What did you do with your flock today?

[ChicksnMore]

My hens are out of Soldier Flies as of yesterday morning. They have not been shy about holding me accountable for the "Time of Famine" Sorry to tell them that the next order is on hold till the next pay day LOL. They'll have to make do with a cabbage for now. (I usually order from Exotic Nutrition. The big bag lasts me about a month - but December put a hurt on my budget, so....poor deprived chickies....)

Lucky birds! I can just picture them following you around with big eyes and pecking your fingers trying to make flies fall out

 

[ChicksnMore]

The part of my flock that is unhatched at the moment is getting a lot of attention. They are still to young to talk to now. Another week or so I'm going to start talking to them when the first one does an external pip. I want them to know the sound of my voice before they see the outside world.

I love it! You'll have some special babies there

 

[ChicksnMore]

It's blowing pretty hard here, a cold wind but not freezing. This morning the flock seemed normal, but when I checked on them about 3pm all the hens appeared to be irritable, chasing each other and pecking. They have food and water, was thinking that maybe the gusting winds might be upsetting them.

They're in a hoop coop, which is open on all four sides. There is an A-frame roost they could shelter under to get out of the wind.

Anyone experience something similar to this?

Kinda? I have small coops and large covered runs. But with air flow being so important in the summer, the majority of their space is open wire. Even though they have fully walled coops, the birds don't retreat into them much except to sleep, lay or in illness. They want to be out where the food and water is.

I put up wind blocks at the beginning of winter. I put them low on the sides so the bottom four feet has something to stop the wind at the ground level where the chickens are. I take them back down come spring. We don't get very cold here really but winds something else. I started doing the wind blocks because I could see a comfort difference between my old runs that have pallet walls at ground level and my new runs that are all chain link. The birds using my old runs stay happy all winter and the birds in my new all wire runs didn't until I added wind blocks.

 

[ChicksnMore]

They can sure be cagey. Before I had a supply shed out by the chicken coop, I used to store straw under a tarp. One day I opened the tarp to get some straw and found a few dozen eggs!

I had a pallet laying on the ground a few years ago, and when I went to use it I discovered a little banty brooding under it. Such a small space...i never would have thought to check there

 

[ChicksnMore]

Bianca, my chronically ill hen, has an appointment with the vet next Tuesday. Nothing is particularly wrong with her, it's just time for her checkup.

However, I've spent some time with the flock today and I realized that Callia is having trouble pooping. It takes her a lot to expel the dropping and then the dropping consists of two separate pieces of poop.

The poop is not hard but it is drier than it should, IMO.

I think I'm gonna have to take Callia to the vet instead of Bianca. But it isn't going to be easy if that's the case. She is a rescued hen who is super traumatized and SCREAMS when someone grabs her.

I'm going to put her in a dark box so that the vet visit is not that stressful for her

Hope it goes well for you both.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Have to share this hilarious and super cute photo... Mama is the buff Orpington across from them lol who has been weaning the 6 week olds lol so auntie took over nightly cuddles lol thankfully bc it's 11F/ feels like -6

Mamma looks like she wants to trade places with auntie

 

[ChicksnMore]

Apparently the ducks were not amused by my lack of icebreaking this morning...
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Otoh, I spent a lot of today making sure that my birds would be ok tonight, as we once again dropped 20⁰ in a day... It's 5⁰ outside right now, and my coop is about 27⁰.

I also have about 10 birds in my garage, enjoying the high life of 40⁰, as their coop isn't as awesome as the main flock.

.... When people tell me Texas is too hot, I laugh...

I'm so glad I don't have to do much icebreaking here! What a heavenly duck pond you have

 

[ChicksnMore]

I spent the weekend helping my youngest move to Flagstaff. Too far away even though it's only a 4-5 hour drive. But...it's a good thing. Too far is just my momma silliness.
Got home really late last night so didn't get to do more than feed the horse and check everyone's food and water by flashlight. Hubby stayed home to hold down the fort and he was being adorably funny about the baby chicks. He kept asking if I was holding the babies yet. Go hold the babies! I guess Biscotti's gotten a bit spoiled and did a lot of yelling while I was gone.

My youngest was overjoyed all weekend. Last thing we did yesterday was teach my kids how to roll balls big enough for a snowman. My oldest is 30 and still didn't know how....lack of opportunity. So we planted a snowman by the dorm entrance so Tami has a reminder of home for a bit.

 

[Nomadicus]

I sold about 20 of my original hens. Mix of Delaware and RIR. Now I have a coop free for some new pullets coming out of the brooder to grow out in. Some of the big boys went with them. They went to a local farmer and his son for supplying them with eggs. Nice people. They wanted to know if I would have more... Good sign. I got Legs off of his roost and let them see him. The were totally awe struck at his size. His incredibly long legs and neck. I brought Legs in tonight and he is in a kennel saying in out of the cold and wet that is coming early in the morning. He is so macho that he parades around in the rain like the sun is shining. He is a must protect as he is my official support rooster. Had him in my lap tonight and he stood there and ate a slice of sandwich bread as a bed time snack and never even tried to take a step to get off of me. He lets me nuzzle him and will close his eyes when I do. For a boy just going into a peak hormonal stage he is a dream boy.

 

[fuzzi]

Joel is hiding in the back of the coop.

I cornered him, checked out his feet, felt under his wings, vent, hackles. No sign of injury, doesn't appear to be ill, no pests. I held both his legs while I checked him, and he relaxed. He closed his eyes while I stroked him.

I believe he's been deposed, Samuel is strutting around with the hens.

If Samuel is now Boss Roo, I hope he shows as much tolerance as Joel showed him.

Poor Joel.

That's his favorite, Hannah, feeding close by.

This evening when I checked the roost Hannah was on the end, next to Joel.


"Stand by your man..."