Maine

[chickenneighbor]

One of the neighbors' big buff orps was killed in my backyard by a hawk. It also followed some starlings into the coop and killed a couple more chickens. I guess when they are hungry, they will go places that otherwise wouldn't be an option. My neighbor then kept the remaining hens locked in the coop for a few days, and the hawk disappeared. The crows are great alarms, but we humans are sometimes slow to respond!

 

[CoopChick719]

Had a chick hatch in the coop on Wed. poor thingmust have fallen out of nesting box and the others got it.

At first, I thought it was a rat. Why attack the chick and not the **** rats??!!

Happy to report 2 more chicks hatched and have been moved to the garage with my oldest hen, Shirley--a little white Cochin, who has been sitting for a while. My 2 BA's are also siting on eggs due to hatch this week. They've also been moved to the garage.

Here's a video of Shirley & the chicks--a BA and possibly a BR.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10206441788475548

 

[buckabucka]

How did you treat the sour crop? Last year I had a hen with sour crop and I treated it with monistat and it cleared right up. I got the idea on here somewhere you would have to do a search to find the info. I used the cheaper walmart brand. I have never had another occurrence of it since, knock on wood.  

I have successfully used Monistat. This time I used clotrimazole. Despite her rushed treatment (since I was going away) she appears okay. Her crop felt pretty normal this afternoon when I returned. I've had three different hens get sour crop over the years, and all three were lavender Ameraucanas. I think that breed must be more prone to it, or at least mine are.

The bachelor pen is turning into a real battleground now. Three more weeks before they go. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

How was your trip?

 

[lazy gardener]

My dudes are getting "cocky" now. If I can work up the energy, I may process 3 or 4 of them tomorrow. I plan to can them, but want to practice with the pressure canner first on a batch of kidney beans.

 

[buckabucka]

SCG, camping trip to Grand Manan was great! We were spared all the rain that was forecast except for a brief spell Friday a.m. Saturday afternoon, all the fog rolled away which was perfect because we were camped perched on cliffs over the ocean. Until then, our view was a shifting gray wall of fog.

LG, how old are your cockerels when you process? We often wait until 24 weeks, but this year we scheduled an appointment for 20 weeks. I find they not only get much harder to deal with In those final weeks, but their growth slows down anyway.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

That sounds lovely!

 

[mlowen]

One of the "Crow Sisters" from Lazy Gardener laid her first egg. Yep, they look like they are going to be green!

 

[lazy gardener]

Awesome. I got my first little green one yesterday. I've also been getting a few browns, and I think I got one white, but the white has yet to be repeated. Gotta love those first little eggs!

SCG: My barn yard mix cockrels were hatched April 11 and May 6. I've lost track of which ones are which age. They are in an 8 x 12 pen, (12 of them). The Pioneer crosses are huge, and the rest are varying in size. I may take out the 6 biggest ones, and let the remaining 6 go for a bit longer. But... that's b/c of energy level for processing, rather than size. Bee Kissed who has mentored me in numerous ways says she takes out her cockrels when behavior says it's time to go. But she exclusively free ranges with benefit of LGD, so... her situation is a bit different than ours.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Where'd you get the pioneer crosses from? I may need to partake in that next year.

I, too, process when behaviour gets bad, regardless of size. I have one more processing to do this year (turkeys plus roos).