What did you do with your flock today?

[ChicksnMore]

I didn't have time to do anything but the basics for my birds today. Clean water, feed check and egg collection. Little Goosey pup got hold of a desert toad last night. I didn't think he got much of a dose because he didn't have the usual behavior linked to toad poisoning. He just looked dismayed and displeased. I flushed his mouth and kept an eye on him and thought all looked well. But this morning he wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink and was lethargic. Poor babies had a rough day but think he's past the worst of it. He's eaten some chicken broth with rice, a little pumpkin and wanted to play a little after dinner.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Been a busy few days! Yesterday we spent all evening cleaning out coops and spraying the coops and the chickens with Elector PSP because my daughter found bugs in Oliver. I also had to finish shoring up the big coop from the rats. Sighhh. They have completely eaten away the horse stall mat I used originally :-( So I screwed metal plates along the base, laid the cloth, covered the cloth with pavers and covered the pavers with new shavings. Then tonight, we cleaned out my scraps coop and its run, sprayed it down with Elector PSP, refilled feeders and waters….and them we moved out the teenage babies! So nice to get them outside

Idk how u do it and just keep on going doing it again kurby!
U r one tough lady!

 

[Smokerbill]

You should hear the one crow, lol. He sounds like an old squeaky door closing. At first I didn't know what the noise was, until I saw him trying so hard to crow.

I left my bedroom window wide open last night just to see if I could hear some crowing. I heard the squeaky noise you described several times when it was starting to get light outside, I guess around 5AM. Yeah, it didn't sound too impressive. LOL. But at least he's trying!

 

[Soujrnr]

The girls actually gave us three eggs already today. My wife was going to up their rent if they didn't start producing some eggs. She threatened them last night, and told them that there's no free ride here. They already get room, board, and 24-hour security, and it's a two-way street. LOL We get eggs; they get a place to live. Sounds fair.

The coop cam is in full operation. I have it programmed to "sleep" all day, and then it wakes up at 8 PM in time for the girls to put themselves to bed. I may install another one, but for now, I'll use the one, and I have some other motion-activated security lights down there as well.

Oh, and I found four tires on the side of the road, so I picked one of them up to make into a dust bath. Should I use any special kind of sand, or can I just dig up some dirt from the woods and put that in there?

 

[Smokerbill]

Chicken pics from yesterday evening's foray into the yard. That thing on the porch railing is a small greenhouse I threw together when my indoor growing area for seedlings became too small. Need to take the thing down now, I guess.

 

[LTAY1946]

I sat and enjoyed watching the flock of White Giants and Dark Cornish play in the backyard. While I was out in the late afternoon I saw a rabbit coming at me withe a Dark Cornish pullet hot on his tail. Poor half grown rabbit was caught between me and that pullet and scared tailless. I've been fed so now it's time to go gather the day's eggs.

 

[Little Tala Bug]

I took lots and lots of chick pics of the new hatch, improved the broody nest site for mama hen since the bedding wasn't deep enough for her liking, and then I sat with my partner in our pullet run, chatting and quietly dropping mealworms so that they would get used to our presence and associate us with tasty treats. It was a lovely day.

Chick pics

Pullet pics

 

[Little Tala Bug]

The girls actually gave us three eggs already today. My wife was going to up their rent if they didn't start producing some eggs. She threatened them last night, and told them that there's no free ride here. They already get room, board, and 24-hour security, and it's a two-way street. LOL We get eggs; they get a place to live. Sounds fair.

The coop cam is in full operation. I have it programmed to "sleep" all day, and then it wakes up at 8 PM in time for the girls to put themselves to bed. I may install another one, but for now, I'll use the one, and I have some other motion-activated security lights down there as well.

Oh, and I found four tires on the side of the road, so I picked one of them up to make into a dust bath. Should I use any special kind of sand, or can I just dig up some dirt from the woods and put that in there?

Our girls' favourite dust bathing site is under a stand of conifers, where the needles drop and make a lovely fragrant dirt which stays nice and dry. Apparently the pine resin can protect against pests as well. If I were making an indoor dust bath, I would bring dirt from under pine or spruce trees.

 

[PopoMyers]

We are going to add shavings to the coop floor this evening. On Fridays, we take my 93-year-old dad to estate sales. He lives with us. He's very healthy, takes no prescription medications, hand-sews beautiful handbags, and makes designer boxes for a hobby. He gives all of them away. Because we take him out each week for sales, we get pretty much nothing done otherwise.

When we got home, I did manage to install my coop cam. It's motion-activated, spins 350-degrees, has a flashing light, an audible warning, and an alarm when it senses motion. It will take me a few days to massage the settings for optimum performance, but it works great.

Oh, and I managed to get stung by a bee too. Such is life.

We didn't get any eggs today, though, and that is disappointing. I thought we'd get at least two or three each day. Maybe it'll take a while for them to get acclimated to their new home.

You are correct.. May take 2-3 weeks. It'll happen, though. Surprises await. Your camera sounds like a good one to have.

 

[PopoMyers]

I bought a bag of feed at the local hardware store today. X-Cel brand, non-medicated chick/grower crumbles. 20% protein, which is good and only $20 bucks a 50# bag. My barred rocks seemed to grow at a good pace eating up the last bag, so I think it's good feed.

I've been getting my pair of black copper Marans roos acclimated to being around me. I sit with them, drink a beer, feed them dandelions and scrambled eggs. They're still kind of skittish around me, but they're slowly coming around.

Bought a 150' roll of 18" tall, 1" hex chicken wire today. Going to run a low chicken fence around my garden area, then run several strands of electric fence over that for the deer. I think the chickens will see the electric strands as a barrier to trying to fly over the chicken wire. I hope.

Other than that, I didn't have the time to let the pullets run in the yard today. I might do that a little later. The definitely enjoy their occasional freedom from the run! And they deserve it, too. I'm cooking some pork chops, and they haven't sampled that yet, but I bet they'll like it.

I would like some too, please.