Well, it seems we have a lot of night owls here! I never go to bed early unless I am sick as dog which isn't often. I am usually up till 1 or 2 unless I find a good movie or show and then heaven only knows! My husband goes to sleep as soon as his butt hits the couch. I have a lot of fun scaring the poop out of him when he is sleeping!
Congrats on the new silkies! They sound cute. Today was my last day with all the babies, I am half sad and half relieved. I am keeping one silkie I fell in love with from the beginning and most likely Yeti. He* has really come a long way. I am having a problem with the plymouth barred rock I got from Ideal, she is supposed to a pullet but charges me everytime I reach into the cage.....I feel another thread!!
New Here
So your up too Lora! I just got the new babies squared away in there temporary home until tney are a little bigger. I'm starting them off in a large parakeet cage, and then they will move to a large parrot cage until they are ready to go outside. They are acclimating well to their new environment, eating and drinking an taking sporatic snoozes. I find it soo funny how they fall asleep in the middle of doing something. They just flop down! Cant wait to post pics hopefully tomorrow. You should post some pics of your two silkie babies you are keeping.
When the fall asleep doing something, we call it the rubber chicken, just flopping down asleep.
Yeah, found our card reader. Its been lost for months. Well, when I say lost, I mean was too lazy to look for it too hard! Found it in the couch cushions. Heres some pics of my new babies. Ohhhhh I'm so crazy about them! The little white one is my favorite, I think. I hate to have favorites, but its the one I always go to.
another.....
and another
the wihite is beautiful! i seem to pick browns as favs... i am sick with hatching fever...
I wanted to post a pic of one of my chickens that hasnt been looking so well. I originally thought it might be rooster doing this, but I'm not sure, so maybe you could give some insight.
that may be his current favorite hen. keep her separate for a while if you can. he'll pick on another...
good idea, I think I will try that. She looks just awful,and her bottom looks very messy too. I dont know if thats just an indication of stress. She's the only one who looks like her bottom is all sticky with feces. I do have several other black hens with their combs on top of their heads looking pretty worn and chewed, so it sounds like that is prob. the rooster. Is that typical of roosters with the hens. It seems so mean. Anyway to control him, or do you guys just let nature take its course? Heres a pic of the other hen with the bare back. She looks good other than just the bare back, but it looks so red.
now THAT looks more like feather picking than the roo... are they getting enough protein?
Now when you say feather picking, is it the other chickens picking feathers out of her, or herself picking her own feathers out? I feed layer pellets. My food is purchased from Blue Seal and is their brand. I do give leftover fruits and vegetalbes and cereal on an occasional basis, and give oyster shells as a suppliment if it seems like their egg shells are getting thin.
Also, how do I increase protein? Should I switch to a different type of food, or is there something I should add to suppliment them with?
I have a feeder of layer pellets, a feeder of gamebird crumbles (you can check and see what turkey grower pellets for a larger pellet has for protein too) and one of oyster shell. A couple of gals of my are bare backs. When we put up the fence, Marshall, the sweetest but "get 'er done" Roo will be separated from his gal so they can recover.
Someone mention "saddles" for the hens. I would be more than willing to buy some if I could find them. I got a couple
that must have cold this past winter!
Also, check for mites/lice, they are so common up here (and even in Texas!) They are called Northern Fowl lice????? I am going over each and every chicken and if I see one I will not freak out (learned that from that womans GREAT silkie site) I will deal with them calmly, scour every inch of their house, yard and each and every dust bath site!!
She said its a fact of keeping silkies, a day I not looking forward to.
This message was edited Apr 21, 2008 10:55 AM
when you give them leftovers, it oculd throw off their protein intake. not saying not to. just that if they don't have access to juicy bugs, they need sunflowers, barley, etc. yes, i was saying ANOTHER hen started eating her feathers. she is not a bad hen in my book. i got mine to stop it. watched till i saw who it was and locked the two feather eaters up, gave them extra amounts of protein, and didn't let them out till the others' backs were healed up.
eggs are an excellent source of protein.
if you don't catch the one doing it and do something about it, the problem can really get out of hand...
Thanks for all the info. I havent seen anyone specifically pecking, but who knows what happens when lights are out, and I'm not watching! I will check the protien percentage on the bag of food I'm feeding. What percent should I be aiming for?
Also forgot to ask earlier, what would I be looking for with Mites or lice? I have been checking the chickens because of the 2 bare back hens, but nothing has stood out as obvious. I've checked their feathers and looked at their rears, and again nothing has seemed overly obvious upon basic inspection.
Look at their butts, look for white egg cases on the base of feather shafts, move around the feathers right where everything exits. From what I have read if they have them thats where you will see them. http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html and this one has all the bugs! http://www.geocities.com/KelliAnn293/parasites.htm
great links, thanks lora. I will have a closer look at my birds! I hope thats not the issue! The DE looks really good though, for all the animals! Would be great during flea season!