What did you do with your flock today?

[ChicksnMore]

Good heavens! I didn't even think about that! I just assumed the ant hills were not in the run, but the ants were coming in to feast on egg and unfortunately live chicken. Yes, I would definitely not spread Amdro in my chicken run.

I'm not actually sure were the ant hill is. Wish the fire ants built big obvious hills, but it's somewhere in my garden because thats were I keep running into them. I'll have to start shifting planters to see if I can find it.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Oh I’m soooo sorry!! Was it an OD? I can’t believe they were so awful and she died so quickly. I’m no good with ant solutions though, I wish I had ideas

I had that odd trio of dwarfs that hatched last year or so. The silver looking babies Snug, Bug and the third turned out to be a girl. They grew up creamy, white and black. Everyone said they look silver but none of the for certain parents look like they carry silver. So I bred them to each other to just to see what I get. Something recessive that hasn't shown up again in any babies since. The eggs were cold but I threw them in the incubator and some show life.

Snug, Bug and the girl as babies and all grown up. You can just barely see the girl behind them. Wish I'd gotten a good picture of her before this. She was mostly white with black on her back and little spots of brown here and there. She was skittish so I never handled her much.

 

[MaeM]

Oh, my goodness! What a huge, buff guy! How much does he weigh?

I wish I knew but I don't have a proper scale. One time I tried to weigh him on a kitchen scale and he almost broke it, lol, it went to the limits of the scale at 11 pounds. But I need to confirm this! That was a long time ago and he was moving, etc. (It's very difficult for him to stand still, he is like hyperactive).

 

[PopoMyers]

I wish I knew but I don't have a proper scale. One time I tried to weigh him on a kitchen scale and he almost broke it, lol, it went to the limits of the scale at 11 pounds. But I need to confirm this! That was a long time ago and he was moving, etc. (It's very difficult for him to stand still, he is like hyperactive).

Could you weigh yourself, then again when you're holding him? I'm curious.

 

[PopoMyers]

I'm not actually sure were the ant hill is. Wish the fire ants built big obvious hills, but it's somewhere in my garden because thats were I keep running into them. I'll have to start shifting planters to see if I can find it.

Please don't get bitten, and I hope you can eradicate them all.

 

[Shetland lover]

Well, in this case, the rooster's intervention seemed to help because Ruby and Bianca are getting along again.

Other than a few pecks for food or a space to dig/dust bathe, I haven't seen Ruby being aggressive with Bianca again.

View attachment 3679954

But it's all about the size. If you have little roos, it is understandable that they do not want to intervene.

I have a rooster that's larger than my torso so I figured he could intervene if he wanted, lol. Glad he finally did. View attachment 3679957

Wow! He's a big, handsome boy
Even my full-size roo, Leo, wouldn't take the girls on though, unless things got really bad. My boys are badly henpecked though....

 

[Shetland lover]

Awww, such a sweet roo. I was going to take a video for Ferdy, then this happened. Lots of watery poop again. I wonder if her body is trying to wash out the meds? I hope this gets better, soon. She is definitely not too hot.
Picked up Vitamin C, so she had 500 mg last night along with the E. B complex in the morning, which has 100 mg. C. She a medium sized girl that probably weighs about 2 kg.

She was picking out the corn bits from her feed, so I offered her just cracked corn, and she got excited and ate quite a bit, with water to follow. At least I hope this means she is hydrated, and not getting dehydrated.. Now if we can get her digestive tract to slow down.

Aww, poor Ginger! Was it just yesterday you stopped the meloxicam? It might take a couple of days for her system to recover. I wish I could get some Digestihealth to you as it really is a miracle worker in my opinion, there's no magic ingredient as such, just a great mix of pre and probiotics.
You could try mixing some bentonite clay powder with her food as this will help absorb toxins. I've bought it quite easily from Amazon. Just make sure it is human food grade if you get some. I tend to have it on hand as I find it useful for other things too e.g. a 'drawing paste' for abscesses and bumblefoot.

 

[Shetland lover]

Today I sprayed down my broody hen with garlic vinegar water... Cause she has mites. Pretty sure its NFM. Turns out garlic water is a pretty decent vermin killer.

... Tbf, it's not comfy if you get it in an open wound either.

I took the leftover garlic that was strained out of the vinegar into the coop, because most bugs don't like the smell. Given my average humidity is maybe 20%, I figured it'd dry out in a day and maybe slightly deter a pest or 2.

.... The chickens ate it. Apparently they're happy to eat vinegar garlic?

Otherwise I mostly gave the birds hard boiled eggs and spiffed up their water a bit because we went from 90⁰ to 32⁰ again.

Ferdy loves pickled onions. Does that count?

 

[ChicksnMore]

Wow! He's a big, handsome boy
Even my full-size roo, Leo, wouldn't take the girls on though, unless things got really bad. My boys are badly henpecked though....

I've got a boy that intervenes, but he does it by shoving the attacked hen out of the way so he's between them, then he turns towards the attacker and tidbits. It almost always works. The upset hen will pause to see what he's excited about and that ends it for the moment. I've always thought he's such a clever boy. When he does that there's nothing to tidbit there...just dirt.

 

[MaeM]

Today I took Ruby to the vet for an ultrasound and I found it funny that she went through a prolapse, surgery, etc., but she only looked traumatized after the ultrasound

I swear she just stood there, completely still and with her legs open, for a whole minute during which she reflected on her whole life or something