What did you do with your flock today?

[ChicksnMore]

Raining here too...just a gentle drizzle. Got a rainbow the backyard

Spent the afternoon outside staring at birds and wondering what genes they carry. Came in and played with the genetics calculator for a bit and realized I'm no where near to figuring out genes even with amazing help from people on byc .
But that's ok because it sure is fun . So narrowing my focus to just figuring out which of my birds are silver or gold. I was feeling all ahead of myself this morning and getting overly ambitious with breeding plans...but a session with that genetics calculator made me realize...oops, I don't know half of what I sometimes think I've figured out .

 

[fuzzi]

Sat and visited a couple times when I took breaks from my garden work.

"Hey! Who invited this furry thing?"

That's one of the ferals I'm hoping to trap. She's not as scared as she used to be.

 

[LTAY1946]

The girls are going to have to put off bathing for a day or two unless they want mud baths. Enough rain fell to wet things down good. At least they will have some clean dirt when it dried out. It's warmed up some and is going to be warm tonight so no scratch this afternoon. They will not be glad about that but will survive it.

 

[LTAY1946]

I came in from some grocery shopping this afternoon and when I get to the porch gate there she is. There's Honey eyeing all those bags I'm carrying and she just knows there is something there for her. Some how I manage to get her under one arm carrying some bags and then get the front door open. She waits most impatiently for me to set everything down and find her a treat. I had one waiting and off to my chair we went with a semi fresh heal of a loaf of bread I had saved for her. She got about half of it and the rest went to her friends that had came to see what was going on with the bags. They did get a little scratch but just a pittance of what they will get when a cold front comes back through. I got a pullet egg in the coop that Honey is in during the night and wonder if it could be her first. It's either hers or one from a Delaware girl that we hatched last May.

 

[Australorpfamily]

She's so cute! I had to come home and check on them!!! This one had a rough start, got stuck in jail, but I'm glad I intervened. She was bounced (running) all over the place earlier when Mama got down from the nest with them, she went right along with her yellow siblings yay! And mama doesn't care that she's different! Yay again!

 

[MadinWonderland]

Late yesterday evening, I moved the 7 babies from the outside brooder to their transition pen. There are 4 Barred Rocks and 3 Jersey Giants. All layers. They will be joing the Regulator Pen with the BCM, Buff Orpingtons, Buff Brahma and the man of the yard Bruce.
These 7 are the most loving, cuddly birds I've ever seen. They grew so fast!
They should be walking up soon, so I'll get to see how they liked their new apartment.

 

[Shetland lover]

Have to save eggs for baking this week. Only 1-3 a day. 4 of 6 hens are laying and slowly doing a very gradual molt at the same time. The 2 not laying had blowout molts, and are almost grown back, no red headgear yet.
Olena prefers wet food, and always needs her towel to wipe her beak on. Question, does a recovering basically immobile patient usually eat less than the 4 oz., and is this ok? I've never had a house chicken for this long. Tomorrow it will be 4 weeks. I let her eat all she wants, and she eats the most in the morning, and snacks off and on, eating another portion in the evening. Now that she's eating her food and water, she doesn't care to drink much. 2-3 normal large a day. She is readily eating her vitamin tablets on her own, but I still have to put the E capsule in her mouth. What do you use to weigh your chooks, if you do?

A standard sized production hen is supposed to need 120g in pellets per day, just over 4oz. How much is she actually eating? I would expect her to eat less but still a decent amount, probably around 2.5 to 3oz per day. At least.
As for weighing, my bantams all get weighed on digital kitchen scales. l hold Gladys in my arms and weigh both of us on the bathroom scales, then myself separately and subtract my weight from our combined weight to figure out Gladys' weight. With Connie I just used to pop her straight on the bathroom scales because she was happy to just stand there on her own.
That reminds me, I need to weigh my lot before next weekend, as their ivermectin is due.

 

[Shetland lover]

I put my chicken in a nice mesh bag and use a hanging digital scale. Accurate and easy.

I think the eating thing ebbs but as long as you are seeing even a slow increase in food and appite you can remain hopeful. I make sure my chooks hit the min of 30mils, keep free choice available, also offer favorite fruits and veggies if I feel appetite needs to be stimulated or crop needs to be topped off.

Thin is better than starving, do what you can. It will probably take her a bit to get back to her optimum weight. I think you are doing an amazing job with her ♡♡♡

Great idea! Never thought of using a hanging scale...not that I'd get Gladys in a bag without losing half my face!

I also agree thin is better than starving. I usually supplement with easily digestible proteins as well as all the above. And there's always crop feeding if necessary.

 

[Shetland lover]

Grace sounds adorable ....none of my animals watch TV at all.
I got Iri from the humane society and they said she's an Australian shepherd mix. She's the only dog here we got on purpose . Smartest dog I've ever owned though. But....not smart enough to not drink bleach water once years and years ago when she was young. . She also tries to lick deodorant off you and chows down on hay with horse...her tongue likes some really weird things.

Elliot once ate tile adhesive!

 

[Shetland lover]

I'd like to candle eggs under my broody Dark Cornish but the though of how those mama's to be would respond is enough to just let her handle it. Actually both of the girls went broody a week apart.

I'm really lucky when Pru is sitting. She lets me take the eggs away to candle and has no problem letting me handle her chicks. As long as she gets a treat, she's perfectly happy!
I suspect when it's Penelope's turn to raise chicks, she'll be a mom-zilla and an actual suit of armour will be required