Growing my little flock

[DonyaQuick]

Aaaaaahhhh they've got amazing fluffy little Ameraucana pullets at a local feed shop. THOSE LITTLE FUZZY CHEEKS. Darn you NY and your stupid minimum 6 chicks law...6 is just too many right now. While it was very hard to leave with just the potting soil I came in for, I do not need that many more hens...but man being responsible is depressing lol.

 

[2ndTink]

Aaaaaahhhh they've got amazing fluffy little Ameraucana pullets at a local feed shop. THOSE LITTLE FUZZY CHEEKS. Darn you NY and your stupid minimum 6 chicks law...6 is just too many right now. While it was very hard to leave with just the potting soil I came in for, I do not need that many more hens...but man being responsible is depressing lol.

Oh wow, that is a pretty high miminum! Would you be able to find someone to split them with you? Or grow them out for a few weeks and sell a couple? Not that it is easy to let them go once you're attached to them our minimum here is 4 at TSC, the maximum set by my hubby is 0 ok, maybe I hatched out a few too many eggs already this year, but un my defenceman, about 30 of those chicks are hubby's and not mine so they shouldn't count

 

[DonyaQuick]

Oh wow, that is a pretty high miminum! Would you be able to find someone to split them with you? Or grow them out for a few weeks and sell a couple? Not that it is easy to let them go once you're attached to them our minimum here is 4 at TSC, the maximum set by my hubby is 0 ok, maybe I hatched out a few too many eggs already this year, but un my defenceman, about 30 of those chicks are hubby's and not mine so they shouldn't count

Yeah the 6 chick thing here is kind of baffling given the minimums elsewhere. It’s high even for the heat-in-transit argument. Makes it quite hard for folks in more suburban areas with a 4 hen max. I haven’t been able to part with a single cockerel so I think my chances of being able to part with a pullet are even smaller!

 

[2ndTink]

Yeah the 6 chick thing here is kind of baffling given the minimums elsewhere. It’s high even for the heat-in-transit argument. Makes it quite hard for folks in more suburban areas with a 4 hen max. I haven’t been able to part with a single cockerel so I think my chances of being able to part with a pullet are even smaller!

I understand that 100%

 

[DonyaQuick]

Uuuuuggghhhhh this year SUCKS so far. Super duper good thing I didn't succumb to the fluffy cheeks and buy chicks. Feels like bad events attract bad events. I've had Miss Chungus in my office for just over a week now. Incredibly bad dehydration and bowl impaction with either infection or some sort of bacterial overgrowth happening a couple days in. I still don't know what brought it on which is really worrisome, but at least she seems recovered. Problem is I can't stop the treatment she's on just because she's doing well...so I'm going to be experiencing why everybody says not to do house chickens for a minimum of 3 more days, possibly a whole additional week. I'm paranoid about coccidiosis if I just chuck her back outside after what she's been through, so if I can manage it I feel like I need ot reintroduce her to the outdoors a bit like what I do with brand new chicks. I'll document what I did for her better once I'm not typing one handed due to having her draped over my arm much of the day.

And because I've had Chungus to worry about 24/7, my time with main flock and bachelor flock has been much reduced. Main flock has become like entering the velociraptor pit - the hug desperation is actually a bit scary sometimes with 14 chickens in that group at the moment.

Bachelor flock of 4 is handling things less well. They are getting WAY over-excited now when I do go out, since they're getting increasingly desperate for my now sparse attention. This is leading to stuff like chest bumping over who gets hugs from me first, which has never been a thing before. And so...they had a nasty fight today. Squeak and Tengu went for the same piece of tasty stuff on the ground and one bit the other's face in the process. Cue a massive blowup since they were already bouncing off the walls. Then poor Goober tried to go break it up. Then the other two were all over him and it was just a big ball of angst. Then Vanilla Bean then tried really hard to break it up but then it was a squirming ball of four of them. Goob, Squeak, and Vanilla bean seem to have decided that Tengu was the bad guy so I've had to separate him. Not out of sight or anything; benefit of having a setup in two halves. He'll have to go in the coop at night though...hopefully this will be like my experiences with Junior and Monster as cockerels, which is that they had a few really bad fights in their first spring but were always cool with each other in the morning. Fingers crossed this also evens out a bit more once I can give them more attention again.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Well Tengu did not sleep in the coop...Squeak took his sleeping spot and they had another spat over it in the dark when I tried to add Tengu back in. So Tengu slept in the house. Unfortunately Squeak seems to be the actual issue since he's clearly trying to climb the ladder (he's not going to make it up past Vanilla Bean though, who has had quite enough of all this). Unfortunately Tengu also managed to badly injur his wattle by catching it on a broken tree branch while they were scuffling yesterday...didn't realize how bad until after I took him in the house for a bit to sort out sleeping arrangements. So he has to heal at least some before I can let him back in.

Entire main flock is also clearly losing its mind this morning, beyond the decreased hug issues. I went out this morning to find at least three hens periodically doing the ominous "ork ork ork" although none are yet doing the turkey pose. But those who have seen broodies will know what that sound means. Meanwhile Dingus is having some kind of feud with the eggers. Both rooster brothers are pretty frazzled by all this.

Wondering if I may be able to put the bachelor flock situation down to a combination of spring crazies and possibly a feed switch I tried starting about 3 weeks back. I started getting a different all flock because I can only get the original type in 50lb bags and 4 roos don't go through that very fast, so I was trying to do smaller quantities. Last time I had issues with Tengu and Squeak they were tiny, but I'm pretty sure that was nutrition so strongly suspecting it here too.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I believe Chungus has managed to peek into the webcam view at least once in every single video call I've had this week. I've learned that she will start bouncing off the walls as soon as she realizes I'm talking to someone, so I gave in and just started putting her on my lap before the meeting starts. She will sit happily flopped like this and snuggle calmly with her head tucked under my arm for the longest time...and then just when I'm lulled into thinking she will stay like that, a chicken face slowly rises into view under my chin.

 

[DonyaQuick]

My hubby likes the roosters more than the hens because they are "prettier" he likes the extra colors that the roosters usually sport. I think we will end up making a bigger bachelor coop this year for his boy flock

I think I should have asked you this sooner when you mentioned your bachelor flock: when that dreaded 1st spring rolls around for new cockerels for that flock, how do you handle that phase? I've clearly messed things up with mine this week due to a routine change up so I'm now trying to figure out how to stop things from decending into some kind of fight club situation...

 

[2ndTink]

I think I should have asked you this sooner when you mentioned your bachelor flock: when that dreaded 1st spring rolls around for new cockerels for that flock, how do you handle that phase? I've clearly messed things up with mine this week due to a routine change up so I'm now trying to figure out how to stop things from decending into some kind of fight club situation...

I haven't had to mix different ages yet, but I have had to separate a few of them. This spring will be the first test as I'll be mixing different ages together, but I also plan to have them away from the ladies so I hope that helps. We'll be processing any mean ones is the plan. I've read just a little about having one older rooster in the group to keep order, it's an interesting concept, I don't think I have the right older boy though. My oldest are silkies so not likely to keep order very well with the large fowl.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I haven't had to mix different ages yet, but I have had to separate a few of them. This spring will be the first test as I'll be mixing different ages together, but I also plan to have them away from the ladies so I hope that helps. We'll be processing any mean ones is the plan. I've read just a little about having one older rooster in the group to keep order, it's an interesting concept, I don't think I have the right older boy though. My oldest are silkies so not likely to keep order very well with the large fowl.

I thought I had the good strong older rooster thing in Vanilla Bean…but he literally gave up last night and was like “ok fine I’ll go sit by myself then” and that somehow attracted more aggression. He’s ok but I removed him. If he was smaller than the 1st spring idiots though it would’ve been a lot worse. What a mess…then of course I mucked up the auto door settings by accident so it didn’t open when it was supposed to and got more fighting among the cockerels.

For those you separated, did they go back together layer or was that the end of that for those birds?