What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

Great you've managed to get over your squeamishness too. Really helps when you have chickens, given how disastrous they are at keeping themselves safe and sound!

 

[fuzzi]

Yesterday:

The gnats are BAD today, in my eyes every time I go outside and try to do stuff. I guess it's going to be an indoor chore day.

 

[Smokerbill]

I filled the grit box in the chickens' day run with a mix of crushed eggshells, oyster/coral calcium granules and granite grit. Bought a new bag of layer feed yesterday which should last through most of next month.

They're still laying machines, averaging close to 6 eggs per day from the 7 hens. They're 15 months old now and I'm wondering when they'll start molting and if they'll all molt at the same time.

 

[Shetland lover]

View attachment 3876151
Feels like a brand new start. Could not stay up but will be back this eve or tomorrow morning and finish setting up. Chooks are stoked ♡

I'm not surprised they're stoked! It's a little slice of paradise

 

[Shetland lover]

Yesterday:

The gnats are BAD today, in my eyes every time I go outside and try to do stuff. I guess it's going to be an indoor chore day.

Chickens look happy and busy helping out though. Always an upside to everything

 

[kurby22]

Got a few more things cleaned up from breeding cages and babies today…and then got some help building our new pergola for the pool from Tiltneck and Caramel! They both seem to think that fences and bird netting are suggestions…and came to check on the quality of the work several times

I think their supervision made it look extra nice!

Tiltneck is our bantam Splash Ameraucana rooster that had some wry neck issues during and after the cocci outbreak and had to come in every day for his vitamins. Somewhere along the way he decided he’d rather be a house bird than a chicken and Aria is obsessed with him. He sees her and runs from across the yard, he sits at the backdoor and sleeps there till we let him in, and he likes to sit on the couch with us and chill while watching TV. OR he takes naps…

He’s a very spoiled boy!

Smoky’s eye looks 100% better now that the infection has been removed. He’s like a different bird he’s so happy and George (the bobtail roo) went back outside to his ladies after a couple weeks in the house to recover from mites. So we are back to a reasonable number of inside birds and the house is clean and the pool feels amazing! Now to prepare for the gross weather gauntlet we are supposed to get this week

So tired…time for sleep! Night all!

 

[PopoMyers]

Got a few more things cleaned up from breeding cages and babies today…and then got some help building our new pergola for the pool from Tiltneck and Caramel! They both seem to think that fences and bird netting are suggestions…and came to check on the quality of the work several times

I think their supervision made it look extra nice!
View attachment 3877186

Tiltneck is our bantam Splash Ameraucana rooster that had some wry neck issues during and after the cocci outbreak and had to come in every day for his vitamins. Somewhere along the way he decided he’d rather be a house bird than a chicken and Aria is obsessed with him. He sees her and runs from across the yard, he sits at the backdoor and sleeps there till we let him in, and he likes to sit on the couch with us and chill while watching TV. OR he takes naps…
View attachment 3877190
He’s a very spoiled boy!

Smoky’s eye looks 100% better now that the infection has been removed. He’s like a different bird he’s so happy and George (the bobtail roo) went back outside to his ladies after a couple weeks in the house to recover from mites. So we are back to a reasonable number of inside birds and the house is clean and the pool feels amazing! Now to prepare for the gross weather gauntlet we are supposed to get this week
View attachment 3877191
So tired…time for sleep! Night all!

Your doctoring is just what the doctor ordered. I can't imagine how painful that infection glob must've been for Smoky. Once again, successful treatment. Your pergola is so dreamy, like being in the Greek Isles overlooking the sea. Tiltneck and Caramel sure did a fine job, and so did the humans.
Stay cool, and the birds, too. Bad heat seems so early in the summer. I don't remember Sacramento temps ever getting up that high.

 

[MaeM]

Today I had to say goodbye to Eris.

I did everything I could, but today she couldn't even leave the coop. She couldn't stand up or even open her eyes. She breathed with her beak open and I could see this thick drool in her mouth... I knew what was happening and I wanted it to be as quick as possible, but I couldn't find a vet to accelerate the process on a Sunday and I could never do it myself.

So I took her out of the coop and held her in my arms. I petted her and kept her warm against my chest. After a few minutes, she made a noise, a little cry that I read as "put me down, I'm ready to go". (Or perhaps it meant "I'm in pain", but I don't like to think about that).

I let her rest in the sun one last time, and with her last strength, she tried to grab my finger as she passed away.

I'm devastated. I wish I hadn't witnessed this. Death is a terrible process, even when it happens relatively quickly. I wish she would've died in her sleep, like Bianca and Mabelo did. But Eris "waited" for me instead, and I couldn't leave her alone.

Well, she was not actually alone.

Her sister, Callia, was there for her all the time. Even after she passed, Callia sat next to her body, and when we finally buried Eris, she spent a long while around her grave.

I need her to be strong, as she will live alone now. I can't get more birds, or rehome her, as she's suspected to be an IBV and/or MDV carrier. (There's definitely something wrong here, I've lost 6 chickens in 3 years, two of them in the last week. The vets advised me against letting her be around new birds).

I need to be strong, too. Callia is my last hen and I'm terrified of becoming "chickenless". It feels like losing a part of yourself...

 

[kurby22]

Today I had to say goodbye to Eris.

I did everything I could, but today she couldn't even leave the coop. She couldn't stand up or even open her eyes. She breathed with her beak open and I could see this thick drool in her mouth... I knew what was happening and I wanted it to be as quick as possible, but I couldn't find a vet to accelerate the process on a Sunday and I could never do it myself.

So I took her out of the coop and held her in my arms. I petted her and kept her warm against my chest. After a few minutes, she made a noise, a little cry that I read as "put me down, I'm ready to go". (Or perhaps it meant "I'm in pain", but I don't like to think about that).

I let her rest in the sun one last time, and with her last strength, she tried to grab my finger as she passed away.

View attachment 3877859

I'm devastated. I wish I hadn't witnessed this. Death is a terrible process, even when it happens relatively quickly. I wish she would've died in her sleep, like Bianca and Mabelo did. But Eris "waited" for me instead, and I couldn't leave her alone.

Well, she was not actually alone.

Her sister, Callia, was there for her all the time. Even after she passed, Callia sat next to her body, and when we finally buried Eris, she spent a long while around her grave.

I need her to be strong, as she will live alone now. I can't get more birds, or rehome her, as she's suspected to be an IBV and/or MDV carrier. (There's definitely something wrong here, I've lost 6 chickens in 3 years, two of them in the last week. The vets advised me against letting her be around new birds).

I need to be strong, too. Callia is my last hen and I'm terrified of becoming "chickenless". It feels like losing a part of yourself...


View attachment 3877890

I’m so sorry you lost Eris, and although it sucks to have to be there to witness it, but it’s the most selfless thing you can do. She didn’t have to die alone

I understand why you’re sad at the idea of not having chickens anymore, I can’t imagine it myself and hope it doesn’t happen. Hugs, I hope things get better for you soon.

 

[kurby22]

Your doctoring is just what the doctor ordered. I can't imagine how painful that infection glob must've been for Smoky. Once again, successful treatment. Your pergola is so dreamy, like being in the Greek Isles overlooking the sea. Tiltneck and Caramel sure did a fine job, and so did the humans.
Stay cool, and the birds, too. Bad heat seems so early in the summer. I don't remember Sacramento temps ever getting up that high.

Thank you!

The heat is definitely super high way too early…I HATE the summers here I feel like it’s slightly hotter every summer