What did you do with your flock today?

[Shetland lover]

Merry Christmas To All.
Every day now, I say a prayer for my flock of chickens to be harmonious and love each other. My flock without a rooster is turbulent, and I still have not seen any hen takes up the leadership job in the flock. I have seen my bottom girl moved up a few knots in the hierarchy.

It is hot weather we have here and my flock drink a lot of water and they don't poop at all, the blast watery pooops. So messy as flies are just buzzing at those.

Hopefully things will settle soon. It can take a few months though, if no one wants to step up. Someone will eventually.
We get nothing like the temperatures you have to deal with in the UK but I have the water poop issue too in summer. Gladys is particularly affected. I cover hers with sand or rinse them away asap but the flies still mob them.
Gladys is black so she probably gets hot quicker than everyone else. Pru is a black mottled Pekin but doesn't seem to suffer the same. I wonder if bantams cope better with heat?

 

[Shetland lover]

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. So sorry @SkyAJK for the challenges in your flock!!!

Yes, hope everyone had a lovely, peaceful time ❤

 

[TropicalBabies]

It is hot weather we have here and my flock drink a lot of water and they don't poop at all, the blast watery pooops. So messy as flies are just buzzing at those.

I share the hot weather chicken poop fly drama. The best thing that I do to manage is make fly traps. Lots and lots of fly traps and it gets things under control in a week or so.
I know the internet has some good home made recipes. Try see if you can find some. I have resorted to buying packets and making my own traps from save bottles. Makes things cheaper and sooo much better.
I also have poop boards and try to stay up on the cleaning of them but I also compost the poop so cleaning only helps so much with flies. Mostly it helps me.
Hope that helps ♡♡

 

[TropicalBabies]

Happy Holidays all!!
Piko disappeared on the 20th and i was sick to death. Total PTSD from Forest disappearing without a trace. I was up late nights and early mornings calling, shaking treats, listening. Nothing till Christmas Eve at 11pm. She made her way in her time. The relief from the guilt, worry and sadness was overwhelming and the best gift I could have ever been given. After eating like a small horse and getting nose frisked by Giz...

She is attached like white on rice and hasn't stopped purring. I ordered GPS tags on the 21st.

After the happy reunion we had some super sad news this morning. I found our Elliot in distress and unresponsive. I think he had a stroke or heartattack because of the fireworks. I was just putting my foot down yesterday with my husband, TELLING HIM, I was going to take Elliott up the mountain early and have my son keep him till my A-hole neighbors stopped blowing up fireworks. It upset Elliott so much. Anywho, we lost our healthy 12 year old pup to what I am certain was stroke or heartattack. We stayed with him till the end, never able to take him to the vet. I think he waited for us to find him so her could say goodbye. My husband is devastated.

Before this, I went off on another cat feeding adventure. DH and I rode our duelsports to Polihale to check out a huge swell. The one the Eddie Aikau was running on. I spotted cats begging humans for food and water, and I had both on my bike as it set up for my feedings.

It is a long tuff drive by car but I am setting up a posse to feed and trap and relocate them to a colony close by so we can feed and water daily.
It is also a fun ride on the bike so I'll will take 2 feeds till we can trap.

This year has been a big year of heartbreak and loss for me. Forest, Elliott, Princess Peaches and Lady Ruby. It has also been a great year of learning and fortitude. I have low expectations for the next couple of years for a few reasons.... but I plan to stay tough and move forward.

More progress on the run fence means we are days away from finishing and my chickens coming home.

One more post to go, then side railings, fencing material back up, shade cloth, then clean coops one more time, and then chickens!!!! Can't wait to put that nesting material in the nest boxes!!!

Somewhere inbetween, ima gunna need to transfer 24 cats up to Koke'e, and then back down, lol.

 

[ValerieJ]

Happy Holidays all!!
Piko disappeared on the 20th and i was sick to death. Total PTSD from Forest disappearing without a trace. I was up late nights and early mornings calling, shaking treats, listening. Nothing till Christmas Eve at 11pm. She made her way in her time. The relief from the guilt, worry and sadness was overwhelming and the best gift I could have ever been given. After eating like a small horse and getting nose frisked by Giz...View attachment 4014838View attachment 4014840
She is attached like white on rice and hasn't stopped purring. I ordered GPS tags on the 21st.

After the happy reunion we had some super sad news this morning. I found our Elliot in distress and unresponsive. I think he had a stroke or heartattack because of the fireworks. I was just putting my foot down yesterday with my husband, TELLING HIM, I was going to take Elliott up the mountain early and have my son keep him till my A-hole neighbors stopped blowing up fireworks. It upset Elliott so much. Anywho, we lost our healthy 12 year old pup to what I am certain was stroke or heartattack. We stayed with him till the end, never able to take him to the vet. I think he waited for us to find him so her could say goodbye. My husband is devastated. View attachment 4014843
Before this, I went off on another cat feeding adventure. DH and I rode our duelsports to Polihale to check out a huge swell. The one the Eddie Aikau was running on. I spotted cats begging humans for food and water, and I had both on my bike as it set up for my feedings.View attachment 4014845View attachment 4014847View attachment 4014846View attachment 4014848
It is a long tuff drive by car but I am setting up a posse to feed and trap and relocate them to a colony close by so we can feed and water daily.
It is also a fun ride on the bike so I'll will take 2 feeds till we can trap.

This year has been a big year of heartbreak and loss for me. Forest, Elliott, Princess Peaches and Lady Ruby. It has also been a great year of learning and fortitude. I have low expectations for the next couple of years for a few reasons.... but I plan to stay tough and move forward.

More progress on the run fence means we are days away from finishing and my chickens coming home.View attachment 4014850View attachment 4014849
One more post to go, then side railings, fencing material back up, shade cloth, then clean coops one more time, and then chickens!!!! Can't wait to put that nesting material in the nest boxes!!!

Somewhere inbetween, ima gunna need to transfer 24 cats up to Koke'e, and then back down, lol.View attachment 4014853

Oh man, I don't know whether to laugh or rejoice. You have so much going on. Big hugs and love to you!!! Sure wish Forest would show up.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Oh man, I don't know whether to laugh or rejoice. You have so much going on. Big hugs and love to you!!! Sure wish Forest would show up.

I read a post on one of my cat sites and it really struck a cord. The gal just wrote a warning about UT blockage. I had researched the symptoms of uti, but it did not ring the way the blockage did. Mostly it was the kitty chatting and ultra fast timeline that sounded like it may fit. Also, I just can't see Forest leaving me. He loves me with all of his heart and I love him with all of mine. Anywho, AJ was sick with an infection and I was up to my eyeballs with her care, so even though I thought Forest was chatty, I thought it was cuz he was missing me. He hopped around fine and was kind of his silly self. Anywho, if it was a blockage, I had 1-3 days to recognize it and it would need emergency surgery that may, or may not be successful. I will never know. I will always see him in other kitties and I will always remain hopeful for a miracle, but I think this may have been a possibility as it is not a completely uncommon occurrence in male cats.

 

[Shetland lover]

Happy Holidays all!!
Piko disappeared on the 20th and i was sick to death. Total PTSD from Forest disappearing without a trace. I was up late nights and early mornings calling, shaking treats, listening. Nothing till Christmas Eve at 11pm. She made her way in her time. The relief from the guilt, worry and sadness was overwhelming and the best gift I could have ever been given. After eating like a small horse and getting nose frisked by Giz...View attachment 4014838View attachment 4014840
She is attached like white on rice and hasn't stopped purring. I ordered GPS tags on the 21st.

After the happy reunion we had some super sad news this morning. I found our Elliot in distress and unresponsive. I think he had a stroke or heartattack because of the fireworks. I was just putting my foot down yesterday with my husband, TELLING HIM, I was going to take Elliott up the mountain early and have my son keep him till my A-hole neighbors stopped blowing up fireworks. It upset Elliott so much. Anywho, we lost our healthy 12 year old pup to what I am certain was stroke or heartattack. We stayed with him till the end, never able to take him to the vet. I think he waited for us to find him so her could say goodbye. My husband is devastated. View attachment 4014843
Before this, I went off on another cat feeding adventure. DH and I rode our duelsports to Polihale to check out a huge swell. The one the Eddie Aikau was running on. I spotted cats begging humans for food and water, and I had both on my bike as it set up for my feedings.View attachment 4014845View attachment 4014847View attachment 4014846View attachment 4014848
It is a long tuff drive by car but I am setting up a posse to feed and trap and relocate them to a colony close by so we can feed and water daily.
It is also a fun ride on the bike so I'll will take 2 feeds till we can trap.

This year has been a big year of heartbreak and loss for me. Forest, Elliott, Princess Peaches and Lady Ruby. It has also been a great year of learning and fortitude. I have low expectations for the next couple of years for a few reasons.... but I plan to stay tough and move forward.

More progress on the run fence means we are days away from finishing and my chickens coming home.View attachment 4014850View attachment 4014849
One more post to go, then side railings, fencing material back up, shade cloth, then clean coops one more time, and then chickens!!!! Can't wait to put that nesting material in the nest boxes!!!

Somewhere inbetween, ima gunna need to transfer 24 cats up to Koke'e, and then back down, lol.View attachment 4014853

Oh my! I'm so sorry you lost Elliot. He was a lovely boy.
You've had so much to cope with the last year or so. I can only admire and applaud your strength, resilience and total lack of self-pity. I know how hard it is to carry on sometimes in the face of the things life throws at us, yet you do with grace. Don't forget to self-care too

 

[Shetland lover]

I read a post on one of my cat sites and it really struck a cord. The gal just wrote a warning about UT blockage. I had researched the symptoms of uti, but it did not ring the way the blockage did. Mostly it was the kitty chatting and ultra fast timeline that sounded like it may fit. Also, I just can't see Forest leaving me. He loves me with all of his heart and I love him with all of mine. Anywho, AJ was sick with an infection and I was up to my eyeballs with her care, so even though I thought Forest was chatty, I thought it was cuz he was missing me. He hopped around fine and was kind of his silly self. Anywho, if it was a blockage, I had 1-3 days to recognize it and it would need emergency surgery that may, or may not be successful. I will never know. I will always see him in other kitties and I will always remain hopeful for a miracle, but I think this may have been a possibility as it is not a completely uncommon occurrence in male cats.

It can be hard to spot. My friend's male cat had struvite stones which caused a blockage and it was only the fact my friend has OCD that allowed him to spot something was wrong. He is obsessed with cleaning the litter tray several times daily and suddenly realised there had been no wee in it for 2 days. His kitty had been behaving absolutely normally other than not peeing.
My Elliot has idiopathic cystitis. He's suffered from it for 7 years and it's only through experience of seeing absolutely minute changes in his behaviour (I'm certain no one else would spot them) that we've learned to pre-empt his attacks. The first few times, he was pretty distressed before we got him to the vets. Cats can be very hard to read sometimes and when we are distracted by life, it can be even harder.
You know Forest better than anyone in the world so your suspicions are probably near the mark.

 

[ValerieJ]

I read a post on one of my cat sites and it really struck a cord. The gal just wrote a warning about UT blockage. I had researched the symptoms of uti, but it did not ring the way the blockage did. Mostly it was the kitty chatting and ultra fast timeline that sounded like it may fit. Also, I just can't see Forest leaving me. He loves me with all of his heart and I love him with all of mine. Anywho, AJ was sick with an infection and I was up to my eyeballs with her care, so even though I thought Forest was chatty, I thought it was cuz he was missing me. He hopped around fine and was kind of his silly self. Anywho, if it was a blockage, I had 1-3 days to recognize it and it would need emergency surgery that may, or may not be successful. I will never know. I will always see him in other kitties and I will always remain hopeful for a miracle, but I think this may have been a possibility as it is not a completely uncommon occurrence in male cats.

That is just so sad. I have had a lot of cats over the years, and I miss each one when I lose them. I still miss them. They are the most amazing of animals. I lost one to a rattle snake bite I think. I can't be sure. I saw him near a pile of fire wood and saw a rattle snake there at the same time. Max, the cat, was acting fine, but we were quite busy dispatching the rattle snake. During the commotion Max wandered off. We never saw him again; never found his body. He was perhaps my favorite cat, but I might be able to say that about each one. I could still describe the personalities of each cat I ever had.

What you do, in rescuing kitties and finding them homes, is simply amazing.

 

[SkyAJK]

I share the hot weather chicken poop fly drama. The best thing that I do to manage is make fly traps. Lots and lots of fly traps and it gets things under control in a week or so.
I know the internet has some good home made recipes. Try see if you can find some. I have resorted to buying packets and making my own traps from save bottles. Makes things cheaper and sooo much better.
I also have poop boards and try to stay up on the cleaning of them but I also compost the poop so cleaning only helps so much with flies. Mostly it helps me.
Hope that helps ♡♡

I am setting up the flies trap this morning. Those flies buzz like crazy at just after 4am this morning.