What did you do with your flock today?

[LTAY1946]

One thing I need to share with everyone is that in my White Giant coop one of the girls isn't giant enough to keep her from laying in one of the hanging feeders. She is punctual most days leaving me an egg in the feeder. At first I thought I had picked one up off the ground and left it there to keep it from getting broken but after a week I know that hasn't been there when I add feed to the feeder.

 

[fuzzi]

Dominiques?

Eyup!

"Four little Dominiques are we..."

 

[LTAY1946]

After dark I went out and did a head count of the White Giants and they where all there +1. The one was a Breese roo that likes to keep the Jersey girls company. He may get a trio of girls to roost with in their own coop as soon as I can build it. Bresse x Giant should be a good cross. Today I got 6 eggs from my 7 Bresse pullets. I then went into the Cornish coop and got 7 eggs from 8 pullets. Right now those two young pens are cranking out the most eggs. The Delaware girls and the RIR girls are making a slow comeback with the cooler days. I think the night time temps in the lower 60's and daytime temps not getting above 85 for more than minutes every day now is making the change in eggs gathered every day now. As for the little Honey girl she came out of nowhere on my way to the coops tonight. I took her in and gave her a little sample of ma's cooking for them for their breakfast in the morning. She approved. Then it hit me she wasn't looking for food. The door was closed on her coop and she wanted in. I let her in and found her fellows she bunks with and put them in with her and the world once again is stable for them.

 

[Smokerbill]

I let my chickens have a couple hours of freedom tonight. I babysat them the whole time, shot my .22 a few times to scare predators and overall, it was a good time.

I led some of the chickens deep into the woods so they could explore something new. After a while, they just stopped. Focused their attention towards the east. And just stood there, unmoving.

I looked, couldn't see any threats. But they were pretty much frozen in position for around 5 minutes or more. I looked all over, didn't see any deer, or anything else that would grab their attention.

I'm hard of hearing, maybe they heard something I didn't. And I'm sure that their chicken eyes are better than mine,

Anyway, it was pretty strange.

And they're all back in the secure run now, good and safe until tomorrow.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I rigged a light in my coop. Not for them (yet), but for me. I have to plug it in to turn it on, but that's no biggie. Soon I will add a second light with a red bulb for when I need to do things in there at night without disturbing them. Much. Like trimming wings. Or rubbing grease on their legs. Or just whatever.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Yesterday I got the "dropped off cockerel" rehomed . My truck was still in the paint shop so he had to ride 20 miles on the back of my bike. Funny, chickens don't seem to mind motorcycle travel. Go figure.

Most of my mountain flock looks lovely. Some are still molting but many have beautiful new feathers. My rsl's have not looked this good in well over 12 months. The mountain obviously agrees with them ♡

Spider and Beetle both still look a mess.

 

[pcgboca]

It's very good for medicine when steamed to remove the sting, and provides calcium for chickens. usually i would collect it and let it dry, then mix it in their feed. once it is wilted there is no sting. i'm surprised he likes to eat it fresh.
one study shows it lowers mortality in broiler chickens from pulmonary hypertension due to its antioxidant effect. another study says it improves the quality of eggs along with immune system function in layer hens. however, other studies have found no effect on immune system function in broilers.

Where can I learn more about these studies? I am interested and have learned lots using NIH resources on the web about health and nutrition. fascinating stuff to me

 

[Maddcatter]

I rigged a light in my coop. Not for them (yet), but for me. I have to plug it in to turn it on, but that's no biggie. Soon I will add a second light with a red bulb for when I need to do things in there at night without disturbing them. Much. Like trimming wings. Or rubbing grease on their legs. Or just whatever.

I have a night light in my coop. It's just a string of LED lights set to roughly as bright as a full moon.

One too many nights of trying to find out why the hens were kickin up a fuss... Only to have them start fussing because of me and my flash light.

I don't think the red versus white light matters so long as it's not very bright. At least not for night light purposes. In heat lamps it matters, because they're much brighter.

In other news...

Apparently this happened.

The rooster was kind enough to alert me to this photo opp. ... Also, that she couldn't get out.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I have a night light in my coop. It's just a string of LED lights set to roughly as bright as a full moon.

One too many nights of trying to find out why the hens were kickin up a fuss... Only to have them start fussing because of me and my flash light.

I don't think the red versus white light matters so long as it's not very bright. At least not for night light purposes. In heat lamps it matters, because they're much brighter.

In other news...View attachment 3641225

Apparently this happened.

The rooster was kind enough to alert me to this photo opp. ... Also, that she couldn't get out.

OH. MY. GOSH. and then there is the how of it all... ???
Congrats on the lights!! What a treat .
I have battery operated motion sensor lights in my Kekaha coop, but put in a 2 solar light set up, up Koke'e. Really nice to be able to see the chooks in the coop and run at night when needed

 

[LTAY1946]

I have a night light in my coop. It's just a string of LED lights set to roughly as bright as a full moon.

One too many nights of trying to find out why the hens were kickin up a fuss... Only to have them start fussing because of me and my flash light.

I don't think the red versus white light matters so long as it's not very bright. At least not for night light purposes. In heat lamps it matters, because they're much brighter.

In other news...View attachment 3641225

Apparently this happened.

The rooster was kind enough to alert me to this photo opp. ... Also, that she couldn't get out.

I took a photo like this today of the white giant pullet using the feeder for a nest box. I finally caught her in the act. She will soon out grow that nest box. I'll have to figure out how to get it off my phone. Normally I use a dslr camera with a chip I can remove and transfer. Way to tired tonight to try something new after spending 2 hours setting up ma's new laptop and printer. What used to be simple they couldn't have. Now it's 40 pages to get to the one you need.