What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

How are you feeling today? Hopefully better.

I never felt very bad, just a little "off" for a few days. I think last Wednesday-ish and thanks for asking. I am up to date with my booster so think I am pretty good to go but we help out our older auntie. Only reason for me to test, that and to not inadvertently pass it on to anyone's favorite anybody.
Chatted with P.A. kid this morning and she had to chuckle how she and her DH go into the lions den everyday and have never had a problem, I go to the store once and the humane society and bam! Pretty funny. I thought I was being pretty darn safe... Oh well...

I left the run and garden gate open last night so, this morning all was quiet with no chicken ruckus and complaints at a closed gate. They just wandered out into the yard for it's delicious afterparty bugs and fresh grass shoots. Neighbors probably not so happy as Bolt was letting his crows rip on the fence line near their house. Oops... but terrifically handsome so hopefully forgiven.
1 Buff cockerel seems pretty down with the pox and a fresher case of pox with my at risk STT (slow to thrive) cuz I am in denial)) buff chick. Gunna go cook them a yummy soft breakfast to enjoy in their quarantine apartment and commiserate as I know exactly how they feel lol.
Give them another dose of Tylan and some eyes drops. Thought we had this thing licked but apparently not. Surprised STT is the last to be infected as opposed to the first. The amount of stress in that little ones life being the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the pecking order must be a heavy weight.

Started collecting eggs to hatch though I think it more of an exercise at this point

 

[pennyJo1960]

I hope this storm is not a bad as the last one!

This is just rain .. We have no threat of flooding here ..
not so for some others ..
Suppose to get a few dry days .. get a new tarp on the main coop .. Better half put a big tear in it pushing the snow off before .. New coop not ready for them so ..
Besides big tarps are all ways usefull..
We are going to hold it down with pavers we picked up.

 

[kurby22]

I never felt very bad, just a little "off" for a few days. I think last Wednesday-ish and thanks for asking. I am up to date with my booster so think I am pretty good to go but we help out our older auntie. Only reason for me to test, that and to not inadvertently pass it on to anyone's favorite anybody.
Chatted with P.A. kid this morning and she had to chuckle how she and her DH go into the lions den everyday and have never had a problem, I go to the store once and the humane society and bam! Pretty funny. I thought I was being pretty darn safe... Oh well...

I left the run and garden gate open last night so, this morning all was quiet with no chicken ruckus and complaints at a closed gate. They just wandered out into the yard for it's delicious afterparty bugs and fresh grass shoots. Neighbors probably not so happy as Bolt was letting his crows rip on the fence line near their house. Oops... but terrifically handsome so hopefully forgiven.
1 Buff cockerel seems pretty down with the pox and a fresher case of pox with my at risk STT (slow to thrive) cuz I am in denial)) buff chick. Gunna go cook them a yummy soft breakfast to enjoy in their quarantine apartment and commiserate as I know exactly how they feel lol.
Give them another dose of Tylan and some eyes drops. Thought we had this thing licked but apparently not. Surprised STT is the last to be infected as opposed to the first. The amount of stress in that little ones life being the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the pecking order must be a heavy weight.

Started collecting eggs to hatch though I think it more of an exercise at this point

Glad you aren’t really experiencing too many rough symptoms! The news today said the Governor of West Virginia is in serious shape with COVID and he’s vaxxed and boosted! So that causes me a bit more anxiety! Yeesh. Dumb viruses!! My kids seem to have avoided contact with any of the kids at school that were positive so all is good so far.

I’m sad to hear your babies are now dealing with fowl pox!! I hate it! I actually just bought a vaccine for it. No new chickens will suffer! I hope! I am sure you have your chickens covered but if you haven’t used iodine on the scabs, I highly recommend it! I was so impressed with the way it demolished the scabs on AJ and Coco and Elinor. AJs was a really good size lump and the iodine shrunk it down to nothing! I also swabbed Puff’s pox and it helped his but not as well since his case was more severe. I also swabbed his mouth where I found a wet pox lesion and that was the only lesion I found after that. May be coincidence but I’m grateful either way!

A chicken friend of mine suggested I give my chickens a bale of hay for enrichment…so today they are enjoying the run and their hay bale! After deciding I did not intend to murder them with it of course My neighbor also called yesterday to ask if the “rooster, or whatever we’ve got back there” would like some of their extra greens, so they also got some yummy romaine lettuce too We have a great little cul de sac! And Miyuki is keeping me company while I work!

 

[629864]

So, both ladies abandoned their eggs (I think). Not sure how long they can be off of them safely without calling it done.

With that, they were super curious to get out and look around. I found a moment when there were only 2 brown leghorns (very nice ladies with everyone in the flock) and one brown leghorn rooster.

Mr. Bubba (of the 3 identical Bubbas) came to say hello first and danced very wholeheartedly for them. They seemed to be comforted by that because they stuck right by his side thereafter. When the 2 BLs came to say hello, Mr Bubba made it clear that there was to be no misbehaving...these two new girls are under his protection. I couldn't have been prouder of him.

So all 5 of them are in the run, alone, getting acquainted. The other chickens tried to get in to see about the newcomers and then gave up and went back to their foraging. I'll go back out an hour and put the ladies back in their temp home. Tomorrow they can meet more of the flock. But I really had to let them out and get some sun....this weekend we're supposed to have a giant snowstorm. I'd love it if these ladies could sleep with the rest of the flock in the henhouse.

 

[629864]

Glad you aren’t really experiencing too many rough symptoms! The news today said the Governor of West Virginia is in serious shape with COVID and he’s vaxxed and boosted! So that causes me a bit more anxiety! Yeesh. Dumb viruses!! My kids seem to have avoided contact with any of the kids at school that were positive so all is good so far.

I’m sad to hear your babies are now dealing with fowl pox!! I hate it! I actually just bought a vaccine for it. No new chickens will suffer! I hope! I am sure you have your chickens covered but if you haven’t used iodine on the scabs, I highly recommend it! I was so impressed with the way it demolished the scabs on AJ and Coco and Elinor. AJs was a really good size lump and the iodine shrunk it down to nothing! I also swabbed Puff’s pox and it helped his but not as well since his case was more severe. I also swabbed his mouth where I found a wet pox lesion and that was the only lesion I found after that. May be coincidence but I’m grateful either way!

A chicken friend of mine suggested I give my chickens a bale of hay for enrichment…so today they are enjoying the run and their hay bale! After deciding I did not intend to murder them with it of course My neighbor also called yesterday to ask if the “rooster, or whatever we’ve got back there” would like some of their extra greens, so they also got some yummy romaine lettuce too We have a great little cul de sac! And Miyuki is keeping me company while I work!

What a nice neighbor! And yep, every time I bring anything new into the coop bigger than a food bowl, the chickens all act like the apocalypse has arrived for sure. This morning I raked up a bunch of hay into a giant mound that had been scattered by the goats and dogs in an adjacent pen (closed off to goats and dogs now). The chickens were all suspicious until they discovered what fun it is to play king of the hay pile.

 

[kurby22]

What a nice neighbor! And yep, every time I bring anything new into the coop bigger than a food bowl, the chickens all act like the apocalypse has arrived for sure. This morning I raked up a bunch of hay into a giant mound that had been scattered by the goats and dogs in an adjacent pen (closed off to goats and dogs now). The chickens were all suspicious until they discovered what fun it is to play king of the hay pile.

Yeah, when we first saw his phone call, my stomach dropped and I was sure it was going to be some complaint about the rooster haha. So this was a lovely surprise! He said they always have some leftovers like this and if we are okay with it, they will leave them for us in the future on the front step! So nice!

Yeah, I get a kick out of it every time! I understand the flight response from birds that are prey to everything but it is still funny. Would be funnier if they wouldn't do dumb things to hurt themselves when acting out this intense fear! I had no idea piles of straw could be so entertaining, but they love it!

 

[ronott1]

Glad you aren’t really experiencing too many rough symptoms! The news today said the Governor of West Virginia is in serious shape with COVID and he’s vaxxed and boosted! So that causes me a bit more anxiety! Yeesh. Dumb viruses!! My kids seem to have avoided contact with any of the kids at school that were positive so all is good so far.

I’m sad to hear your babies are now dealing with fowl pox!! I hate it! I actually just bought a vaccine for it. No new chickens will suffer! I hope! I am sure you have your chickens covered but if you haven’t used iodine on the scabs, I highly recommend it! I was so impressed with the way it demolished the scabs on AJ and Coco and Elinor. AJs was a really good size lump and the iodine shrunk it down to nothing! I also swabbed Puff’s pox and it helped his but not as well since his case was more severe. I also swabbed his mouth where I found a wet pox lesion and that was the only lesion I found after that. May be coincidence but I’m grateful either way!

A chicken friend of mine suggested I give my chickens a bale of hay for enrichment…so today they are enjoying the run and their hay bale! After deciding I did not intend to murder them with it of course My neighbor also called yesterday to ask if the “rooster, or whatever we’ve got back there” would like some of their extra greens, so they also got some yummy romaine lettuce too We have a great little cul de sac! And Miyuki is keeping me company while I work!

since you have fowl pox, you will want to vaccinate them for it each year.

 

[kurby22]

since you have fowl pox, you will want to vaccinate them for it each year.

Only the new chickens right? Or can I vaccinate all of them next year even if they’ve had it?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Sold one of my silkie pullets local gal from here drove down here for her..

 

[629864]

So, since everyone was acting nicely I allowed a few more birds to say hi to the new Orps. The reds were consistently jerks (like they were to the littles when I integrated them, but this time it's just 2 against everyone else). So I separated the reds and let the rest of the young ones into the enclosure. Some of the EE pullets tried to be bossy, but nothing too horrible. Eggs have without a doubt been abandoned by the Orps so I'll remove them tomorrow morning. I put the new girls back into their separate pen for tonight and will let them out again tomorrow morning. Just so they can have a peaceful night. I really do want to try to integrate them with the younger half of the flock by Saturday morning due to the intense snowstorm coming. I've put the reds into chicken jail back in their own coop for tonight with the door locked behind them. It only took a plate of food to get them to go in willingly.

The dogs have been sort of protective of the chickens lately...maybe seeing us make it clear that the birds are part of our "pack" has helped. In any case, Poppy saw me in the enclosure yesterday with the new birds, (she could only see part of me getting into the temp cage so she didnt know it was me) one of the birds sqwacked a bit and Poppy barked ferociously at me until she knew it was me. Good girl Poppy! Long story short...I think the reds will be fine in their own coop without the roos for a few nights and it will keep them warm and dry during the snowstorm.