What did you do with your flock today?

[AngBantamLuv]

Its still hot and more hot here in Texas, and wind gusts that are just as hot. In the evenings I've been filling the dust bath holes in the ground (i have about 4" of sand over soil), so by morning they each have their own air conditioned bowl to sleep in. Seems to keep them resting comfortably, but by evening they are panting so hard, it sounds painful. Added shade cloth on the side, and the run is roofed. Around 4 they get ice in their ceramic bowl.. best i can come up with.

 

[kurby22]

Its still hot and more hot here in Texas, and wind gusts that are just as hot. In the evenings I've been filling the dust bath holes in the ground (i have about 4" of sand over soil), so by morning they each have their own air conditioned bowl to sleep in. Seems to keep them resting comfortably, but by evening they are panting so hard, it sounds painful. Added shade cloth on the side, and the run is roofed. Around 4 they get ice in their ceramic bowl.. best i can come up with.

That sounds just yucky!! I hope it cools down soon

 

[AngBantamLuv]

That sounds just yucky!! I hope it cools down soon

I don't think it will... but HOPEFULLY all the water im adding to the run is helping them a bit. Lots of soft shells, and went from 7 laying to 2 laying. I think itll be at least another month of the heat. I let them out to run around in the morning and evening.. ugh.. poor things. Feel bad too because my oldest 3 were house chickens and so i think they are stressed the most.

 

[ChicksnMore]

My kids house. Gone. Been trying to find him all day. Lahaina Maui is where I grew up so this is hard all the way around.View attachment 3604565
Found out at MIL funeral services today.... not hanging with dhs family, just hanging by phone, looking for ways to track him down and get him on a plane to me.

O I am so sorry. I can imagine how terribly worried and stressed you must be. I hope you've managed to reach him and he's safe. Wish there was anything I could do to help. Let us know how you and yours are.

 

[TropicalBabies]

O I am so sorry. I can imagine how terribly worried and stressed you must be. I hope you've managed to reach him and he's safe. Wish there was anything I could do to help. Let us know how you and yours are.

Nothing to do but wait. It is hard. I hope he is ok. So many people went through terrible things and were really upset. I just want him safe and whole.
I checked in with Red Cross. All communications are down, even with my friends further up and not effected. So... wait I will ♡

 

[PopoMyers]

I honestly like when mine brood at the same time. Then I can split some eggs between them and then they co-parent. I hate when only one broods. I’m over the broody hens this year. Though I think I have another

Well, went out this evening to collect eggs, and Ginger is squawking at me on the nesting box. Miss Broodypants was promptly removed to the broody jail, where she will remain until Saturday evening. I'll fill her feed and water tomorrow morning. I won't ever let her set any eggs, because Welsummers are notoriously bad moms.

 

[PopoMyers]

10 plus pages to catch up on. That's what happens on this thread. So nice to have new contributors. @Smokerbill , what a distressing situation with all the soft eggs. Hoping it will resolve soon.
Here's a cute video. Stay cool, everyone! https://fb.watch/mkfkCe6vul/?mibextid=Nif5oz

 

[Shetland lover]

That is just crazy nuts!! I’m gonna have to put them in separate rooms….my sister is wanting one for her oldest boy. I told her if I breed them I would sell her one. But MAN with how rabbits breed, there really isn’t a market to sell the rest of them. I mean they are a “meat” rabbit but I sure would not want to know what they were doing with them….

I had a guy that lives not far from me come by and talk. He is an older guy that just doesn’t have anyone around him anymore. Well he asked about my black chickens. He wanted to know if they were black Astrolorps. Which there is about 3 of them but he wanted to buy them. I told him we just got them and we were not going to be selling them. So then he heard my ducks. I told him they were Calls. He hadn’t heard of them so I explained they were small ducks, the bantam of ducks. Well he proceeded to stated that they wouldn’t be good for eating. Ummmm, no. He went on to talk about all these chicks he had just got and what more he had ordered. Mind you, I did the math afterwords and chickens alone add up to over 100. Not kidding. (wait for it…) Then he wants geese and ducks. Well ok, he has the property to do it. Well about 2 weeks later he comes by to talk to my husband. First he tells him about all these animals. And that he got his geese but was still looking for ducks. (Here it is) ALL of those animals were in his house…all 100+ chickens, geese, and his 4 little dogs. He has no coop set up for them or a place of actual shelter. Now he did this a few years ago, I don’t remember how long ago it was that I mentioned it on here but he is the one that wanted us to build him a chicken coop and he had all his animals eaten by coyotes. Which, I guess to each their own but just seems sad to me to not want to care for the animals that are dependent on you. Anyway…he then asked my husband if we would sell him our ducks. Luckily my husband told him no, but he would have tried to eat them. He isn’t the first to try to get lower prices and take a bunch for food. It’s hard to explain that they are not meet birds. They are not pekin ducks. My friend with Calls has had similar situations too. Hers is worse though in my opinion.

Anyway, I haven’t had rabbits before. These 2 are my first. Luckily the lady I got them from is a friend and has given me a lot of advice. And I literally had no idea how soon they could get pregnant again!!! The saying used about rabbits…..for sure legit!!! 24hours….

It sounds like he needs some serious help! I know I let Ferdy have the run of the house but he's house trained and quite honestly, rarely leaves my side. I cannot imagine keeping 10 chickens in the house, let alone a hundred - plus ducks and dogs! The smell must be indescribable!
There was a man in the Netherlands died of Bird Flu he contracted from the ducks he kept in the house. From what I remember, he had similar numbers.
And how horrible that people want pet birds for cheap food! It makes me feel sick at the thought. Thank god you're able to suss out the dodgy buyers.

I absolutely loved my rabbits and kept those two 9 and 12 years respectively before they passed. I'm sure your friend has given you a full rundown of what to watch for but flystrike is about the worst I can think of. Over here, there are products you can buy which protect against it but as with chickens, in my experience, vigilance and good hygiene is usually enough to prevent it. One thing that affected one of mine in later life was a blocked tear duct but eye drops and antibiotics kept it under control.
I'm sure you'll have great fun keeping rabbits. Mine were just like dogs and very affectionate.
On the breeding like, well, rabbits you could get one or both neutered? It wasn't something they did when l was a kid but if I ever got more, I'd definitely get it done. They are very social animals and like living in groups so it makes sense to me to let them live together without the added certainty of unwanted pregnancy.

Just wondering, do you know if myxomatosis is an issue with rabbits over there?

 

[Shetland lover]

@ChicksnMore
@TropicalBabies
@Eggcessive
@Shetland lover

Thanks for your insights into the soft and/or no shell problem my pullets are having. I had another disheartening experience when I went into the run/coop this morning. A few more soft shells, and a few piles of strange, muddy looking poop.

I agree, extra calcium is needed, and with so many soft shell eggs it has to be more than one pullet laying them.

I think the muddy, brown poop is caused by some of the pullets spending a lot of time in the evenings eating out of the compost piles. Which could be diluting the small amount of calcium in their all flock feed and any oyster shell supplements they eat.

And I realize that new layers might take a while to start laying good eggs consistently, but the amount of defective eggs being layed seems to be out of the ordinary.

Since it's more than one pullet laying defective eggs I decided to treat the whole group of pullets together as a group. I'll limit them to only eating commercial layer feed to which I'll mix in some crushed oyster shells for even more of a calcium boost. No free ranging, no foraging, no snacks either. Hopefully eating only quality feed with extra calcium supplementation will resolve the problem.

I was able to separate the pullets from the rooster this morning, so he'll be living solo while I manage the pullets' problem. He will be fed the all flock feed.

I know I could try to catch them and force feed them calcium tablets every day, but I think managing the problem how I outlined it above makes more sense. Seems much easier, too.

Does this sound like a reasonable and workable plan?

All the chickens are behaving perfectly normal, energetic and healthy this morning. I don't think there's any disease or high parasite load, but I could be wrong.

I apologize for the gross pictures...


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Those poops look fine to me, just a little runny. Try giving them some plain yoghurt, the type that has live bacteria in it. Look out for lacto-bacillus and acidophilus bifidus on the side of the carton. Mine love it plain or with something like fresh blueberries in it. The probiotics should help firm them up. You could also try mixing bentonite clay powder with their food, it's high in calcium (as is yoghurt) and also good at balancing gut bacteria.
I would still supplement calcium for a week. Hens have an annoying habit of taking calcium from their own bones if they don't have enough in their diets, which can lead to osteoporosis and other health issues.
If I think mine are calcium deficient I tend to make a mash and add either powdered calcium tablets or a powdered reptile calcium. Or you could add it to the pullets' water supply? We have a few liquid calcium supplements available for hens over here that are specifically formulated for eggshell issues. I've used this one before:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...IQFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1SQDKghM_wAVr0p-gpcB_O
If it isn't available over there, I'm sure there'll be something similar.

I would still allow them to free range. It's good for them mentally and a great way for them to get any trace elements they need.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that extreme enviromental heat can cause soft shells too.

Given the scale of your problem though, I'd bet on it being a calcium issue.

 

[TropicalBabies]

My son is ok!!!!! Just got out with change of clothes, phone and pack b4 his house went up. Scary stuff but he is ok ♡♡♡ thank you all for your good thoughts!!!