe to do so. Thinking back, there's been a few occasions when lil Robs has been a bit shy taking food from me. Now I think I was feeding the "new" robin when that happened.

I'm totally obsessed with sharks and rays of all kinds. I've always wanted to free dive with great whites and cage diving is the next best option. When DH arranged for me to dive with the sand tiger shark for my 40th, he said "I'll make it with a great white for your 50th" so...
He says it's in hand but won't tell me where as there's a couple of countries that allow it and that bit is to be a surprise.

Your property looks gorgeous as always! I'm so envious. And Boo is looking great!



That's great news that she seems to be healing!
Usually, with injury or a foreign body under the lid, only one eye is affected, but who knows? It's always possible.
It may be that you've headed a respiratory infection off at the pass by prompt treatment. In the early stages, respiratory infections can just be the infraorbital swelling and eye bubbles.
In any event, you were quick to take action and that's paid off

Hope it's paid off...at least no other birds are sick so far!

Sorry about the sore all over... ☹ but I bet it looks great and hope you get the drainage you are hoping for
How hard would it be to add hardware cloth to the floor of coop and then add dirt and mulch or straw? Easy for me to say right?

Like the cat idea. I would have done the same if the cat did not decide to on its own first. I swear mine and all the strays that like to visit are a saving grace. Have not seen a rat since 1, neighbor cleaned up 50yo junk pile next door and 2, I got Mango, Mochi and especially Forest. Not even on camera, nothing (yet). They used to be a fairly big problem hiding Mango seeds in the shop and we have found some burrowing under and into the old wood burning water heater room.
Was going to put a snap trap under a crate to keep animals safe.

I have hardware cloth in one of my old coops. I have one coop that the rock squirrels kept digging up into. I buried it about 1 1/2 - 2 feet down so I can still turn the dirt. It worked great for several years but it gave out in the area the water bowl sits. Not sure if anywhere else has given out. The water bowl areas the only place that firms up enough for animals to make tunnels...the plants outside the coop send roots up there and I tend to leave that spot alone because of it. Not sure I'll ever do the buried hardware cloth again...it was sooo much work putting it in and I can't bring myself to even consider trying to dig it back up. I did dig down to it in the water bowl area and put a fresh piece to patch it though and that seems to have worked.

Maybe someone else knows a better way to lay it then how I did though. Buried that deep let's me turn my dirt but I'm not up to doing that again.