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  1. SamLockwood

    Two heat exhaustion deaths in a month

    I had a similar incident with a guinea fowl last year: he was outside and wallowing around in a puddle but was clearly disoriented and suffering heat exhaustion. I picked him up and brought him inside and he went into convusions and was dead in less than a minute. Perhaps he was already far too...
  2. SamLockwood

    Normal integration behavior, or do we need to separate?

    A certain amount of aggression is always inevitable. This isn't a species that has a sophisitcated method of communicating, so "go away" is usually a quick warning, followed by pecking and chasing. Where I call it excessive is when you start seing missing feathers, actual injuries, or where the...
  3. SamLockwood

    Roosters… to keep or not to keep?

    6:1 isn't a terrible ratio for hens to roosters, although getting 10 roos to get along would require a LOT of space. In my experience if you drop below 4:1 you're definitely going to have problems even with an ideal setup if only from the over-mating of the hens. Make sure to have backup plans...
  4. SamLockwood

    Guineas- What the hell!!

    Absent any real details it's hard to say. First, guineas tend to like being in larger groups and tend to get very tetchy if they're alone or in small groups. If you have a proper flock of guineas and one gets separated from the group they often go into full panic mode. Second, guineas are...
  5. SamLockwood

    Group parenting in my flock

    This afternoon. They like to hang out in the shade under the deck.
  6. SamLockwood

    Group parenting in my flock

    From a couple weeks ago, as they were getting ready to roost early for the night. The first week, while they disupted custody.
  7. SamLockwood

    Group parenting in my flock

    Not really a problem or a question, just noting some interesting behavior in my mixed flock. The second year in a row I let some of my broodies hatch chicks & keets, as well as some "back-ups" I hatched indoors. Last year only a pair of chicks made it and the mothers raised them separately. I...
  8. SamLockwood

    First 4th of July with Chickens

    The first time they got a bit upset, but since then my flock doesn't seem to care. And where I live we get fireworks for Cinco de Mayo and Diwali as well as July 4th, Memorial Day, and Veteran's day. Plus they've seen me shoot predators. At this point unless it's actual thunder they don't...
  9. SamLockwood

    Female Guinea laying but not sitting

    Their usual nesting behavior is the male scouts out the nest first, and if he thinks it's OK he'll make some approving sounds (which sounds like my tinnitus acting up) and then he'll stand guard while she lays. Before she lays she'll often give what chicken-keepers mistakenly call an "egg...
  10. SamLockwood

    It's been a very rough first year with chickens. Anyone else?

    Where I live, frequent downpours and temps in the mid-90's are what we call "normal summer weather." If they're panting but otherwise acting normally they're not heat-stressed: it's just the only way they cool off. Chickens can't sweat and they're not inclined to get wet to cool off. Mine HATE...
  11. SamLockwood

    Hi, my 5 hens that are 4 months old did not want to come down from their roost today. I't's 11am! Coop door opens at 8am. Very odd for them. Ideas?

    They have very keen eyesight. They see a wider range of colors than we can, and in daylight they can see movement much better than we can. I've seen mine spot flying hawks 100 yards away in forest, and farther than that in open sky. Their hearing's better than ours, too. Mine have reacted to...
  12. SamLockwood

    Female Guinea laying but not sitting

    They like nesting sites that are covered. Mine either use the nesting boxes built into the coop or if they lay outside they'll pick natural hollows with cover. They usually only start to sit on eggs if they have a lot of them: like around 2 dozen or so. Good luck getting in that nest, then. Few...
  13. SamLockwood

    Is two roos one too many for 13 hens??

    It depends
  14. SamLockwood

    Chickens and guinea together?

    It's doable depending on the exact breed, but it is more complicated than mixing other kinds of poultry and you need a LOT of space and more than one coop. I have jumbo French Pearls that I've raised with chickens (I fact I've got six new ones being raised BY the chickens) and they get along...
  15. SamLockwood

    Several broody Cream Legbars

    Right now I have a cream legbar that's a very dedicated mother, she and two other hens formed a wierd sort of triple parenting arragememnt over some chicks and keets they hatched. Usually it's my Olive Eggers that go broody, but this year it's one of the legbars. She not only takes care of her...
  16. SamLockwood

    Coop-Brooded Chicks Integration

    One thing I've found out is whatever you think you need for roosting bars, put in twice as many. All of them will want to roost in the highest bars possible, but if space is limited the senior birds will hog the top roosts. Even if you have enough high bars, there's often some jockeying for...
  17. SamLockwood

    Rooster shuffle?

    It's either a mating-dance or he's trying to herd them. The herding version is more of a sideways-shuffle. Also, so you're ready for it if you hear it, they make some pretty weird noises when flirting. Two ways they do it is by "tidbitting" or by scouting out nests. The first is if they find...
  18. SamLockwood

    Big mean rooster keeps biting me

    As others noted, 4 months is old and showing aggression isn't a good sign. Normally their hormones don't really kick in hard for another couple of months. In general, I never put up with any chicken that (roo or hen) that's too free with their beak around me. Come up with some consistent...
  19. SamLockwood

    Unable to eat the usual sunnyside-up egg after seeing hen swallow a mouse...

    That's a new one on me. Maybe try acquainting him with egg candling? I usually candle mine becuase even though I'm aware certain things are "natural" I'd still rather not see them in "technicolor." Plus if I'm giving any away I like to make sure I'm not subjecting people to any possible...
  20. SamLockwood

    Unable to eat the usual sunnyside-up egg after seeing hen swallow a mouse...

    Chickens put the "omni" in "omnivore." I've seen mine eat small lizards, mice, and all kinds of plants and bugs. I thought the mouse-eating thing was a myth until I saw two of my hens play tug-of-war with a small field mouse. You've got to remember that it all boils down to chemistry: every...
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