Wow!
Love your creations! Those builds are beautiful!
Sounds like these girls might just worm their way into your heart ❤️.
It happened to all of us.
Welcome to BYC!
Mine get out of the house at 2 weeks, no matter what it's like outside. I have a walk in coop and just isolate a corner for them while they integrate.
Sometimes the heat lamp goes too.
I just can't stand the dust, smell and noise after 2 weeks.
I have expierenced new chicks getting a buildup of hardened poop, mostly under their toenails.
To me it mostly cleared itself up by putting them outside in a ground pen during the day or getting a larger brooder. Are yours crouded?
How many chicks, and what size brooder?
Once they start...
I've 3 chicks, 3 days old
I think I would hold off until these little guys are stronger and at least have wing feathering.
I have lost small chicks before when mama hen was not aggresive enough (timid and low on the pecking order)
And chicks scattered and she was not able to protect them all...
Oh no!
I had this happen to me.
I tried looking like you but never found them
In my case I think they got out on the tall grass and wandered to far out, and got disoriented and could not find the way back.
Having no idea what direction they went didn't help.
I searched for weeks!
So sorry this...
I have separate rabbit hutch/ broody hen set up like you. I move my hens and hatching eggs into that for the incubation period.
I usually wait until chicks are mostly feathered 2-3 weeks old and move them back into the main coop with the adult flock population.
I do this move after dark and make...
You want them to be in an active location so they engage. Also a sunny bright area with no dark "hideyholes". Mindful of overheating in the sun.
I place mine under a shade tree with plenty of food and water. Still diffused light though. Open on all 4 sides co they get a cool breese.
Broodies...
I would use something sticky, like bag balm, Corona ointment, even triple antibiotic ointment. Apply lightly but cover all the wounds.
She won't like it and may not sit still easily. But needs to be done if possible.
Can you catch her?
I always do my dictering after dark, because then I can just...
I would definatly keep her separated, as she has nowhere to go to escape these attacks with that many birds in that closed space.
She may be just unlucky and at the lower end of the pecking order. Flocks sometime single out someone and can get brutal, even resulting in death for the victim.
she...
Aww, that's awful!
Can you describe more about her environment, like size of coop and run, how many roosters, what you are feeding, size of entire flock.
Details like this give us a more thorough picture of what is happening.
I didn't know about this until today.
My sincere condolences to her family.
I read the link to her obit and was surprised to see that Aart and I were born 2 days apart! My bd is the 12th. Same month and year.
When I first became a member years ago it did not take long for this member to leave an...
I would recommend Japanese bantams. I have had several varieties in the past and the Japanese were the most docile. Old English game were also friendly.
However, alot can depend on individual bird personalities. You may get a bad actor in the bunch.
As far as the most friendly large breed, my...