Chickens
- Thread starter Remmy
- Start date
We have some up at the farm. They are lovely! Most of them run away from me but there are some little ones that stand quietly and let me stroke them, they love it and make cooing noises at me.
We have ducks as well and they go mad when you spray them with the hose pipe lol!
We have ducks as well and they go mad when you spray them with the hose pipe lol!
When we were at my Friends Farm she had chickens, they were allowed to wander the Farm during the day. One night I walked in the tack room without putting the light on, bent down to pick up my grooming kit and touched something...........OMG thought it was a Rat and
screamed..........it was one of her Chickens, lol, who had settled on my
kit for a snooze
It wasn't best pleased at being disturbed either, lol.
I do actually quite miss the Chickens, as you say they can be very
entertaining.
screamed..........it was one of her Chickens, lol, who had settled on my
kit for a snooze
It wasn't best pleased at being disturbed either, lol.I do actually quite miss the Chickens, as you say they can be very
entertaining.
I have 5 hens, 1 young cockeral and one bantam cockeral (a gold millefleur sablepoot) I had 7 bantams in the summer but I lost 3 to a feral ferret (my trio of beautiful partridge pekins on my birthday ) and 3 to an unknown bug (my two handsome gold Yokohama cockerals and the sablepoot's mate ) and I am very sad as I love my chickens and daren't get any more until I am sure whatever the infection was it has cleared as I am worried the surviving ones could still be carrying it - so anyone who knows about chicken infections please drop me a pm Don't know what it was, it only killed one at a time and not everyone in the same run, they were fine in the morning, then couldn't walk and dead by the evening
Sorry to be depressing, on a positive note I love my chickens and fully intend to get some more fancy bantams when I am sure it is safe to do so, I really like the bantams.
) and 3 to an unknown bug (my two handsome gold Yokohama cockerals and the sablepoot's mate ) and I am very sad as I love my chickens and daren't get any more until I am sure whatever the infection was it has cleared as I am worried the surviving ones could still be carrying it - so anyone who knows about chicken infections please drop me a pm Don't know what it was, it only killed one at a time and not everyone in the same run, they were fine in the morning, then couldn't walk and dead by the evening Sorry to be depressing, on a positive note I love my chickens and fully intend to get some more fancy bantams when I am sure it is safe to do so, I really like the bantams.
Mine are having a wonderous time with a carrot strung up!
The bantam has also taken to perching on top of her elephant (you've just reminded me I need to do an update thread on here!)
The bantam has also taken to perching on top of her elephant (you've just reminded me I need to do an update thread on here!)
Esther, are you sure it was a virus? We lost a couple of chucks for what seemed like unexplained reasons. It was only recently that we noticed that our last brown hen looked a bit dull and not moving, that her crop was sticking out. Well Mike noticed her crop, not me. But her comb had also gone a bit shriveled and purpley coloured. She was fine only hours before! This is what happened to the others we lost. Anyhow, we syringed some olive oil down her neck and massaged it for 10/15 mins and repeated this next morning, lunchtime and evening. She was a different bird the next day. I'm not 100% sure if that's what our other two had but might be worth checking their crops aren't hard?
I'm dying to get chickens now we've moved to the farm. We were supposed to get some in the summer but unfortunately the guy we were supposed to get them from lost all his to a fox. Now we have to wait until next spring before we can get ours, I can't wait!
Thanks Remmy, I assumed it was a virus as we have only lost a couple of birds in 3 yrs for unexplained reasons amongst a flock averaging 10-12 birds, whereas this summer we have lost 3 in the same way (and possibly a quail but that could have been unconnected) and 1 came down with what looked like the same thing but then recovered. 2 cockerals and 1 hen (the one that recovered was a cockeral too) didn't notice croups swollen/hard and checked them over pretty thoroughly but if another one comes down I will certainly check again. They looked a bit hunched and off colour, then started to wobble when they walked, then couldn't walk and just lay flat out, and then died All of this was within a day or a day and a night. The one that recovered was the second and we initially assumed it was a result of bullying as he exhibited the same symptoms but with a bit of TLC on his own has recovered, one of the others recovered too but then was found dead in his house a fortnight later having apparently been fine the day before, the sablepoot hen had the same TLC but still died, she was about 12 wks old. Combs were definiately fine. They were not all kept together and none of my full size hens have been affected (although the young cockeral was but recovered).
I would very much like to believe it is not a virus as I want to get some company for my sablepoot cockeral but don't want to get more and lose them if it was a virus as I am still devastated over the loss of all my beautiful fancy bantams. I have got used to the idea that they can turn up their toes and have lost a few before to ferrets and inexplicably but I didn't expect to lose 6 in two months and all of them my bantams. And to make it harder on a practical level I had imported them all specially from the mainland on the boat as they are breeds that are hard to get up here (I also have an incubator but am not good at getting rid of excess cockerals and posting does reduce the fertility of the eggs quite a lot).
All of this was within a day or a day and a night. The one that recovered was the second and we initially assumed it was a result of bullying as he exhibited the same symptoms but with a bit of TLC on his own has recovered, one of the others recovered too but then was found dead in his house a fortnight later having apparently been fine the day before, the sablepoot hen had the same TLC but still died, she was about 12 wks old. Combs were definiately fine. They were not all kept together and none of my full size hens have been affected (although the young cockeral was but recovered).I would very much like to believe it is not a virus as I want to get some company for my sablepoot cockeral but don't want to get more and lose them if it was a virus as I am still devastated over the loss of all my beautiful fancy bantams. I have got used to the idea that they can turn up their toes and have lost a few before to ferrets and inexplicably but I didn't expect to lose 6 in two months
and all of them my bantams. And to make it harder on a practical level I had imported them all specially from the mainland on the boat as they are breeds that are hard to get up here (I also have an incubator but am not good at getting rid of excess cockerals and posting does reduce the fertility of the eggs quite a lot).
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