Chicken/egg question

[GeorgiaPeachie]

Wing clipping for chickens is pretty straight forward process. Only clip one wing, not both. Otherwise you stand the chance of them still being able to fly. Also, only trim the flight wings, of which there are 10. Do not clip a young hens wings Or clip off too much of the wing. There are pictures out there to show you how much to clip. You should wait until the hens are old enough so blood is not flowing through the shafts, otherwise they will bleed. Keep in mind that you might have to pull some of those wings out with pliers during molt. Be sure to use sharp scissors for an easier process. I cleaned the shears between the two birds.

Had one bird that would fly up into the loft of the chicken house almost every single night. Then she wouldn’t come down. This fixed that problem. As far as how high they will still fly? Hate to say it , but it depends on the bird. Lighter ones are still able to go pretty high.

 

[Cindyd]

Sorry Robin! (About the buff)

I've never clipped the wings either.

 

[user 7704]

I took a body bag down to the coop but the Buff is still alive. Not doing well though. I gave her water and will make electrolytes when it gets lighter outside.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

It is not easy when one of the chickens are sick or hurt. Hang in there Robin.


We are going to add a tree to our main run. Thought it would be a nice addition to entertain the girls. My plum tree has been a total failure for 5 years now. It buds too early and always loses every single bloom. So, I’m having hubby cut it down, cut or trim back all but a few limbs. He is figuring out how to make sure it stays upright. I think it will be cool!

 

[user 7704]

It is not easy when one of the chickens are sick or hurt. Hang in there Robin.


We are going to add a tree to our main run. Thought it would be a nice addition to entertain the girls. My plum tree has been a total failure for 5 years now. It buds too early and always loses every single bloom. So, I’m having hubby cut it down, cut or trim back all but a few limbs. He is figuring out how to make sure it stays upright. I think it will be cool!

I have a plum tree overhanging the run. Sometimes they fall in it but I have the netting on top and it catches the plums. The chickens crawl on top of the chicken apartment and eat through the netting.

I had it mostly for shade back when I didn't free range.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Once the snow is gone and the ground drys out I'm going to extend our run out to cover about a half acre. I'll put in a pond for the ducks too.
Until we build a kennel for the dogs we can't let the chicken free range.

Whenever we get a hen that likes to fly we clip her wing. The feathers will eventually grow out, but usually they don't try flying again.

 

[user 7704]

Buffy escaped the infirmary and crawled under the coop. I got her out and brought her inside. I am giving her water. I have wrapped her in a towel and will hold her for the time she has left.

She can barely hold her head up and that funky eyelid is covering her eyes. Leon and Zeus are completely ignoring her. I'm shocked.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Buffy escaped the infirmary and crawled under the coop. I got her out and brought her inside. I am giving her water. I have wrapped her in a towel and will hold her for the time she has left.

She can barely hold her head up and that funky eyelid is covering her eyes. Leon and Zeus are completely ignoring her. I'm shocked.

Give her Water with CDS

 

[user 7704]

I used a syringe to give her a little water, but she has clamped down and I can't pry her beak open. I think she is ready to go. If she lives tonight, I will do the cds.

Give her Water with CDS

 

[Proud Prepper]

I used a syringe to give her a little water, but she has clamped down and I can't pry her beak open. I think she is ready to go. If she lives tonight, I will do the cds.

She could have a bird flu. Give CDS to all your chickens

 

[user 7704]

How would she have contracted it? We are secluded with zero contact with other birds?

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

Could she have come in contact with wild birds?

 

[user 7704]

Could she have come in contact with wild birds?

Don't see how. She is still alive this morning

 

[poltiregist]

Today I clipped my chicken's wing and put them in their bigger and better pen . They haven't even made an attempt to fly out . My fence is about 6 foot high . They are happy eating green weeds in the pen . I took my attack dog to introduce her to the new chicken development . She didn't even show much interest in them . My in-laws dog though is a known chicken killer , so I will be alert for him . I seriously doubt though he will be able to get into the new pen as much effort was put into building the enclosure with him in mind . The chickens even have a house to get into for the night which I have prepared a door to shut them in at night to keep varmints from getting to them .

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

Sounds like a good project! I have to shut the door at night on our small chicken house, for growing chicks. The large chicken house has an electric door. They are so handy to have! With the cameras we have outside I can check on the door to make sure it shut.

 

[user 7704]

I do mine manually, because I do a head count. They move around a lot so I have to count and recount. Plus, I don't have funds for a door.

 

[Survivor_316]

How would she have contracted it? We are secluded with zero contact with other birds?

I think Canadian geese can be carriers. In the UK I think they have to have their birds in a covered run the whole time because of bird droppings. Maybe I'm imagining all this. Anyone with a clearer head that can confirm?

 

[poltiregist]

I thought I would bounce an idea I have been pondering . As I usually do have my mind in a prepper rute and am considering planting cold hardy kale to feed my chickens during the cold months after Puttin or China get enough of this war poking and decide to bring it to it's Nuclear conclusion . A couple of questions - do you think chickens would eat kale and would it need planting each year if left to do as nature intended ?

 

[poltiregist]

Can Chickens Eat Kale? (Nutrition, Pros and Cons & Feeding Tips) I found one of the answers to my above question . It appears chickens love kale and it is a super food for them . I already have my kale seeds so when the right month rolls around I plan to be planting . I still don't know though if it will come back on its own year after year . Hopefully this will solve some of the problem of obtaining chicken feed during the winter months after SHTF or during that touted Nuclear Winter .

 

[poltiregist]

It appears the time to direct sow kale in zone 6 for chickens to have a winter kale food source is late July through the month of August . However I am only going by googled information and don't know a thing about growing kale .

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

I thought I would bounce an idea I have been pondering . As I usually do have my mind in a prepper rute and am considering planting cold hardy kale to feed my chickens during the cold months after Puttin or China get enough of this war poking and decide to bring it to it's Nuclear conclusion . A couple of questions - do you think chickens would eat kale and would it need planting each year if left to do as nature intended ?

Kale does regrow! Mine from last year is huge already. You can grow and provide everything for chickens without store feed. I have not grown all of my hens needs yet, but am confident in how to do it.

Don't forget creating a compost pile and throw your food waste for the hens. The food waste attracts the right bugs, that the hens eat. Also a worm bin is needed for protein. Plant sunflowers to feed them all winter. Put the hens in your garden areas when you have harvested everything. They will eat well! They also fertilize your spring garden for free.

Year round you can and should grow fodder in trays. Doesn’t take much space and if you grow it about 10-14 days, will give you TONS of feed compared to just feeding the grains! It works well for winter too. Yep, I did try this method out. Starting a new set of trays every 2 weeks works well.

Here are some ideas for planting areas to feed chickens…

Red clover
Rye grass
Millet
Alfalfa
Mustard
Daikon radish
Sunflowers

For fodder I used wheat, rye and oats. Some have used barley, but I didn’t have any of those seeds. You can mix them in the trays too for a nice variety. Oh, and I grow trays of sunflower seeds. Those are best planted to produce a lot of seeds for winter feed.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

It appears the time to direct sow kale in zone 6 for chickens to have a winter kale food source is late July through the month of August . However I am only going by googled information and don't know a thing about growing kale .

You are a tad colder than my area at zone 7a. That said, you can still plant some kale. Try it out. It is very easy and quick to grow!

 

[user 7704]

I give kale to my chickens, but they like the leaf lettuce and spinach better.

 

[DrHenley]

I give kale to my chickens, but they like the leaf lettuce and spinach better.

Smart chickens

 

[Amish Heart]

I bought seeds from Baker Creek of the giant spinach and giant kale last year, and it did well for animal food. They also enjoyed extra squash and tomatoes. We've got enough clover, grass, and dandelion growing at our place, so I just pick buckets of it in the morning and throw it in the chicken run. Finding fresh greens in Jan and Feb is difficult, though.

 

[Mountain trapper]

You are a tad colder than my area at zone 7a. That said, you can still plant some kale. Try it out. It is very easy and quick to grow!

Kale grows good here, but it doesn't regrow. All winter we keep a couple trays of fodder growing upstairs where it's warmer.
Our garden is snow free now. The orchard still has a few small patches of snow left.

 

[user 7704]

Went to check on sick chicken and she was still alive. about 10 minutes later, I hear them all going crazy. I thought that the chicken had died and they were mourning. I looked over the fence and one of my youngest ladies was laying there dead. No idea what happened.

I guess I need to give the sick chicken a shot of .22 to get her out of her misery. I just won't do it around the roosters, because they went after me once when they witnessed their girl getting murdered.

 

[user 7704]

She could barely move, but dang, she sure did flop around after I shot her in the head.

 

[user 7704]

My favorite chicken is missing. Flopsy would run to me every night to pick her up and carry her to coop. I am heartbroken.

I will keep them in the run for a few days and take away whatever it is food source.

I commented that they were staying close to home today. Now I know why.

 

[user 7704]

Neighbor said that another neighbor caught a bobcat on video at boat ramp. Not good.