|
gently caress! There'll be no more yard time for the foreseeable future.
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 13:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 01:28 |
|
|
expensive video carb posted:gently caress! That little poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 15:16
|
|
|
Chickens are the business, I've only got three and feel any day when I get a triple chicken (that's when they all perch on me at once and go to sleep) is a good day. Unfortunately it's also a good way to check if they have mites.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 18:52
|
|
|
Morningwoodpecker posted:Chickens are the business, I've only got three and feel any day when I get a triple chicken (that's when they all perch on me at once and go to sleep) is a good day. We usually check them at night once they're roosted and sleepy. If you find that they do have mites, I can't recommend Adams Flea & Tick Spray enough. Spray all of your chickens, near the vent and under their wings especially. You don't have to soak them, just get the liquid to their skin. Do it once a week or so and you should see good results in a couple of weeks. You can also spray the roost and their bedding. We had mites for a while, and all the DE suggestions and Sevin dust did nothing.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 21:04
|
|
|
Lynza posted:We usually check them at night once they're roosted and sleepy. If you find that they do have mites, I can't recommend Adams Flea & Tick Spray enough. Spray all of your chickens, near the vent and under their wings especially. You don't have to soak them, just get the liquid to their skin. Do it once a week or so and you should see good results in a couple of weeks. Ours are spoiled and like cuddles, so I check them when they sit on my knee for a snooze or a preen. Black trousers really show the mites up well, along with mud and poop. We put fullers earth in their dirt bath holes which supposedly kills the mites on them by breaking the mites skin, and spray the coop with an anti-mite pesticide every few months (the mites generally live in the cracks of the coop and only visit the chicken to feed). Basically whenever I see mites on them or running about in the coop, it seems to be working so far. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check the spray out the stuff we use now is toxic but short lived so we have to lock them out of the coop while it airs for 2 hours when we use it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2016 21:52
|
|
|
https://i.imgur.com/NqOjBXS.gifv
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 07:07
|
|
|
The human equivalent would be being covered in adorable living hamburgers.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2016 07:28
|
|
|
So we acquired a tiny turkey in late July this year: Our unwanted garbage/emergency companion bantam hen decided to go broody and every time you poke her she flares her tail like it's thanksgiving.  It's a lot of fun to pick her up and listen to the indignant clucking, and put her in random places. Her chicken titties are completely naked, and she'll wiggle them for you if you stick your hand under her and hold for a bit. We don't really miss the bantam eggs, and nobody else so far got infected with the broody bug. But man, it's been over 2 months. I thought this was going to be 21 days. WTF Bob, get it together.
|
|
#
?
Oct 3, 2016 23:11
|
|
|
expensive video carb posted:It's a lot of fun to pick her up and listen to the indignant clucking, and put her in random places. Her chicken titties are completely naked, and she'll wiggle them for you if you stick your hand under her and hold for a bit. We don't really miss the bantam eggs, and nobody else so far got infected with the broody bug. But man, it's been over 2 months. I thought this was going to be 21 days. WTF Bob, get it together. Haha. Growling broodies are so adorable. Get some video of her fluffing and snarling. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 3, 2016 23:52
|
|
|
My one bantam, Brassy, has gone into brooding mode like three times this year. You can't even get your fingers under that bitch. It's like picking up a half-buried rock.
|
|
#
?
Oct 4, 2016 14:01
|
|
|
expensive video carb posted:
|
|
#
?
Oct 4, 2016 15:53
|
|
|
spookygonk posted:Look at that thousand yard stare! That bird has seen some poo poo. Our one broody hen (who has now raised 3 sets of babbies this year!) buk buk buk buk buk buks and does a pretty serviceable stinkeye, but then we move her around and she just puffs up like crazy.
|
|
#
?
Oct 4, 2016 20:19
|
|
|
Aww broodies :3 The world needs more pictures of puffed broody hens. Their growling is on my top 10 list of awesome noises, right up there with cat snores and spring breezes. I'm going to have to take pictures tomorrow; I replaced my beloved Amelia, Rose, and Myrcella with 3 fresh young pullets on the cusp of lay. I now have another Buff Orp, another Easter Egger and a Delaware. The old ladies are in the freezer, awaiting their final fate as soup. Between the sudden loss of our Australorp, summer heat stress, and now molting, I haven't gotten an egg since... July? They might have laid for a few years more had I given them time, but with such a small coop (and a small budget) I started keeping chickens with the expectation of not having to buy eggs. So I took them up to my family farm and was instructed in butchering and processed two of the three myself. It's really hard to pluck a chicken when you're crying... but I knew from the start I was going to be eating these birds. Processing them myself seemed right. On the other hand the Easter Egger is the tiniest little pullet and she's ADORABLE. Also flighty. She made it all the way across the street in one jump this afternoon and screamed bloody murder when I grabbed her and hauled her featherbutt back to the yard. Faerunner fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Oct 5, 2016 |
|
#
?
Oct 5, 2016 05:42
|
|
|
 Our second round of chickens has reached pullet stage and has been introduced to our lone survivor Robin the Easter Egger. The whole lot of them got along swimmingly. Also, in Robin updates, her butt staples have been removed and she seems happy as a clam to have new friends. She's taken to showing the new girls how to scratch and they seem to have established a good and proper pecking order. Left: Dazzle the Barred Rock, Top Right: Sassafras (working name) the Golden Buff, Bottom Right: Ruby (working name) the Rhode Island Red  bonus picture
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 02:24
|
|
|
We've lost 3 chickens in the last couple weeks, and yesterday we found out what was getting them. My dad figured it was coyotes, but the chicken that was killed on Sunday was killed on the steps of our deck. No coyote is that ballsy (at least not around here, they don't need to be. It's bunnies and other goodies as far as the eye can see). Coincidentally, one of our close neighbors recently got a new dog. A young one, some kind of yellow lab. Welp. Yesterday we heard the chickens going nuts and ran out to see what was going on. He took off running, my husband chased him down to the end of the driveway, and we thought that was the end of it. There was a big pile of feathers, but no carcass. About 20 minutes later, the fucker came back to finish the job. The hen he attacked had hidden down in the swamp area where it's nearly impossible to get to from the house. Much horrible chicken screaming ensued, and I got to use my Very Angry Loud Voice. Dog was completely unfazed by it. Firing a rifle also did not faze him (no, I was not shooting at the dog). He did finally leave, and I figured the chicken was dead. We tromped around in the swamp for half an hour looking, but didn't find any sign of her. We figured he'd eaten her or she was somewhere else. Turns out she survived, so when we went to count our losses in the coop, there she was. With a 4-inch tear from her side ribs to her vent. It goes down past the fat. She's doing surprisingly well, considering. We've got her in a box so she'll rest and not open the wound up. Anyway, we're going to have a chat with the neighbors tonight. Because there are a number of neighbors in this area with both chickens AND assault rifles, and they're not going to give any warnings. The dog's just not going to show up one day and that'll be the end of it. Pretty much how it worked last time there was a livestock-killing dog out here.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 18:33
|
|
|
Lynza posted:Anyway, we're going to have a chat with the neighbors tonight. Because there are a number of neighbors in this area with both chickens AND assault rifles, and they're not going to give any warnings. The dog's just not going to show up one day and that'll be the end of it. Pretty much how it worked last time there was a livestock-killing dog out here. That's a drat shame. Sorry about your chickens. Sounds like that neighbor needs to get rid of that pup. The dog is so young and now knows that chickens are fun to chase and kill -- it will be hard to get the pup to stop when chasing birds is it's natural instinct to do. Even if they fence the dog, it will always be a potential threat if it gets out and starts roaming the neighborhood.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 22:40
|
|
|
Inveigle posted:That's a drat shame. Sorry about your chickens. Yeah, it's hard for me. I absolutely love dogs. Maybe he could go live in the suburbs where everything is fenced and there aren't many chickens or small pets. It's funny, a couple weeks ago he and their other dog were out at the road by my driveway, and I almost ran him over because he darted in front of me. The dog is.. weird. I didn't know whose dog he was, and there's a history here of people dumping their animals. He had a collar, but no tag. I tried to get him to come to me and he was just weird and skittish. Then suddenly he comes barreling up and licks me and is all excited, then seconds later he starts barking at me and runs away again. I wouldn't shoot someone's dog if I could help it. But I know that I'm in the minority out here. I haven't been able to get in touch with the neighbors, either. They might be on vacation or something, and they've got a housesitter who doesn't know to keep the dogs in the fence. But yeah, this dog knows that chickens are 1.) super fun to chase and 2.) tasty, so yikes. The hen is doing real well! She's eating and drinking and pooping. I think we'll put her back in the coop tonight so she's not getting bumped back down the pecking order too much. All the other chickens are spending the day in the coop until we can talk to the neighbors. They are not amused.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 23:26
|
|
|
Cross posting from the gif thread: http://i.imgur.com/SZY6Q5z.mp4 Chicken outta nowhere!
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 08:28
|
|
|
spookygonk posted:Cross posting from the gif thread: The guy's double-take just slays me.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 08:34
|
|
|
Lynza posted:The hen is doing real well! She's eating and drinking and pooping. I think we'll put her back in the coop tonight so she's not getting bumped back down the pecking order too much. All the other chickens are spending the day in the coop until we can talk to the neighbors. They are not amused. That's good news. Spray some antiseptic on the wound and watch for a fever (she'll be hot/shivery/both), as dogs have manky teeth. Be careful of the other chickens going for her with an open wound their inner velociraptor can be a problem. We use a big dog transport crate half covered with a blanket as isolation for the unwell/injured and bring them inside the house (quiet cool room) until they perk up.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 12:02
|
|
|
I spent a half-hour photographing my neighbors' chickens only for most of the photos to turn out unusable. Here's some of them I thought I'd share:   Wait a minute...these are some weird looking chickens. Must be sick  :   Bonus non-chickens:   
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 17:31
|
|
|
Unperson_47 posted:
Splish splash chickos, not the cluck cluck chickos
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 12:33
|
|
|
Unperson_47 posted:Wait a minute...these are some weird looking chickens. Must be sick What kind of duck is this weird droopy looking skinny thing? I must know. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 15:48
|
|
|
shitpostmodern posted:What kind of duck is this weird droopy looking skinny thing? I must know. Looks to be an Indian Runner Duck.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 15:52
|
|
|
spookygonk posted:Looks to be an Indian Runner Duck. Wow thanks, that was fast! I love them, they look like walking bowling pins. I was mostly just curious if the duck was stretching upwards of if that's what they look like, and now my question is answered.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 15:57
|
|
|
Indian runner ducks are the best  They are often found dressed as elegant ladies, which is why my mother thought for a long time that Jemima Puddleduck was an Indian runner: We had an Indian runner cross who would only E X T E N D D U C K when it was time to run, but otherwise looked like a regular white duck. Indian runners are my favourite type of duck after Muscovies.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2016 06:55
|
|
|
 e: splish splash chickos 
|
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2016 06:45
|
|
|
Cool photo of a rooster's eyelid. Posted by Flaut on Reddit. Click on to enlarge. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2016 08:32
|
|
|
Inveigle posted:Cool photo of a rooster's eyelid. Posted by Flaut on Reddit. The extra eyelid birds have is pretty cool. My tiny cousin was amazed to discover that chickens blink "sideways" when they get sprayed with water droplets. She wasn't quite old enough to be horrified by it like some other people who first see chickens blinking that way! Cats also have the extra eyelid (google "cat third eyelid") which can pop up when they're injured/sick, sleeping/chilling, or squeezing through small gaps/getting their forehead pulled back for purposes of funny pictures online. Some aquatic or semi-aquatic mammals activate it when they go underwater. In humans, all we usually have left is the little pink bit in the inner corner of our eyes. Yes, that's what that is! Now you know.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2016 08:57
|
|
|
The chicken's main eyelids, like the eyes of most other birds and lots of reptiles, close "up" rather than "down" like in humans. (There are a few exceptions like owls.) It's surprising how many people forget this when drawing or animating birds - but as soon as they add it in, it makes it so much more birdlike. Personally, my favourite feature of bird eyes is their tiny little feathery eyelashes e: In other chicken eye related news, 
CROWS EVERYWHERE fucked around with this message at 09:09 on Oct 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2016 09:05
|
|
|
that is ENOUGH of THAT
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2016 06:54
|
|
|
I've got my first (probable) coccidiosis case  Luckily the affected brooder box only has four chicks in it at the moment so quarantine is simple, but the chick pooing blood is my beloved Desdemona, my one and only Dorking. I've started the brood on a liquid coccidiostat as soon as I saw the red squirt so hopefully it's early enough to save her, she's eating and drinking and being a chirpy pea so that's a good sign. Pray for Desdemona!
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2016 21:23
|
|
|
update: desdemona still seems fine, no deterioration since this morning and she's still eating and drinking and being a peepy chee, so i'll keep her on medicated feed and water for the night and clean out the brooder again tomorrow and hopefully that'll be the last of it because coccio apparently kills pretty fast if it's going to be fatal (if it was coccio, the only symptom was bloody stool but better safe than sorry imo.) in other news i have hatched my first maran and almost lost my drat mind because they have feathery legs when they hatch, tiny delicate little golden ankle feathers, i can't handle it
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2016 08:23
|
|
|
Avshalom posted:update: desdemona still seems fine, no deterioration since this morning and she's still eating and drinking and being a peepy chee, so i'll keep her on medicated feed and water for the night and clean out the brooder again tomorrow and hopefully that'll be the last of it because coccio apparently kills pretty fast if it's going to be fatal (if it was coccio, the only symptom was bloody stool but better safe than sorry imo.) in other news i have hatched my first maran and almost lost my drat mind because they have feathery legs when they hatch, tiny delicate little golden ankle feathers, i can't handle it Great news on Desdemona, need chix pix on the Maran.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2016 12:05
|
|
|
Ugh all of my chickens are failures right now. The head barred rock hen is molting like nuts, so she's all bald about the butt, my RIR pullet started laying but on the slanted roof of the nest box, so her eggs literally launch across the coop and break, my rear end in a top hat egg-eating australorp of course loves this situation and has now taken to eating EVERY egg, and my 8 month old ameraucana never even started laying as far as I can tell (WHAT THE HELL). I had to buy eggs yesterday, how embarrasing
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2016 14:32
|
|
|
....and that's why I butchered my last 3 hens. Six months of barely laying was enough. Feathery jerks.  If it makes you feel better, it has apparently been a bad year for backyard eggs. Half the people in my facebook city chickens group are whining about how they're not getting eggs because of molting and some haven't gotten any for most of the summer between heat stress, predators and loose feathers everywhere. My new 3 are settling in. The Delaware is huge and a bitch and has been picking out the EE's tail feathers but there's no blood that I can see and the EE seems fine otherwise, eats and scratches with the bigger girls and is generally a cute little thing :3 She's like half the size of the other two! It's amazing how fast they grow. Buff has started laying, so I expect the Delaware isn't far behind. Fresh eggs again, finally! I threw them all into an uproar yesterday - first by finding and removing the 3 eggs from the corner of the run where the buff was nesting, and then by tossing armloads of fresh tall grasses into the run for them. Their entire world was changed! They spent half the afternoon muttering about it and the other half picking bugs and seeds out of the grass. :3
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2016 18:24
|
|
|
haha okay here are some feathery baby legs  utterly ridiculous. it's an incredibly cute chick too, weirdly chill and docile for a 24-hour-old - it barely peeps, just looks around curiously   bonus desdemona, who is the most inquisitive and extroverted chick i've ever hatched and i love her. in all three of these photos she's yelling because where is her brooder? where are her siblings? what is happening    i'm trying to get less attached to my poultry because their mortality rate is so high but it's so hard. i know the first step is not naming them, but some of them just demand names
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2016 11:46
|
|
|
 from the same chicken. yikes!
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2016 08:26
|
|
|
Micomicona posted:The head barred rock hen is molting like nuts, so she's all bald about the but So, uh, is it normal for a molting hen to... list sideways? Yesterday, the bald girl was walking all crunched down and kept going to the right, like she couldn't walk a straight line. None of my other hens have done this while molting yet, but none of my other hens have ever had such a major molt either. She's eating fine, just hugging the walls of the coop. I'm hoping she's just favoring one side because it is sore from all the little pinfeathers coming in, but yikes
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2016 14:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 01:28 |
|
|
I haven't seen that, no. And we've had barred rocks that looked like their butts had been chopped off during molt. Keep an eye on it, best of luck!
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2016 15:50
|
|