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fauna posted:now i think rickie isn't long for this world "Remember the One Quail who died peacefully in their sleep" sounds like something the quail would speak about in hushed tones for generations after, as if having been visited by a higher being
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Oct 10, 2020 10:20
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barbecue at the folks posted:"Remember the One Quail who died peacefully in their sleep" sounds like something the quail would speak about in hushed tones for generations after, as if having been visited by a higher being  i've only ever lost two quails to illness before. (counting pavlova, my sad little white blob who died from eating too much dirt.) it's hard to know what to do in this circumstance. if it was friday i'd probably take her to the vet, because she's tame enough that it wouldn't stress her out too much, but the new ones aren't hand-tame and i don't think it would be worth the distress to rickie when the vet probably wouldn't be able to help her anyway. and i know i should euthanise her, but the sun was shining today and she was doing bird yoga and i think there's still some joy left in her life
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Oct 10, 2020 10:42
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My oldest chicken, the lovely Gertrude, is not doing well and no obvious cause  She's an ex-batt but has always been the healthiest of the lot, a chonky giantess compared to the others. I've noticed she's been slowing down a bit over the last few months but she's always been active and eating well. She's started molting and I think it's taking a toll. This morning she wasn't moving around much and seems listless. I've brought her inside for some warmth and rest and TLC. I hope that will help.
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Oct 10, 2020 11:47
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fauna posted:
I know I'm a parrot guy, but avian vet stuff is always terrifying. We have one certified avian vet in the state and an illness on the weekend can be...grim. Still, a quail passing from "natural causes" has to be the best end to a quail story possible.
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Oct 10, 2020 19:46
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   Their first time out of the coop and into the wide world.
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Oct 10, 2020 23:52
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Enfys posted:My oldest chicken, the lovely Gertrude, is not doing well and no obvious cause  it's awful the effect that battery life has on their little bodies. i hope she is just molting and she'll perk right up when she has successfullly installed next season's hairstyle rickie is in a hospital box with oberon to keep her company. he is the mildest rooster i've ever seen, he asks nothing of his hens but their presence. i looked in just then and they're snuggling  heartbreak birds
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Oct 11, 2020 00:40
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Errant Gin Monks posted:Their first time out of the coop and into the wide world. I can practically smell the green growing things! So jealous! Sorry for everyone’s sick birdies
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Oct 11, 2020 01:39
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Enfys posted:My oldest chicken, the lovely Gertrude, is not doing well and no obvious cause Oh no, poor Gertrude. How old is she? That happened with our Piper, the last nine months of her life she became more tired, spent most of her days on cushions in the sunshine. She also developed an eye infection that should have been dealt with much sooner and would have made her passing more gentle. Piper had just under eight years of retirement (and adding on her time in cages would have made her nine and a half). Pip*, Piper's nest sister is still going strong and she seems to have moved on (somewhat) from the loss of sharing an Eglu with Piper for nearly eight years. Both Pip and Piper have had the best health of all our hens. Piper's eye infection was her first ailment. Come on Gertrude, there's more treats for you, get well soon! *Queen Pip the Glorious spookygonk fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Oct 11, 2020 |
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Oct 11, 2020 17:54
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Joburg posted:I can practically smell the green growing things! So jealous! Don’t worry it’s going to get to 30 on Friday so it will all be dead
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Oct 12, 2020 02:09
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My teenagers are spending their first night in their new coop tonight after having outgrown their coffin-sized enclosure on the porch. Im nervous like a new dad and have already gone out to check on them twice, freaking them the gently caress out the first time because I didn't sneak up on them.
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Oct 12, 2020 02:32
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i made the decision rickie was just sitting there puffed up and panting audibly with her eyes shut, not eating or drinking or moving, obviously in a lot of pain. it's been a long time since i've had to euthanise a bird, it loving sucks. she's buried up in the abandoned orchard with a native lily planted on her grave rest in peace little bibbit
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Oct 12, 2020 02:34
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fauna posted:i made the decision Poor little nugget. Sorry for your loss.
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Oct 12, 2020 02:45
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Errant Gin Monks posted:Poor little nugget. Sorry for your loss. life goes on  they actually seem much calmer now than when rickie was alive. there was always someone with her and they were all very fidgety, i think they could tell she was suffering.
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Oct 12, 2020 05:22
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fauna posted:i made the decision Awww, that loving sucks. I'm sorry you had to go through a loss, but you provided an awesome home for the little borbs. I swear to God, only quail would figure out how to relax by looking dead.  It's adorable. 
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Oct 12, 2020 08:10
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Captain Log posted:I swear to God, only quail would figure out how to relax by looking dead.
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Oct 12, 2020 08:54
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fauna posted:
I love orb
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Oct 12, 2020 12:54
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Finally! I found it this morning. Hurricane Delta passed through yesterday so I didn't spend a lot of time outside. 
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Oct 12, 2020 13:24
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Sorry about Rickie, fauna. You have given those quail such a good life, I’m really glad that you share them with us. I can’t find the right smilie so here’s this one  Congrats, Alterian!!! Now that all my (April hatched) Pearl Whites are laying, I’m impatiently waiting for my hen-raised mixed breeds to lay. I hope I get some colored eggs from them but most likely they will lay brown eggs. They are pretty shy with me so they are hard to photograph Mystery mixes, Black Beard and her brother:  Half Buff Orpington, half Easter Egger:  I love their floofy cheeks!
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Oct 12, 2020 13:43
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fauna posted:i made the decision Really sorry about Rickie it's a very tough call to make and even tougher to carry out.I don't know about Gertrude. She's chripy and in some ways very much herself, but she's also very weak She's developed this involuntary slow nodding behaviour. Worried there's something neurological going on as she can't seem to balance well either.I'm syringing a vitamin mix into her in case it's some kind of deficiency, but the others are fine so I'd be surprised if that's an issue. Because in some ways she seems herself (brrrrhing at me as I work, preening herself a little), I want to give her some time and feeding support to see if she recovers. If she keeps getting weaker and refusing to eat on her own, I don't want to just prolong things.
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Oct 12, 2020 14:36
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fauna posted:rest in peace little bibbit That's rough, I'm sorry. RIP Rickie.
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Oct 12, 2020 14:50
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Nth-ing condolences for Rickie. She looks adorable. Stupid Newbie Question: Is there an authoritative book on backyard chicken keeping? There's obviously a lot of great online resources (this thread included) and I've learned a lot, but I don't know enough to do the required collection of 5 different opinions and weighing out which one is correct. I'm looking for The Official Facts by the chair of the poultry sciences department at Purdue or something that where I can just flip to with a question and get a strong answer. I had a similar book when i was learning how to raise bees and it was REALLY helpful to just be able to look something up and get a good answer.
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Oct 12, 2020 19:26
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thank you all so much for the condolences. this really is the nicest thread on the forums the nature of quail means i lean on everyone's goodwill and sympathy more than just about any other poster itt, but it's been a particularly bad year. rickie's illness wasn't unexpected, she'd always been the quietest of the newbies and i think it was because she was never well, but she was a sweetheart and it was very sad to lose her. here she is in younger, happier times (two weeks ago)  Enfys posted:I don't know about Gertrude. She's chripy and in some ways very much herself, but she's also very weak i am praying for the gertiebird  your hens are lucky to have you. one thing is for sure, their lives are far better with you than they'd be anywhere else.
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Oct 13, 2020 03:57
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Joburg posted:I love their floofy cheeks! This chicken looks like a Very Alarmed Victorian Man. HMPH!!!
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Oct 13, 2020 07:43
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Here is Boo's temporary home until she recovers some of her vision (if she recovers any vision). She also gets daily supervised play-time outside in the dirt with all the others locked away for her protection.
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Oct 13, 2020 16:29
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Sorry to hear about all the deceased birds everyone, it's a big bummer when an animal under your care dies. But you can't learn without making mistakes and generally you'll come out the other side better prepared to avoid those mistakes in the future. Hey if you're not deliberately causing harm out of malice, it will be ok. It will be ok.
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Oct 13, 2020 19:14
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LuckyCat posted:Here is Boo's temporary home until she recovers some of her vision (if she recovers any vision). Oh my gawd, that's the cutest guinea pig I've ever seen.
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Oct 13, 2020 20:17
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LuckyCat posted:Here is Boo's temporary home until she recovers some of her vision (if she recovers any vision).
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Oct 14, 2020 00:53
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People drive me crazy... I called this lady advertising her hens on Craigslist, I asked if any had gone broody, and she said yes, and I went over to get the broody and another hen for company. In talking with her at her chicken pen, I don’t think she even had a clue if her hen was ever broody “I just gather the eggs” she says. But her chickens look terrible and one is plucking and eating everyone’s feathers right in front of us, so I go ahead and take the “broody” and another one. They are currently in quarantine (learned that lesson well!) and “broody” has bumble foot on both feet.  Her feathers are growing in from molting (and the plucking ) so I really don’t want to touch her more than necessary so I think bumble foot surgery is on hold for now. I’m just really annoyed at myself for not checking before taking them and feeling like I have to “save” these hens.Anyway, thank you all for taking care of your birds better than that lady!
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Oct 14, 2020 01:32
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Joburg posted:Anyway, thank you all for taking care of your birds better than that lady! animal protection is so overworked (in australia, but also everywhere) that the standards of cruelty at which a report is worth making are absurdly high, especially for birds and especially for livestock birds. but for some reason, even people who take good care of their chickens don't seem to think quail deserve the same treatment. they're small enough that four or five can be crammed into a tiny box in the dark and it takes them a few years to die of stress under those conditions, therefore it's fine to do so.
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Oct 14, 2020 03:46
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Animal protection in the US is a joke. I know I see it from the parrot side of things, but being a member of local parrot groups on Facebook makes me want to cry most days. Some of them only live longer than humans and have cognitive intelligence on par with eight to ten year old children. (according to the research of Irene Pepperberg)
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Oct 14, 2020 07:40
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Joburg posted:Anyway, thank you all for taking care of your birds better than that lady! We'd love to have more hens at the moment (down to three, from five), but we have a lot of building work on at home and just no room / space / money for new hens. We will be getting another two ex-batts by the end of the year, but when I read about British caged hen 'factories' that can house 120,000 hens and then the BHWT say they've rehomed another 300, it's heartbreaking and appalling animal abuse.  Just got to remember we change the world for that one hen.  In our case, three hens.
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Oct 14, 2020 12:29
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Can't save the world on your own, a little is better than nothing. 
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Oct 14, 2020 16:30
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My teenagers enjoying their new run/coop
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Oct 14, 2020 20:17
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stealie72 posted:My teenagers enjoying their new run/coop  they are adorable
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Oct 14, 2020 20:43
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The first dork realized they could fly over the fence. It’s going to be wing clipping time soon.
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Oct 14, 2020 23:05
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stealie72 posted:My teenagers enjoying their new run/coop Heh. Tell them.to.enjoy that grass in there. It'll be gone in a blink.
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Oct 14, 2020 23:32
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Someone came over to photograph the house today. Went to the backyard, was greeted by a chicken, was reassured that the chickens are safe, went outside. Comes back in five minutes later: "I didn't realize you had more of them!" Apparently chicken #1 had gone out to lull him into a false sense of security while the other three hid behind the shed, then when he got close to the shed they all popped out from behind it and demanded treats. Normally they look like this as soon as they see someone standing at the door:  so I have to assume this little ambush was deliberate.
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Oct 14, 2020 23:35
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ToxicFrog posted:Someone came over to photograph the house today. Went to the backyard, was greeted by a chicken, was reassured that the chickens are safe, went outside. I. Would. Die. From cute. That's very cute.
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Oct 14, 2020 23:49
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stealie72 posted:Stupid Newbie Question: Is there an authoritative book on backyard chicken keeping? Nettle Soup posted some book recommendations a while back Nettle Soup posted:For info, honestly, the best thing I found was books, I think I ended up with these 3:
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Oct 15, 2020 00:28
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 stealie72 posted:My teenagers enjoying their new run/coop ToxicFrog posted:Apparently chicken #1 had gone out to lull him into a false sense of security while the other three hid behind the shed, then when he got close to the shed they all popped out from behind it and demanded treats. they coordinated a dramatic entrance to maximise their impact (therefore, chance of treats)
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Oct 15, 2020 00:43
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