What did you do with your flock today?

[Nomadicus]

I got a shock when I got 10 eggs from 7 Bresse pullets. They will not be a year old until December 5th. This is not the norm. 5-6 is the norm. There are no other layers in the coop or that can get into the coop. Checking for fertility visually in the morning. I am anxious to set some of their eggs ASAP.

 

[Nomadicus]

Has anyone built a chicken tunnel so that hens can get from the coop to a feeding area without getting waylaid by domestic predators including free ranging wild roosters?

 

[Maddcatter]

Has anyone built a chicken tunnel so that hens can get from the coop to a feeding area without getting waylaid by domestic predators including free ranging wild roosters?

I have a hallway from my coop to my run...

But it's 6' tall, and I have it so that I can keep my water feeders out of my coop, but still covered and warm when it's 20⁰ outside.

 

[Maddcatter]

Today the chickens got hard boiled eggs, sunflower seeds, and honey and acv in their water... Because tonight it's going to be 34⁰, and my birds don't like sudden drops in temp.

My birds were happy with the treats, though thought they should have gotten more.

The Hubs also built an overhang above the coop window so that we can control the air flow a bit better.

My one indoor cat seems to have realized his buddy is gone. I've had a small furry shadow with in 10' of me the entire time I have been inside today. ...My other 2 cats are mostly outdoor cats, and I don't think they've noticed anything odd yet.

 

[Nomadicus]

Some of my ladies got the last of a bag of meal worms. There were not many but they loved them. First that they had been given in months.

 

[Shetland lover]

I learned a new word recently. And experienced it today. Parasthesia. Tingling or pin prick or bug bite feeling on skin for no outward reason.
Today as I was on poo patrol, I opened the coop door to clean and saw a strange bunch of red specks. I dragged my metal tongs over them and they popped red. Oh, no! Mites! I had found their sleeping/hiding area between the door and the frame it closed against, and it seemed like they were all congregated there. After spraying the heck out of the door, cracks, etc. with Dawn soap water, I inspected one of the girls, and no evidence on her of any bugs. My scalp and neck had parasthesia after that. Does this happen to anyone else if you hear the word lice or mites?
I am hating the possibility of having to wash down their coop, as it may not dry very quickly with our cooler, wetter weather. Any suggestions?

Yep, l do. The mere mention of chicken lice or mites makes my flesh crawl! In fact, it is right now. Weirdly, things like fleas don't have the same psychological effect.
If you can house everyone elsewhere for 24 to 48 hours, you could try an insecticidal smoke bomb? I find it much more effective than hosing coops down, especially when it's colder.

 

[Shetland lover]

Ferdy reminds me a lot of Wilhelm Just loves snuggle time and shedding feather sheaths all over in the process haha. What a sweet boy!

I know! It looks like I have terrible case of dandruff . He's started moulting in the last few days. I even found one of his sickle feathers in our bed. Goodness knows how it got in there!

Isn't it just the best having such lovebugs? .

 

[Shetland lover]

I read a long time ago that there is a type of mite that only comes out and bites the chickens at night, then goes back into hiding for the day. This guy had a video of actually eliminating them by capturing and destroying them. In his case, they were on the underside of the roosting bars. He put a piece of cardboard around the bar and left it until the next morning then took it off and there were all the mites on the cardboard. He did that a few times until mites didn't show up. He ran his finger along the bottom side of the roosting bar to see if there were mites there to begin with and they showed up on his finger.

So sorry you are having to deal with this. I am so fortunate to have not had an infestation in my 8 years of chickens. Not sure why. Every other bug lives here. lol But very grateful.

That's definitely the modus operandi of red mites! You are very, very unlikely to find them on the birds themselves during the day. Sneaky little buggers!
I do the roost bar test every week, having had an awful infestation in my first month of chicken keeping. I'm hypervigilant now and treat the birds every 12 weeks with ivermectin. They are due a dose now but I can't give them any whilst they're moulting.

 

[Shetland lover]

Animals can be so dangerous! They love you so much they accidentally try to injure you in the process! My best friend has a forever damaged pinky finger (always looks like she's drinking high tea like a fancy pants) thanks to her dog chasing after a squirrel...she yanked hard on the leash and her pinky was caught in the leash and went sideways and she's had two different surgeries, but they can't fix it...her fingers are too thin and fragile. The things we do sometimes haha.

I'm so bummed about Opal and now Oliver keeps escaping somehow! I closed off the hole in the bird netting and he was still getting out. It does seem to have created a budding friendship though…
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Koda really wants a friend now that his dog sisters have passed on. I got some super cute video of them too, but this picture is just so cute. Koda would sit like this tail wagging, then dance around as Oliver danced around and then Koda would tear off in a zoomie circle around the whole yard and then come back and they’d do it again Eventually Oliver tired of the game and went back to foraging so Koda laid down and watched him. It was super cute . I may have figured out how he’s been escaping too, so fingers crossed I don’t see Oliver in the yard unsupervised today! I heard a big Great Horned Owl a couple nights ago and saw him in a redwood tree last night—sooo I now have two sneaky dawn/dusk predators to worry about! It was tough to get a good picture of him but he looked big even at this distance! Crazy thing is I heard him a bunch Tuesday night but learned my husband may be deaf to sounds in that register cuz he couldn’t hear it at all! Kids and I were incredulous that he couldn’t hear him

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Aww! That's just too cute!!! My chickens just harass my furry nephews to the point they're terrified to be outside with them.

That looks a big owl. We have one visit most nights, it sits in our cherry tree and I'm hoping it'll take some rats. We never see it during the day so the chickens are pretty safe, I hope!

 

[Nomadicus]

Shuster lost the last 3 tail feathers and now has a little tutu looking start of a new set. He sure looks funny parading around the way he is. Maybe he will let me photograph him while he looks so funny.