What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

View attachment 3768368I just removed the part, and turned the bottle a half turn looser. They can't poop in it, nor perch. This looks blurry because it's taken through the polycarbonate wavy roofing.

Love this! Good thinking @Popo!

 

[Shetland lover]

I've heard that citrus is not good for them. Anyone else?

Citrus is actually fine to feed in small amounts. Most chickens don't care for the taste, though.
Mine have never bothered with it - except my ex-batt, Maude, who loved a slice of lemon on occasion

 

[Shetland lover]

I've got some sad news. I found Penelope dead in her coop on Friday morning
She looks to have passed peacefully in her sleep and probably soon after going to bed, as her crop was still pretty full.
I'm truly devastated. I suspected she had something more serious than worms but she seemed back to her old self these past couple of weeks. She was certainly well enough to move back outside and get back to bossing everyone around and getting her beak stuck into everything.
She was such a special girl and I miss her so much. Such a sweetheart.

 

[kurby22]

Ohhh, man, kurby, that's heartbreaking! I'm so sorry you lost several of your flock especially when you're trying so hard to protect and heal them, and the elements are against you.

I feel your frustration, we've been clobbered with one atmospheric river storm after another since January (I think we may be on the same weather path) and the ground is so saturated, moisture seeped all the way under the raised coop & covered run, soaked the soil and layers of wood chips, and got into what I thought was a fully sheltered dust bath area. My girls had mud streaks on their feathers from trying to get clean.

I belatedly figured out I needed to crawl under the coop and set up a deep plastic pan filled with dry sand for them to bathe in, which has helped, but they still track wetness up the ramp and onto the coop floor, and their sand bath gets damp from wet chickens thrashing in it so I have to change out the sand. (We have no dry dirt anywhere!) Plus with so much rain, I've discovered water seeping in from the nestbox lid hinges and at the back access door. It's been a huge challenge trying to give them some dry spaces other than where they roost at night above it all.

I mean, we need the rain but there can surely be too much of a good thing without decent drying-out breaks in between!

This is my first winter with chickens and it's been a doozy, wettest one since we've lived here - an awful lot of "lessons learned" I need to remedy before next winter's rainy season.

I hope things improve for you very soon!

Thanks @RedwoodCoastChick I know you have been hammered even worse than we have been! The worst of every storm seems to go north and south of us, except the one storm with the high winds that killed my neighbor! I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with it too. I agree…there must be a way to get the rain without it having to come packaged with high speed winds and torrential downpours we simply cannot recharge the groundwater with all at once. Especially up where you are…it’s pretty shallow to bedrock! I hope you are able to make some easy quick fixes for the leaking and dust bathing area! I have already started buying more fence to reimagine some runs. We are supposed to get 6 days in a row of sun…gonna make the most of it. We will have a memorial for the birds we lost and ensure we’ve learned to be better for the rest of the babies.

 

[kurby22]

Such strong self control! Why am I not surprised? But then again, you have all the special breeds, which they do not carry. I was there too, getting mixed flock feed to combine with the 30% game raiser, and found a couple bags of that for half off. Score. Was able to help a fellow beginning poultry tender get the right feed for his mixed flock of ducks, chickens, and new chicks. Feels so good to be of help.

That person was lucky to bump into you! They’re much better for it I will admit it was quite hard to walk away from the fat cheeked EEs but I did it!

 

[kurby22]

Got 4 new babies today. 1 each of WL and BSL. 2 EE's. Granddaughter helped me name them. The WL is Penny, the BSL is Peppa, the gold colored EE is Cinnamon and the EE with the stripes is Bernadebt. I came up with the spelling for Bernadebt.
View attachment 3768220

So cute!!

 

[kurby22]

I've got some sad news. I found Penelope dead in her coop on Friday morning
She looks to have passed peacefully in her sleep and probably soon after going to bed, as her crop was still pretty full.
I'm truly devastated. I suspected she had something more serious than worms but she seemed back to her old self these past couple of weeks. She was certainly well enough to move back outside and get back to bossing everyone around and getting her beak stuck into everything.
She was such a special girl and I miss her so much. Such a sweetheart.
View attachment 3768389

Oh noooo this is very sad news, I’m so sorry @Shetland lover I had a really good ugly cry on Friday over all the losses I’ve had lately and it helped a bit…but those special ones leave a hole and it hurts She was so beautiful and so very well loved!! She couldn’t have been a luckier chicken! Sending you hugs friend…the grief is just all the love with nowhere to go

 

[TropicalBabies]

I've got some sad news. I found Penelope dead in her coop on Friday morning
She looks to have passed peacefully in her sleep and probably soon after going to bed, as her crop was still pretty full.
I'm truly devastated. I suspected she had something more serious than worms but she seemed back to her old self these past couple of weeks. She was certainly well enough to move back outside and get back to bossing everyone around and getting her beak stuck into everything.
She was such a special girl and I miss her so much. Such a sweetheart.
View attachment 3768389

Oh my gosh @Shetland lover I am so sorry, she is a huge loss. Penelope's one terrific and very beautiful gal. We know she did her best in your expert care. I'm glad you had many wonderful adventures together. Take care friend

 

[ValerieJ]

I've got some sad news. I found Penelope dead in her coop on Friday morning
She looks to have passed peacefully in her sleep and probably soon after going to bed, as her crop was still pretty full.
I'm truly devastated. I suspected she had something more serious than worms but she seemed back to her old self these past couple of weeks. She was certainly well enough to move back outside and get back to bossing everyone around and getting her beak stuck into everything.
She was such a special girl and I miss her so much. Such a sweetheart.
View attachment 3768389

I'm so sorry. Hardest part of chickening is losing one of our favorites. Well, any of them actually.

 

[Nomadicus]

I put the last little pullet (red sex link) into the brooder with her comrades from this week's hatching. I'm watching closely a pet rooster that is still acting lethargic. He didn't get up on his roost but just stayed on the porch floor near the door tonight. It's normal for him to roost near the door on a rail we fixed for him. It's normal for him to be found looking in through the storm door waiting for his breakfast when I open the door. I hope what ever his problem is it is not serious and goes away. I want to do a full flock worming this coming week. I know one girl has worms because she passes them that are easy to see. She's a little game hen that digs and scratches for food all over everywhere she has access to. She gets all the layer pellets and boiled egg yolks (she refuses to eat the whites) she wants. She is spoiled rotten as she sleeps in our sun room with her hubby every night and goes out to dig and hunt as much as she likes as well as hit the free range feeder that she has full access too.