Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Fancychooklady]

My poor little Molly RIR is in the middle of an all out moult.   She looks like something from outer space. !! 

Have noticed in recent days that her best friend Mandy, is missing many feathery bits ( not whole feathers ) from her tail.   Like she has been 'chewed at'.   And I do not believe its rats, as I have stopped those critters ( they have returned, even in flooding rains and freezing cold ).    Have also noticed Molly picking at her own feathers which are still falling out at the rate of knots.   Thought she had almost finished, but apparently not.  

Protein burst required I think.  

Will feed them separately tomorrow ( if I can manage safely through the mud and slush ) .... with more cooked meat for Molly ... plus some meal worms and a smidgin of cheese with Mums mash.   The other two will get the normal warm "Mum" goodies, as they have finished their moults now.  

The weather has upset them a lot - they remain mostly in the coops to keep warm.   Near zero temps is not much fun for birds and animals.  The currawongs have been singing up a storm ( literally ) .... and my girls don't much like them.   They run back into their coops when the currawongs start up their racket.   

Any thoughts on the feather thing,  please ? 

Cheers ..... 

Hi Annie, the sun has been shining here but it's cold at night. Feather eating can be a sign of low methionine ( amino acids ) . Chickens require methionine for protein synthesis . A good source of methionine and linoelic acid are flaxseeds and canola meal.

http://extension.msstate.edu/content/causes-poor-feathering

 

[sjturner79]

My poor little Molly RIR is in the middle of an all out moult.   She looks like something from outer space. !! 

Have noticed in recent days that her best friend Mandy, is missing many feathery bits ( not whole feathers ) from her tail.   Like she has been 'chewed at'.   And I do not believe its rats, as I have stopped those critters ( they have returned, even in flooding rains and freezing cold ).    Have also noticed Molly picking at her own feathers which are still falling out at the rate of knots.   Thought she had almost finished, but apparently not.  

Protein burst required I think.  

Will feed them separately tomorrow ( if I can manage safely through the mud and slush ) .... with more cooked meat for Molly ... plus some meal worms and a smidgin of cheese with Mums mash.   The other two will get the normal warm "Mum" goodies, as they have finished their moults now.  

The weather has upset them a lot - they remain mostly in the coops to keep warm.   Near zero temps is not much fun for birds and animals.  The currawongs have been singing up a storm ( literally ) .... and my girls don't much like them.   They run back into their coops when the currawongs start up their racket.   

Any thoughts on the feather thing,  please ? 

Cheers ..... 

Most cases of feather eating are low protien or low calcium.
If you can get a small bag of meat finisher or duck finisher I would try feeding them that for a few weeks. Otherwise give them some extra mincemeat or other protien sources.

 

[satay]

Hi Annie, the sun has been shining here but it's cold at night. Feather eating can be a sign of low methionine ( amino acids ) . Chickens require methionine for protein synthesis . A good source of methionine and linoelic acid are flaxseeds and canola meal.

http://extension.msstate.edu/content/causes-poor-feathering

Our winter weather has gone a little mad. Yesterday overnight temp -1C and a top of 14c. Last night overnight temp 9c and today is only meant to get to 12c. . I remind everyone that i really hate winter.

 

[satay]

You all remember my near miss with Miss frizz a few weeks back. Hubby and i were chatting on Friday night how it was cool that miss frizz, Mr frizz and my white faced back Spanish all turned 9 this last week Mr and Miss frizz have been inseparable since i brought them home as day olds from a local breeder all those years ago. She has never showed any interest in hanging with anyone but him and the same for him. At night they always slept by themselves away from the other ones in their pen. Sunday morning i go out to feed them and Mr frizz has passed away. Looks like he went to sleep and never woke again. She was still huddled right beside him. I had to remove him (no marks and he wasn't sick so I am guessing old age) . Miss frizz refused to free range for the day and stayed close to the pen. Come bed time last night i went to lock them up and here she is by herself in the usual spot. I told hubby i was going to check on her later to make sure she was ok. Hubby said he would go check and came back and said you better come look at this. I go out thinking she must be gone too and look into her pen and here she is snuggled down between my two turkey gobblers. The g's as we call them usually always roost at the other end of the pen but they were snuggled down on the ground beside her. So proud of my big fellas.

 

[Fancychooklady]

You all remember my near miss with Miss frizz a few weeks back. Hubby and i were chatting on Friday night how it was cool that miss frizz, Mr frizz and my white faced back Spanish all turned 9 this last week Mr and Miss frizz have been inseparable since i brought them home as day olds from a local breeder all those years ago. She has never showed any interest in hanging with anyone but him and the same for him. At night they always slept by themselves away from the other ones in their pen. Sunday morning i go out to feed them and Mr frizz has passed away. Looks like he went to sleep and never woke again. She was still huddled right beside him. I had to remove him (no marks and he wasn't sick so I am guessing old age) . Miss frizz refused to free range for the day and stayed close to the pen. Come bed time last night i went to lock them up and here she is by herself in the usual spot. I told hubby i was going to check on her later to make sure she was ok. Hubby said he would go check and came back and said you better come look at this. I go out thinking she must be gone too and look into her pen and here she is snuggled down between my two turkey gobblers. The g's as we call them usually always roost at the other end of the pen but they were snuggled down on the ground beside her. So proud of my big fellas.

Oh that's so sweet , the G's must have sensed that she needed a cuddle. Mr frizz had a good innings.

 

[satay]

Oh that's so sweet , the G's must have sensed that she needed a cuddle. Mr frizz had a good innings.

He sure did.

 

[Teila]

Howdy folks

Anniebee I will have to leave the feather thing to those more experienced than myself and I see you have got some great advice.

satay yep, it has been a little on the chilly side and I am loving every minute of it!

lol

Wow, 9 years is a good innings, I can only hope that my gals make it that far also.

I am so very sorry to read of your loss; your story bought a tear to my eye

So sad but also so sweet at the same time. Poor Miss Frizz, hopefully her new cuddle buddies will help with her loss.

 

[MyHaven]

You all remember my near miss with Miss frizz a few weeks back. Hubby and i were chatting on Friday night how it was cool that miss frizz, Mr frizz and my white faced back Spanish all turned 9 this last week Mr and Miss frizz have been inseparable since i brought them home as day olds from a local breeder all those years ago. She has never showed any interest in hanging with anyone but him and the same for him. At night they always slept by themselves away from the other ones in their pen. Sunday morning i go out to feed them and Mr frizz has passed away. Looks like he went to sleep and never woke again. She was still huddled right beside him. I had to remove him (no marks and he wasn't sick so I am guessing old age) . Miss frizz refused to free range for the day and stayed close to the pen. Come bed time last night i went to lock them up and here she is by herself in the usual spot. I told hubby i was going to check on her later to make sure she was ok. Hubby said he would go check and came back and said you better come look at this. I go out thinking she must be gone too and look into her pen and here she is snuggled down between my two turkey gobblers. The g's as we call them usually always roost at the other end of the pen but they were snuggled down on the ground beside her. So proud of my big fellas.

I am so sorry for your and Miss Frizz's loss.

What a beautiful story though. What lovely G's.

 

[Henriettasmum]

You all remember my near miss with Miss frizz a few weeks back. Hubby and i were chatting on Friday night how it was cool that miss frizz, Mr frizz and my white faced back Spanish all turned 9 this last week Mr and Miss frizz have been inseparable since i brought them home as day olds from a local breeder all those years ago. She has never showed any interest in hanging with anyone but him and the same for him. At night they always slept by themselves away from the other ones in their pen. Sunday morning i go out to feed them and Mr frizz has passed away. Looks like he went to sleep and never woke again. She was still huddled right beside him. I had to remove him (no marks and he wasn't sick so I am guessing old age) . Miss frizz refused to free range for the day and stayed close to the pen. Come bed time last night i went to lock them up and here she is by herself in the usual spot. I told hubby i was going to check on her later to make sure she was ok. Hubby said he would go check and came back and said you better come look at this. I go out thinking she must be gone too and look into her pen and here she is snuggled down between my two turkey gobblers. The g's as we call them usually always roost at the other end of the pen but they were snuggled down on the ground beside her. So proud of my big fellas.

I am so very sorry to hear about Mr. Frizz but what a wonderful age. Don't our birds (all pets for that matter) surprise us sometimes with the way they handle things, such as a loss like this one. No wonder you are so proud of your turkey gobblers. How wonderful of them to show such compassion for Miss Frizz. I think that I would have been shedding quite a few tears to see that.

 

[Outpost JWB]

You all remember my near miss with Miss frizz a few weeks back. Hubby and i were chatting on Friday night how it was cool that miss frizz, Mr frizz and my white faced back Spanish all turned 9 this last week Mr and Miss frizz have been inseparable since i brought them home as day olds from a local breeder all those years ago. She has never showed any interest in hanging with anyone but him and the same for him. At night they always slept by themselves away from the other ones in their pen. Sunday morning i go out to feed them and Mr frizz has passed away. Looks like he went to sleep and never woke again. She was still huddled right beside him. I had to remove him (no marks and he wasn't sick so I am guessing old age) . Miss frizz refused to free range for the day and stayed close to the pen. Come bed time last night i went to lock them up and here she is by herself in the usual spot. I told hubby i was going to check on her later to make sure she was ok. Hubby said he would go check and came back and said you better come look at this. I go out thinking she must be gone too and look into her pen and here she is snuggled down between my two turkey gobblers. The g's as we call them usually always roost at the other end of the pen but they were snuggled down on the ground beside her. So proud of my big fellas.

So sorry for your loss. It is incredible how the others knew that she needed comforted.