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Waffle makes this gurgling sound when she breathes. She has a very good appetite and is active as usual and has no runny nose or teary eyes, she just sounds so congested  .She's also lost some weight because the other hens tend not to let her eat until they are done and she's growing back a lot of feathers (she had a hard molt), and since there's been a couple of hawks coming every day, she and the others tend to hide inside the coop whenever we lock them in the run to let the dog out. I've given Waffle some vetrx to help ease her breathing, but I'm a bit concerned about it. I feel that since I got a full time job and I get home until almost 7pm now, I rarely get to see the chickens, and I'm usually so tired on the weekends I only check on them a couple of times during the day. I hope this doesn't turn into anything serious, as I can't be home to monitor them and treat them as well as before.
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Jan 4, 2015 05:25
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Chido posted:Waffle makes this gurgling sound when she breathes. She has a very good appetite and is active as usual and has no runny nose or teary eyes, she just sounds so congested What's the weather been like? If it's been wet, consider the possibility of mold spores being around, check your coop, nests and their living area. I've heard good things about Oxine, but haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. Shagbark Bantams has some articles that may help on Oxine and also respiratory ickies: http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/contents.htm
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Jan 4, 2015 08:11
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It rained on Tuesday and it's been pretty cold. I've noticed that the ground looks moist when I let the chickens out at 7am. I have used Oxine and it seems to work well. I cleaned the coop today and I didn't see any wet or moldy areas, so hopefully she'll improve with clean bedding and the vetrx. I also wish this hawk would go away, the chickens have been so weary of it that they haven't laid any eggs in like 4 weeks . It doesn't help that a while ago a smaller hawk killed a pigeon in the chicken run and was eating it there, while the flock was hiding in the garage, as far away from the run as possible.
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Jan 4, 2015 09:21
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Chido posted:It rained on Tuesday and it's been pretty cold. I've noticed that the ground looks moist when I let the chickens out at 7am. I have used Oxine and it seems to work well. I cleaned the coop today and I didn't see any wet or moldy areas, so hopefully she'll improve with clean bedding and the vetrx. I also wish this hawk would go away, the chickens have been so weary of it that they haven't laid any eggs in like 4 weeks Sorry to hear that, Chido. The weather here in the UK is cold & damp (foggy) and messes up my breathing as well. In other news, just doing a hen count in the old lean-to conservatory today and I spotted some red dots on the lino...? Hold on that's a lot of blood?! Which hen is it? They're all pecking sand like nothing is wrong, then I see Molly has blood streaming down her face. Turns out Pip (top hen) is going through a grouchy period and has been seen dragging other hens around by their comb. Some styptic powder and it stopped bleeding quite quickly, but we spent some time with Molly wrapped in a towel washing / wiping the blood of her face. She was fine about the whole thing (actually started to doze in the towel), but it was a lot of blood from such a small nip on the comb.
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Jan 4, 2015 21:34
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Chido posted:It rained on Tuesday and it's been pretty cold. I've noticed that the ground looks moist when I let the chickens out at 7am. I have used Oxine and it seems to work well. I cleaned the coop today and I didn't see any wet or moldy areas, so hopefully she'll improve with clean bedding and the vetrx. I also wish this hawk would go away, the chickens have been so weary of it that they haven't laid any eggs in like 4 weeks OHMYGOD Chido! Glad your gals were not a victim....jeez!
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Jan 5, 2015 01:10
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We just got a little bantam rooster at the farm I work at. He's cute as ten buttons and likes to try to boss around the two free roaming hens that are 3 times bigger than him. His tail feathers have molted out, so he looks so off-balance. I'm still trying to think of a name for him.
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Jan 6, 2015 05:55
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Awww, cute roo! My hens haven't laid in weeks either, Chido, but it's because it's cold and dark and horrible here. Is Waffle doing ok?The temps last night, tonight and the rest of this week are in the single digits. I argued with myself over the possibility of a fire in the coop, decided that since I've got the next two days off and my husband is home 3/4 of the day we'd be around to keep an eye on things, and ran an extension cord out to the coop to power a heat lamp. The coop temperature with the lamp on* is getting to 40ish, even with the door open to the run, but the girls haven't wanted to go out in the run at all since it started snowing so I don't know why I bothered opening the door anyway. They stayed in the coop almost all day, completely disregarding any efforts to shoo them out and complaining every time I went to check on them. I think they went out to eat some sunflower seeds I threw down, and then retreated. I had to keep going out and breaking ice off their water bowl, which they proceeded to ignore. They instead waited until I put a tiny amount in a bowl in their coop and then they all drank like they'd been parched until somebody stepped on the rim and spilled two teaspoons of water into their litter... and everybody started whining at me again. Chickens are a pain in the rear end when it's cold outside. I've been out there like six or seven times today to check on them! My fingers keep going numb! This isn't what the glossy Chickens 'R Us manual suggested at all! *On for 1-2 hrs and off the rest of the day, on again before they roost, off at night Faerunner fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Jan 7, 2015 |
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Jan 7, 2015 01:38
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The last time I got an egg was some time in November but then we've literally been getting like 8-9 hours of light (which is amazing oh my god it's so good)
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Jan 7, 2015 02:37
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:The last time I got an egg was some time in November but then we've literally been getting like 8-9 hours of light (which is amazing oh my god it's so good) That's quite a gap. What breeds do you have?
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Jan 7, 2015 07:42
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Erethizon_dorsatum posted:That's quite a gap. What breeds do you have? Chickens. Non-sarcastic answer: there's a shitlord buff orpington that I'm going to murder for dinner one day and it will be Fantastic, Tard the silkie who stands there looking very sad about all the rain but won't go in any of the multiple shelters (she's not harassed, there is often nobody in any of the other shelters and she just stands there being stupid as poo poo), a barred rock, australorps, and easter eggers. It's just because we're getting 8 hours of light a day, or less, and it's foggy lovely light with a whole hell of a lot of cold. They stopped during the first cold snap (and then some proceeded to molt because that's what all the smart chickens are doing these days you guys) and I don't expect them to pick up at all until much later. I don't have any lamps on them or anything like that. My quail and ducks aren't laying either.
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Jan 7, 2015 20:50
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Jan 8, 2015 10:28
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Tard the silkie who stands there looking very sad about all the rain but won't go in any of the multiple shelters (she's not harassed, there is often nobody in any of the other shelters and she just stands there being stupid as poo poo), All the chickens I have had have been complete idiots about rain. The neighbour's big buff brown hens (they have spurs, that's how tough they are) will run for their shed as soon as it starts drizzling, and the other neighbours' constantly perplexed-looking dark red hens also go inside when it gets heavy enough. But all my chickens just stand out in the rain, staring confusedly at the sky, sadly bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaking at me because how dare I let this happen and why are they wet?????? Why?????? Why is the sky so wet???? 
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Jan 8, 2015 10:55
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One of our first ex-batts had a preen gland the size of a baby's finger tip. drat hen was practically Scotchgarded, the rain would just roll off her. Don't think I ever saw her looking damp.
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Jan 8, 2015 11:51
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CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:All the chickens I have had have been complete idiots about rain. The neighbour's big buff brown hens (they have spurs, that's how tough they are) will run for their shed as soon as it starts drizzling, and the other neighbours' constantly perplexed-looking dark red hens also go inside when it gets heavy enough. But all my chickens just stand out in the rain, staring confusedly at the sky, sadly bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaking at me because how dare I let this happen and why are they wet?????? Why?????? Why is the sky so wet???? From experience some breeds just dont give a gently caress about the weather, Black Rocks especially, but then again they dont give a gently caress about anything they are just arrogant idiots. Also all the bantams we have had generally aren't that bothered either, and can be stubborn gits, thankfully we are now down to just 2 bantams (after having at one time about 20 due to reasons, even though we never bought any of them) and let them sleep where ever they want as they are impossible to catch.
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Jan 8, 2015 12:15
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Our Silkies and Polish chickens have always been great about the rain. As in THEY STAND OUT IN IT and refuse to take cover, then their crests get weighted down and they enjoy a bout of Head Boink syndrome, staggering around unable to eat, drink or walk prpoperly, looking like they are going to die. Every time it rained hard we'd have to either lock them up in the coop or bring them into the house and dry them with the hair dryer before Head Boink set in. Dumb chickens. Also, bad weather is ALWAYS the humans' fault. Always. And they will be thoroughly scolded/whined at by all flock members.
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Jan 8, 2015 12:28
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The main reason I have totally avoided Silkies  I don't think they'd too well in the damp, muddy, British climate. If I locked them in every time it rained they'd never go out.
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Jan 8, 2015 12:57
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Our Silkies and Polish chickens have always been great about the rain. As in THEY STAND OUT IN IT and refuse to take cover, then their crests get weighted down and they enjoy a bout of Head Boink syndrome, staggering around unable to eat, drink or walk prpoperly, looking like they are going to die. Thankfully neither Tard nor her little boyfriend have quite that much head floof, so they just stand there together looking like the stupidest lawn ornaments known to anybody, ever. (While Haterade endlessly calls to them because what the gently caress are you doing? The dry is right here.)
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Jan 8, 2015 15:06
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I hung a suet basket filled with melon slices and apple pieces to beat the boredom while the chickens are cooped up during this cold snap. It appears to be a hit. The one I suspect of pulling the others' feathers is most interested in the basket so hopefully it'll quell the Naked Belly Syndrome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJYDp7WEaUs
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Jan 8, 2015 18:28
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Unizee posted:I hung a suet basket filled with melon slices and apple pieces to beat the boredom while the chickens are cooped up during this cold snap. It appears to be a hit. Haha! Look at them go! That hanging fruit basket should entertain them for quite a while! I laughed so hard at the high-pitched crowing at the end of the video clip. Who was that? 
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Jan 8, 2015 18:37
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Inveigle posted:Haha! Look at them go! That hanging fruit basket should entertain them for quite a while! I laughed so hard at the high-pitched crowing at the end of the video clip. Who was that? That's Little Jimmy, our Bantam OEG rooster. He cracks me up. Looks like I need to get a better picture of him (to be taken on a day that's above 0 degrees F.) 
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Jan 8, 2015 20:07
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Unizee posted:I hung a suet basket filled with melon slices and apple pieces to beat the boredom while the chickens are cooped up during this cold snap. It appears to be a hit. The one I suspect of pulling the others' feathers is most interested in the basket so hopefully it'll quell the Naked Belly Syndrome. Great job! We've done the apples/yams/cabbages on strings, the chickens love it once they get over the whole 'What the Hell IS THAT?!' reaction. The rooster crow is awesome, BTW. I think on Saturday for Chickam if the weather cooperates we'll do some fruits & veggies on strings. My chickens won't eat regular melons, but love watermelon. Go figure.
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Jan 9, 2015 07:56
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Our Silkies and Polish chickens have always been great about the rain. As in THEY STAND OUT IN IT and refuse to take cover, then their crests get weighted down and they enjoy a bout of Head Boink syndrome, staggering around unable to eat, drink or walk prpoperly, looking like they are going to die. During the last lot of floods my aunt had a lot of fun blow-drying her Silkies after they all got rained on. Alecto and Kali were okay, just very sulky because they had to stay inside their coop for about A WEEK, though that was alleviated somewhat by the fact that their floor had turned to mud. My feet sank into the mud almost up to the top of my gumboots, but it was all right for chickens to walk around on. (We put their food and water and nesting boxes up on their roost so they were nice and dry and they didn't have to get down if they didn't want to.) Here is me awkwardly cuddling Onesie, my aunt's favourite Silkie: 
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Jan 9, 2015 10:02
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CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:
I like to think that this is the universal 'I'm cuddling a chicken' face that everyone makes. Well, we lost Sora, our 8+ year old white Leghorn ex-batt hen this morning. She'd been winding down and really showing her age this last week, so we'd just kept her in the house to stay warm and comfy and get goodies as much as possible. Sora was a great pet right from the start, super friendly and curious. We'll miss her. Also it seems that Linc, our 2+ year old Barred Rock hen is the new Head Hen of the flock, taking over for Bear who passed away last June. Cam is our Head Roo, we've had to sequester Weedcat in the small run with a few hens because all of the other roos were beating up on him. Poor Weeds is just too sweet for his own good.  I'm hoping that once we get the property landscaped (in a few months when weather permits) and the chickens have more trees/bushes to hang out under, the chasing will ebb and they'll have other things to do for entertainment.
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Jan 9, 2015 21:12
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oh nooo Sora. So sorry for your loss Velvet Sparrow. She was such a character! FOOD GIRL! Was she a rescue hen? Wish Weedcat would push his weight around and show the boys who is boss, dang it! edit: Isn't he, Weedcat, big enough that he could just sit on them!
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Jan 9, 2015 22:01
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I'm very sorry about Sora, VS. It sounds like she had a comfortable, peaceful death, something we should all strive for.
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Jan 9, 2015 22:29
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Whoa, Weedcat isn't the boss anymore? I feel like this is a major coup. He is now the Exiled King Fluffypants.
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Jan 10, 2015 00:16
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piscesbobbie posted:oh nooo Sora. So sorry for your loss Velvet Sparrow. She was such a character! FOOD GIRL! Was she a rescue hen? Wish Weedcat would push his weight around and show the boys who is boss, dang it! Yeah, Sora was an ex-battery hen that we got at a local feed store, they'd buy a bunch from egg farms and sell them to suckers like us.  Actually, both Cam and Frosty are now bigger than Weeds, Frosty is the largest and heaviest of all. We got us some giant freakin' rooboys here. Weeds had to be placed in the small run--Cam WAS being housed there--because ALL of the other roos are now chasing him around, poor guy. I didn't want Weeds to suffer any more bloody thrashings so for now he's ruling a much smaller kingdom.
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Jan 10, 2015 00:20
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Actually, both Cam and Frosty are now bigger than Weeds, Frosty is the largest and heaviest of all. We got us some giant freakin' rooboys here. Very sorry to hear about Sora. She's gobbling up mealworms in heaven now!  Now requesting a photo of Cam and Frosty with a yard stick (or something to determine height) next to them. Weedcat is freakin' HUGE (as was Roostroyer). I can't imagine how big Frosty must be!
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Jan 10, 2015 00:47
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No idea where this came from but I had to pass it along.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:16
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I saw the above post earlier on another web site. It stated that the chicken was drunk. :| In other oddball vids: "No wattles!" https://vine.co/v/OwV5iFn1djv Inveigle fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Jan 10, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 05:17
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The Rat posted:No idea where this came from but I had to pass it along. That rooster is not doing that himself, his legs aren't moving. It appears someone has tied fishing line to him and is using him as a marionette. gently caress that person.
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Jan 10, 2015 12:34
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No, gently caress that person isn't strong enough. Goddammit, what the gently caress is wrong with people? I need to go out and hug Little Jimmy.
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Jan 10, 2015 16:40
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That is horrible. That poor bird.
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Jan 10, 2015 17:36
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poo poo, I didn't realize.
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Jan 11, 2015 02:05
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It's mid-January, northern Maryland, and winter has finally set in. We've had a cold snap for a good week solid now--highs in the teens, and lows in the bottom single digits. Today actually got "warm"--it got all the way up to 30! The chickens have been staying in the run and looking sad. Usually they run for freedom the second the run door is opened, but not this week. Even when I left the run door open, they just stared at me balefully and slowly started scratching at the treats I brought. However, apparently they haven't gotten the memo that they're supposed to turn off in the winter. My two marans have shut down production, but the golden wyandotte and the barred rock still give me eggs every day, and the olive egger mutt is popping one out every three days or so. And today, it seems, the little peeper (the silver wyandotte we got this summer, who isn't so little anymore) decided that the coldest week of her entire life was the perfect time to come into lay. The egg on the right is from the barred rock; the puny one on the left is from the silver: 
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Jan 11, 2015 02:47
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How sure are you guys that that bird isn't dead? Because I'm surprised at there being like almost no wing flapping going on. E: especially as floppy as his neck is on that first turn.
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Jan 11, 2015 06:25
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:How sure are you guys that that bird isn't dead? Because I'm surprised at there being like almost no wing flapping going on. Chickens will keep their heads as still as possible to see what's going on. That's how the Mercedes magic body control commercial is done. He is alive and on strings. gently caress that dude that did that.
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Jan 11, 2015 09:48
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Welp. Groot started crowing today. This whole time, I thought he was a hen. Surprise cock out of nowhere.
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Jan 11, 2015 23:52
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I've heard that sometimes hens crow, so maybe Groot just likes to crow?
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Jan 12, 2015 00:41
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Hard to say. When he first started developing, I noticed that the comb and wattles were both tiny, like his mom Crimson Typhoon, so I assumed he was a hen. Then today I was out feeding them and thought to myself, "Hey, Groot's starting to get sickle feathers on the tail, wonder if that's just from being half-Cochin or-" and then he interrupted me with a gargly-sounding crow and I went "aw, gently caress." I'm no stranger to hens crowing, I mean we used to have a Polish that did that. So I guess we'll see!
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Jan 12, 2015 01:15
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