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I remember reading somewhere in BYC that if the breastbone in your chicken feels really sharp and with little meat on the sides, the chicken is underweight. Roostroyer has a big breastbone, but the muscles on the sides feel firm. Most of my hens' chest feel full and round, not as big as the chickens you buy at the grocery store because they aren't meat birds, but the chest is nice and round. Spaghetti has little muscle, or meat, on the sides of her breastbone, and I know that means she's thin because she is a Plymouth Rock, a dual purpose breed, so she should be much heavier and fatter. A quick GIS shows this as an underweight chicken, see how prominent the bone is, and how little muscle it has on the sides? http://www.anafricangrey.ca/forum/uploads/1256111477/gallery_390_350_44703.jpg
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Jul 2, 2012 07:18
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I might be wrong, as I haven't seen the entire thread  , but this might be the first posted picture of this breed on this thread. Introducing: Kokomo, my booted bronze-laced chocolate Serama pullet!  
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Jul 2, 2012 07:55
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Hawaii_Lame-O posted:I might be wrong, as I haven't seen the entire thread Oooooh! Beautiful coloring! Could we please see some bigger photos of your pretty pullet? 
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Jul 2, 2012 08:05
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Maximusi posted:drat, how do you know if a chicken is skinny or not? This makes me worry about mine. You pick a normal one up, then you pick up the skinny one and go "oh poo poo..." they should feel solid and meaty.
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Jul 2, 2012 11:19
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Chido posted:Think that's hard to imagine? This will make it harder: the rooster is as small as the chickens in this video So adorable!
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Jul 2, 2012 15:31
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Hawaii_Lame-O posted:Introducing: Kokomo, my booted bronze-laced chocolate Serama pullet! Ugh what a horrible bird. Post pictures of your dumb crowing Sebright next. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jul 2, 2012 17:39
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D'aww. I love seramas. They are so little and cute, and the colors are beautiful. If I had the space for 2 flocks, I'd have egg layers, and raise seramas for fun.
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Jul 2, 2012 18:29
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Chido posted:I hope so too, she's my favorite hen because she's so docile and sweet. When we bought her from the feed store last year, the owner had dropped all her chickens there. She didn't want them anymore because they were noisy and somebody supposedly had complained about the noise. She was there when we were buying feed, so Spaghetti didn't spend time at the store at all. Have you tried going to First State Vet Supply for a "consult" and to check out the supplies they have? I buy from there and I've heard a lot of BYC people say their consulting service is great. You might also want to try worming all of them, I've found the easiest product to use is as a broad spectrum antiparasite medicine is the Eprinex Pour On for cattle. You can find lots more info on it over at BYC.
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Jul 2, 2012 19:52
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SolanaSkyes posted:Have you tried going to First State Vet Supply for a "consult" and to check out the supplies they have? I buy from there and I've heard a lot of BYC people say their consulting service is great. You might also want to try worming all of them, I've found the easiest product to use is as a broad spectrum antiparasite medicine is the Eprinex Pour On for cattle. You can find lots more info on it over at BYC. I'm gonna check that site, thank you Solana! I have Spaghetti isolated in a big rabbit crate in my room for now. She's still limping and only attempting to eat, she is drinking water, though. I get the feeling she's just hurt, Roo probably tried to sit on her, so maybe staying in a quite place for some time will help.
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Jul 2, 2012 20:08
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Our four ex-batts will tolerate most birds in the garden except magpies, but anything pigeon sized and smaller are ingored (or even welcomed if they kick seeds off the bird table). One of our regular juvenile wood pigeons was seen to be sitting in the same place on the ground for hours and it became obvious it couldn't fly. So we put it in a box with food and water and hoped it was just stunned after flying into something. The next day it was the same and we took it to a wild animal shelter where the woman in charge found it had broken its wing in three places.  She said the wing joint was fine and she hoped she could splint the wing and get it to heal. When we mentioned the chickens, she said, "Do you want a rooster?" Someone had rung her to see if she'd take him in, but she said the sanctuary she run was for wild animals only. That night the rooster was thrown over her gate. To add to the problem, she has only bantams and he's very forceful with the tiny ladies and more importantly the rooster will attack anyone in his eyeline. She cannot find someone to take him. Other news, Dora our smallest ex-batt has started mislaying eggs: soft shells, whites and yolks without shells. So we took her to the vet and he has given her what is basically the pill in implant form. This will shut down her ovaries and prevent more problems for her, but we do expect some more times when she'll be feeling poorly as her body expells the last of the current batch of eggs. It's a simple procedure and the vet now does it without having to anethatise the hen (unless it is very stressed/frightened).
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Jul 2, 2012 21:28
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RabbitMage posted:Ugh what a horrible bird. Nah. quote:(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) HAH! That's what you get for making fun of my Kokomo, bro! In other news, I'll try to get some bigger, take up the entirety of your 30" hi-def screen photos up soon.
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Jul 3, 2012 00:08
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To everyone building a coop - don't set it on stones. It sounds nice in theory, but goddamn is it a massive pain in the rear end. Pour a concrete slab instead. My work in progress:  I might have a livable coop by the end of the year.  Of course my ever supportive husband has decided that since it was MY idea to put it up on bricks that he is not going to help me lay the blocks what-so-ever.
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Jul 3, 2012 19:58
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Lyz posted:To everyone building a coop - don't set it on stones. It sounds nice in theory, but goddamn is it a massive pain in the rear end. Pour a concrete slab instead. I'm not too sure what your run is supposed to look like when done? Is it going to be all cinderblock? Or a row of cinderblock on the outside? What are you going for?
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Jul 3, 2012 22:39
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Inveigle posted:I'm not too sure what your run is supposed to look like when done? Is it going to be all cinderblock? Or a row of cinderblock on the outside? What are you going for? This is my old coop:  So basically I'm going for the same thing, only having the run mounted to that row of cinder blocks. The side walls will be a bit taller to accommodate the taller coop (was tired of breaking my back bending over to work in that thing), and the roof will be plastic. Up side of raising the coop on the blocks is the chickens will have a cool place to go on hot summer days... if I get this thing done by the end of summer. I lost my last batch of chickens when a pair of pitbulls ripped through the wire fence so I'm taking no chances this time. This is going to be the Fort Knox of chicken coops.
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Jul 4, 2012 01:53
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Lyz posted:This is my old coop: I asked about your run design because it seems to me that when it rains that the hole (bordered by the cinder blocks) will just fill up with water and then become a mud pit. Right now, the hole is lower than everything else. Were you planning on adding more dirt to make it level (or higher) than the dirt that makes up the surrounding lawn?
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Jul 4, 2012 02:13
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Inveigle posted:I asked about your run design because it seems to me that when it rains that the hole (bordered by the cinder blocks) will just fill up with water and then become a mud pit. Right now, the hole is lower than everything else. Were you planning on adding more dirt to make it level (or higher) than the dirt that makes up the surrounding lawn? Yeah, I'll have to fill the hole back in because I'm not mortaring the stones, so the dirt is needed to hold them into place. Unfortunately if it really pours I can't keep the area from flooding so the chickens will just have to chill in the coop (when they're big enough they'll get to wander the yard anyways). My hope is the plastic roof will have enough overhang to keep most of the water out. Can't really solve the flooding problem without redoing the entire lawn's drainage. I was going to bed the thing with sand but I figure the chickens are just going to dig anyways so no point. All I need is a way in to rake it out every now and then.
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Jul 4, 2012 02:46
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Lyz posted:Yeah, I'll have to fill the hole back in because I'm not mortaring the stones, so the dirt is needed to hold them into place. Unfortunately if it really pours I can't keep the area from flooding so the chickens will just have to chill in the coop (when they're big enough they'll get to wander the yard anyways). My hope is the plastic roof will have enough overhang to keep most of the water out. Can't really solve the flooding problem without redoing the entire lawn's drainage. I have gotten the impression that chickens like sand. At least if water got in and flooded a run full of sand it wouldn't be such a big mess as a run full of soil which would just turn to mud. But yeah you definitely want to raise the level of your run especially if your yard is prone to flooding. I need to get a new side fence built and I really need to get someone to dig out a bunch of the excess dirt to improve the drainage in the back yard. BTW, I like how you raised up the old coop. I guess if you'd wanted it even higher, you'd have had to mount it on posts.
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Jul 4, 2012 03:12
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Havent had time to take a lot of pictures lately due to dealing with the heat. Fat fluffy birds dont handle three digit temps for a week at a time very well so i had to build some heat sinks in larger runs so they could stay cool. To start us off heres some white cockerels,all of them aged 4 months. Cochins mature slowly compared to other birds so they start off looking somewhat normal then eventually their sideways growth outpaces their longways growth producing the round fuzzballs. These birds are starting to round off. Budong-started life as a green eyed monster hence the name.  Habanero and Jalepeno   All three.  Digging through my camera I found some old show pictures, this is those three cockerels mother, named Pepper.  Buford my blue rooster when he was still just a cockerel. He had just finished rounding out.In fact his eyes hadnt even finished turning to Amber from green.  A black and white mottled hen I carried to the show. I gave her and my other mottles to a breeder who was interested in them since I had enough colors to worry about. Mottled is basically a polka dotted color,they can be either black with white spots or blue with white spots. This hens mottling isnt very heavy.  Heres a not so good picture of mini-roostroyers. Columbian pattern bantam cochins,not sure who they belong to. They have good shape but the coloring isnt as distinct as it needs to be.  Edit:Fixed double link. Ahhhhh I keep breaking tables. Tim Jong-un fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Jul 4, 2012 |
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Jul 4, 2012 04:41
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God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
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Tim the Enchanter - thank you for sharing the pictures of your chickens. They are beautiful. I did not realize how many different breeds and colors of chickens there are. I've been researching, wanting to raise some hens for pets and eggs. It's going to be a hard decision. Barnevelders are pretty. I'm in Utah so it gets HOT during the summer and COLD during the winter. Bantam cochins are so cute and comical.
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Jul 4, 2012 05:42
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Hey Tim, how do you build a heat sink for chickens? I live in Southern California, and while this summer has been mild so far, last year it was awful and I worried about my chickens overheating.
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Jul 4, 2012 05:52
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Dug a 6 inch deep trench roughly about 5 feet wide down the middle of every run. Laid 5 PVC pipes with holes drilled all over them down the length of the trench then buried them in gravel. I hooked up the pipes to an ice cold freshwater spring source and thats it. The water drains out the end of the run and flows downhill and the gravel keeps the idiots from drowning themselves. The water comes from a spring that bubbles up at the top of the mountain and flows by my house so it's cold all year round. The trench fills with the cold water to the top of the gravel and pulls a lot of the heat out of the air,as well as letting them waddle through it to keep themselves cool. I usually pile some sand around the edges to catch any excess water which also helps with the heat and they enjoy wallowing in cool sand. It's not economical if you dont have a free water source and is just something I threw together to cool larger numbers of birds. For smaller flocks just putting ice cubes in their water source is good and supply plenty of shade. If that aint working just make a sandbox and hose it off with cool water. Chickens love sand and will cool off in the process of wallowing.
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Jul 4, 2012 06:27
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Tim the Enchanter posted:Dug a 6 inch deep trench roughly about 5 feet wide down the middle of every run. Laid 5 PVC pipes with holes drilled all over them down the length of the trench then buried them in gravel. I hooked up the pipes to an ice cold freshwater spring source and thats it. The water drains out the end of the run and flows downhill and the gravel keeps the idiots from drowning themselves. The water comes from a spring that bubbles up at the top of the mountain and flows by my house so it's cold all year round. The trench fills with the cold water to the top of the gravel and pulls a lot of the heat out of the air,as well as letting them waddle through it to keep themselves cool. I usually pile some sand around the edges to catch any excess water which also helps with the heat and they enjoy wallowing in cool sand. Woah, that's a nifty idea. Wanna see them wading chickens Also, and this is just my opinion, but if you want to keep from overheating your chickens, make sure NOT to overclock them. That way you won't need a huge heatsink!
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Jul 4, 2012 06:32
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I think my chicken may be a little skinny. How the heck am I supposed to make sure it gets fed? I thought chickens were self sustainable. I let her roam the yard (its pretty big) and she eats whatever. I give her chicken feed but she doesn't eat it.
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Jul 4, 2012 07:23
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Is the feed in mash, crumbles, or pellet form? I usually buy pellets because it's less waste, but my chickens won't eat much of it unless I add some water so it gets mushy (dumb chickens don't like dry mash *sigh*). Maybe try adding a bit of water, or switch the form -from pellets to mash, or to crumbles.
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Jul 4, 2012 07:26
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Chido posted:Is the feed in mash, crumbles, or pellet form? I usually buy pellets because it's less waste, but my chickens won't eat much of it unless I add some water so it gets mushy (dumb chickens don't like dry mash *sigh*). Maybe try adding a bit of water, or switch the form -from pellets to mash, or to crumbles.
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Jul 4, 2012 08:53
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Tim the Enchanter posted:Digging through my camera I found some old show pictures, this is those three cockerels mother, named Pepper. Awwww. Pepper is nothing but a tiny ball of fluff! Buford has a pretty comb and the polka-dot chicken is adorable. Tim the Enchanter posted:Dug a 6 inch deep trench roughly about 5 feet wide down the middle of every run. Laid 5 PVC pipes with holes drilled all over them down the length of the trench then buried them in gravel. I hooked up the pipes to an ice cold freshwater spring source and thats it. The water drains out the end of the run and flows downhill and the gravel keeps the idiots from drowning themselves. The water comes from a spring that bubbles up at the top of the mountain and flows by my house so it's cold all year round. The trench fills with the cold water to the top of the gravel and pulls a lot of the heat out of the air,as well as letting them waddle through it to keep themselves cool. I usually pile some sand around the edges to catch any excess water which also helps with the heat and they enjoy wallowing in cool sand. Tim, thanks again for the fantastic photos and for the description of the heat sink. I don't suppose you have any photos showing one of the heat sinks in use? I'm having a hard time picturing what the final heat sink set-up looks like.
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Jul 4, 2012 10:41
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Well, I used that vet supply service and after I described Spaghetti's symptoms, the person on the phone think it may not be an illness since Spaghetti still shows interest in food and water, and when I've taken her out of the crate to forrage away from the other chickens, she does eat a lot of greens and grit. I'm guessing Roo hurt her while trying to sit on her. I'll just keep her in the rabbit crate wen we're not outside so she doesn't have to move around much. Also, I have a question about grit. All my chickens have free reign of our backyard, but most of the earth is dusty. Should I have extra grit available for them? (silly question)Can fish tank pebbles be used for grit? I have a bag of white aquarium gravel somewhere in my room that I never used, would it be ok to toss it outside for the chickens?
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Jul 4, 2012 17:57
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I don't know for sure since I haven't had chickens, but I've had other bird before and usually grit is a LOT more fine than aquarium gravel. I think getting them some grit would be a good idea, if anything, they should enjoy it at least
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Jul 5, 2012 01:33
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Chido posted:Also, I have a question about grit. All my chickens have free reign of our backyard, but most of the earth is dusty. Should I have extra grit available for them? (silly question)Can fish tank pebbles be used for grit? I have a bag of white aquarium gravel somewhere in my room that I never used, would it be ok to toss it outside for the chickens?
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Jul 5, 2012 09:22
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I put out parrot grit (I buy it at the feed store for 10 cents a pound) and oyster shell both. They seem to only eat the oyster shell when they need it.
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Jul 5, 2012 18:31
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Spaghetti has lost weight and I'm probably gonna have to force feed her some baby food to help her recover. She does eat some feed, but she's been picky about treats. She won't eat mealworms but she'll devour watermelon and cucumber. I'm rather mad at her previous owners for not taking better care of her, she's such a sweet hen 
Chido fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Jul 6, 2012 |
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Jul 6, 2012 01:42
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Chido posted:Spaghetti has lost weight and I'm probably gonna have to force feed her some baby food to help her recover. She does eat some feed, but she's been picky about treats. She won't eat mealworms but she'll devour watermelon and cucumber. I'm rather bad at her previous owners for not taking better care of her, she's such a sweet hen
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Jul 6, 2012 10:13
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I use crushed granite for grit. I think it was $6.00 for 50 lbs. Chido, you could maybe try a bird hand feeding food like they use for parrots. It has all the nutrition they need until you can get them interested in regular food again.
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Jul 6, 2012 14:29
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Spaghetti didn't make it. I was hoping she'd make it at least one more week until I get paid so I could take her to the vet, but she died some time early this morning. I fed her some watermelon and baby food last night and she ate it, but I guess her body couldn't keep going. I don't wanna go to work today. I know she was only a chicken but it hurts, she was my grumpy lady and the sweetest of them all.
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Jul 7, 2012 17:12
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Chido posted:only a chicken It's never "just" a chicken/fish/dog/cat/armadillo. She was your pet.  You did your best, and I'd love to go out being fed watermelon, too!
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Jul 7, 2012 17:15
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Chido posted:Spaghetti didn't make it. I was hoping she'd make it at least one more week until I get paid so I could take her to the vet, but she died some time early this morning. I fed her some watermelon and baby food last night and she ate it, but I guess her body couldn't keep going. Chido, I'm so sorry for your loss You did what you could, and showed her a much better life than her previous owners had given her. And don't feel silly because she was "only a chicken". She wasn't, she was a cherished pet. No matter the species if you lose a cherished pet it hurts, and rightfully so.
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Jul 7, 2012 17:18
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I'm so sorry, Chido. *HUGS* She was a good girl and you did good by her.
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Jul 7, 2012 18:05
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Awwww Chido...I'm so sorry.
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Jul 7, 2012 18:47
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Greycious posted:You did what you could, and showed her a much better life than her previous owners had given her. Sorry for your loss.
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Jul 7, 2012 18:52
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It's sad to lose any animal, but you did what you could for her and that's what matters. I'm sure she was happy til the end.
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Jul 7, 2012 19:04
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