What did you do with your flock today?

[Smokerbill]

It looks like my pullets' egg laying machinery is figuring things out. There was only one egg yesterday, and it was well shaped. Today there were three (so far) that are all formed well. And I'm pretty sure I witnessed one of the cockerels mounting a pullet. He's figuring things out too. LOL

All the chickens were unusually loud today too for some reason. Cockerels were crowing a lot more than usual, and a few of the pullets were exercising their voices a lot too.



Bought a new bag of pellet feed. Wetted down the powdery feed at the bottom of the feeder to make mash, and hosed the feeder out to clean it.

 

[LTAY1946]

I made the morning rounds with help. The same is coming up soon.

 

[MandyMusshafen]

They hatch just fine with no assistance from me.

Or Clara for that matter! She is nearly 3 and is that rare bantam cochin that doesn't go broody. Sensible girl loves all the fun but none of the responsibility.
Her sister, Pru, does all the hatching and raising chicks. Clara just deposits her eggs under her then beats a hasty retreat. Pru's a phenomenal mom.

Hahahaha! Party girl Clara! So far none of mine are acting broody, but they are young so hopefully at least one of them is a Pru!

 

[Shetland lover]

Those are a lot of eggs! I have had a lot of my hens go broody, but usually they break after one or two days. My exception would be Mumble, who I assume has Black Orpington genes in her (hence the broodiness). She has gone broody for several weeks, but she recently broke, and I am guessing she did because she was getting too hot where she was nesting during this heatwave.

My two broody girls go broody at the drop of a hat and don't break either. Pru was broody for 7 weeks last time!

 

[LTAY1946]

I rescued a young pullet from Bullying. This is the third time I've found her in the community nest box. She will not go back to her coop this time. She gets a pet coop of her own until she is completely healed up and will probably get a coop met or two so she has some chicken social life. I think I lost 2 more from the porch club last night. A most beloved Delaware and a RIR. I'm going to have to wall in the porch with some lattice soon. I think a live trap is in order. Wildlife needs to feed on wildlife not domesticated farm animals and pets.

 

[Shetland lover]

Is permethrin bad for cats? Or just your special mix you use? With an outdoor kitty now, I don’t wanna hurt him!

It's highly toxic to cats.
Due to cats' altered liver glururonidation metabolism, cats are significantly more sensitive to permethrin. While a precise toxic dose for cats is not well established, products containing greater than a 5-10% concentration of permethrin may lead to systemic toxicosis. That's why you should never use flea treatment intended just for dogs. Most contain permethrin.
Permethrin is generally OK after a couple of hours, when it's fully dry. I just completely exclude my cats from where I'm spraying and for 2-3 hours afterwards. I'm also careful where I spray and try to limit it to just inside the coops. I've not had any issues by being judicious with it's use.
I also keep a close eye out for symptoms in the cats. These include tremors, muscle fasciculations, twitching, hyper-salivation, mydriasis, pyrexia, and, in severe cases, seizures and coma. Other clinical signs include ataxia, tachypnoea, hyperexcitation, and hypothermia. Symptoms usually show up within an hour or two of exposure but can take as long as 36 hours.
If a cat does show signs of toxicity you should get them to a vet immediately.

 

[Shetland lover]

Hahahaha! Party girl Clara! So far none of mine are acting broody, but they are young so hopefully at least one of them is a Pru!

Penelope, Clara's daughter, goes broody a lot too. I've no idea how good a mom she'll be as I've not been able to give her the opportunity. When Stanley hatched, Penelope was constantly trying to kidnap him. She would set herself down on top of him and look angelic while Pru raised hell running round, frantically looking for him

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

That’s the amazing thing about these broodies isn’t it? They even brood through the heat! A bunch of mine finally broke once we hit triple digits. I guess that’s partly why it didn’t even occur to me! It is a lot of eggs! Not all are gonna hatch I’m sure, but dang it!! I just got all the babies out of the house and don’t have a place for all these babies!

Mumble's eggs especially weren't going to hatch, since we were collecting them every day! And our rooster, Phoenix, has only fertilized a few eggs. He seems to not know how to breed properly, even though that's what we originally got him for.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

My two broody girls go broody at the drop of a hat and don't break either. Pru was broody for 7 weeks last time!

Broodies are annoyingly determined! When one of my hens goes broody, she chases the other hens away from the nesting boxes, which creates a problem of laying eggs in places we can't find them. I don't prefer broody breeds for that reason.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I rescued a young pullet from Bullying. This is the third time I've found her in the community nest box. She will not go back to her coop this time. She gets a pet coop of her own until she is completely healed up and will probably get a coop met or two so she has some chicken social life. I think I lost 2 more from the porch club last night. A most beloved Delaware and a RIR. I'm going to have to wall in the porch with some lattice soon. I think a live trap is in order. Wildlife needs to feed on wildlife not domesticated farm animals and pets.

I am sorry for your loss.