Recent content by fluffycrow

  1. fluffycrow

    Help needed. Young hens not integrating.

    It has been my experience that the youngsters won’t fully integrate with the adult group until the cockerels have started to mate and crow, and the pullets have started laying. The behaviour your birds are showing, with one adult group and one juvenile sub-group isn’t odd at all. Even when they...
  2. fluffycrow

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Photos from the two orphan chicks I have taken on. Hopefully we can make this work. Camouflage!
  3. fluffycrow

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    I’m so sorry :hugs . How unexpected and sad. You and the chickens haven’t been able to catch a break in some time now. Poor Tull. It’s awful to see young birds pass away
  4. fluffycrow

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Congratulations! I sure hope to see both of you with spirit badges soon
  5. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    Thank you. It’s not my loss that I’m worried about, rather the absence of a mother for the chicks. It’s quite different when a chick is hatched in an artificial environment from the start, compared to going from a vast, natural environment with a mother as a teacher, to a heat plate with no...
  6. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    As most of you could guess, mum passed some time during the night. One chick was found wandering around, healthy. The other was still under its mum’s body, trapped and almost crushed under her weight. Mum passed on a damp spot, so the chick under her got dangerously cold. It couldn’t walk, due...
  7. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    Thanks for the input. I don’t think it’s mites. I’m pretty paranoid about that, so I check the nests (as well as the friendliest birds) daily. After mum had taken the chicks off the nest I checked once again, and did not see anything. She has not gone back to a nest since. Right now it’s...
  8. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    The chicks seem to have retained that rebellious spirit. The were eating their chick feed and scratching on the ground when I went down to the coops. If they make it through the night (assuming that mum doesn’t, and as such, they will be left with no heat source), I’ll try a hybrid method of...
  9. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    I came home after being out of town for almost two days to mum pretty much on the verge of death. I don’t see her making the night. The chicks are both alive, and I made the decision to let them with mum. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I don’t know why mum is so sick. The only indication while...
  10. fluffycrow

    Is this a silly question?

    Yes. Males will mate with other males, and females can mate with other females. Usually it’s a dominance thing. Sometimes it’s not. Either way, no need to worry
  11. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    Thanks for the reassurance; I thought and acted (or rather, didn’t) the same. Figured that I’m not present 24/7, and it was bound to happen again, so I’d rather it happened under my supervision. I did not intervene, and as mention, the others didn’t persue. Today mum is far more active and the...
  12. fluffycrow

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Fret has had a good life. Very sad to read that it might be coming to an end, and I’m sure you’re not feeling great about it, but I’m sure that if asked (and if she could answer), she’d say her last few years were happy ones. The last of the “old guard”, she will join Henry and Carbon. You’re...
  13. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    Thanks for the clarification. I have no questions about flock/group dynamics with a broody, nor experience. What I can do is share yesterday’s observations after the chicks were introduced to the group. Starting with the roosters, they all showed interest initially, but remained neutral...
  14. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    I know nothing about sex linking, but this is very interesting (plus the chicks are gorgeous). Way more than the common RSL. I’d BDutch is ok with a little bit of genetics talk on this thread, could you explain how the fibromelanosis only passed down to the female chicks? Sorry about the black...
  15. fluffycrow

    Natural breeding thread

    Success! Mum brought them down today, with a little help from me (the only help I’ve given throughout this process). Mum isn’t looking great, the brooding process was tiring, and she got a bit beat up from the other hens, though she stood her ground. Being a first timer didn’t help, I’m...
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