What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

I went out today, counted heads, inspected all food and water, then added stall refresh and another load of wood chips to chicken coop. Gathered 2 eggs. We're in a cold snap in N. Ga for a bit. Even put coats on the two dairy goats last night . Everyone looking good so far. Weather should get above freezing at night by Tuesday.

I don't think you can mention goats in coats without a photo for us. For our entertainment.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I am sorry to hear about your girl Alice. She must be the production layer, some of mine are Isa Brown which is production layer and they suffer horrific reproductive issues around that age 15 or 18 months old.

The Vet over here - Australia won't do hysterectomy, they told me your chicken has a low chance of surviving. I don't feel confident going to the Vet at all. But I do go when I cannot treat my chicken at home anymore and I can not let them suffer. My believe in Vet treating chicken is eroded each time to go there. I have watched many youtube videos on how to quickly and painlessly cull a chicken, but that is just not going to happen with me for now.

Going to the vets sounds like an expensive disappointment. Im silorry. I dont dare take a bird to the vets here. My dh would have a cow, or lay an egg, lol. Good news is BYC has better answers than vets do anyways. And I don't blame you, I dont have the heart to cull either. Just not there yet.

 

[Jenbirdee]

temps below freezing all day, so had to keep going out with pots of boiling water to top off the frozen buckets for ducks and geese. The chickens, however, have the one heated water bucket so they were living high

 

[SkyAJK]

We got a new chicken coop - the one that I least dislike to house our 4 tiny bantam - Japanese bantam and Pekin bantam. We will put it together together today. I wanted to build my own coop,but it just too much work and I will need to buy many tools to do it. I will just get this one for now.

My Wyandotte is molting, she looks terrible and also funny at the same time. I want to isolate her for a few hours to feed her more protein. She is a nervous girl.

 

[Shetland lover]

I am sorry to hear about your girl Alice. She must be the production layer, some of mine are Isa Brown which is production layer and they suffer horrific reproductive issues around that age 15 or 18 months old.

The Vet over here - Australia won't do hysterectomy, they told me your chicken has a low chance of surviving. I don't feel confident going to the Vet at all. But I do go when I cannot treat my chicken at home anymore and I can not let them suffer. My believe in Vet treating chicken is eroded each time to go there. I have watched many youtube videos on how to quickly and painlessly cull a chicken, but that is just not going to happen with me for now.

I'm also not comfortable taking my chickens to my local vets unless it is for something straightforward. On the whole, they are pretty clueless and I will treat easy problems myself. I took a poultry health and management course a couple of years ago which has helped me a lot and i made a vet friend, who is lovely and doesn't mind me asking daft questions.
One of my roos, Stan, has breathing issues. He sounds like he smokes 60 cigarettes a day, at times. And yet no-one can tell me what's wrong with him. He's happy in himself and other than his asthmatic-type breathing, he is in very good health and is not sick in any way. He has seen 3 different vets and had different treatments. Nothing has worked.
Alice was one of my Shetland hens not one of my ex production girls. I believe she had infectious bronchitis 6 months before she started internally laying. The vet I saw about her symptoms had no clue about chickens and diagnosed a bacterial infection, prescribing antibiotics. And I didn't know any better at the time.

 

[Shetland lover]

You are precisely right about Pekin chickens being "tiny fluffbal", they are fun to watch. They also make gentle quiet sound.

I thought bantam Cochin looks identical to Pekin, so they are the same.

On the whole, they do make lovely, soft sounds. Penelope, Ferdy's little sister, used to scream at me every time I went outside and them come running. She also used crow exactly like Ferdy but at about twice the volume!

 

[Shetland lover]

I don't think you can mention goats in coats without a photo for us. For our entertainment.

I agree

 

[Shetland lover]

Going to the vets sounds like an expensive disappointment. Im silorry. I dont dare take a bird to the vets here. My dh would have a cow, or lay an egg, lol. Good news is BYC has better answers than vets do anyways. And I don't blame you, I dont have the heart to cull either. Just not there yet.

I'm not brave enough to cull yet either. Doubt if I'll ever be.

 

[Shetland lover]

We got a new chicken coop - the one that I least dislike to house our 4 tiny bantam - Japanese bantam and Pekin bantam. We will put it together together today. I wanted to build my own coop,but it just too much work and I will need to buy many tools to do it. I will just get this one for now.

My Wyandotte is molting, she looks terrible and also funny at the same time. I want to isolate her for a few hours to feed her more protein. She is a nervous girl.

I got a new coop for Sylv when he got Pru and Clara, just a small one - suitable for the three of them with a bit of space to spare. Went to check on everyone that night only to find Sylv happily surrounded by 6 hens - 4 of whom were full-size - and no-one in the spacious main coop
They all slept crammed together like sardines until Pru went broody with Ferdy and Penelope.

 

[WarWagon]

I don't think you can mention goats in coats without a photo for us. For our entertainment.

Here are my BIG LADIES!!!! This is Priscilla (L) and Magdalene (R) (half sisters) . They will be 3 years old in March/April 2025. Never been bred. Half Saanen/Nubian