phoebejo Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 All five present and correct this morning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 *insert tearing hair out smiley* Where am I going to put them all?????? Plan A has just gone straight out the window because sweet innocent Lily Pie hates the new chicks and does not want to share the brooder with them. Shemale Cara wasn't keen either. The others were fine. Big chicks are now roaming around my bedroom while little chicks are in the brooder I'm off now to the garden where I'll scrub the kitten pen to within an inch of it's life. Big chicks can go in there and start being weaned off the heat. They can have the infra red bulb in the day and nuffink at night to see how they get on. Will start off leaving the kittens heat pad in there over night for a few days so it's not a huge shock. They spend more time on the electric hen instead of under it so they should be ok. I'll re-arrange the bedroom to squeeze in the kitten pen. Ian is going to kill me when he gets home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Sorted! I think we're on Plan F now I got the kitten pen out, it's far too big for the bedroom so it went back into the garage. Couldn't think of anywhere to put the Big Chicks that was big enough for them. Eventually decided to leave them where they are. Hung the lamp from the curtain pole in my bedroom, put a clear 250w bulb instead of the red one in, put Pete the hamsters old cage underneath et voila! Little chicks new home They're right next to my desk Some of them have tried the food & water but bless they're socks they're still exhausted and now are curled up asleep Sooooooooooooooooooo cute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted February 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 When we know eggs are dead we usually open them to see when they died, if we know we can figure out why. It's a good science lesson for the girls too. Usually we see little blobs that look like tiny prawns. But today one of them was fully formed Another yellow chick who died in the last few days. It was perfect We normally chuck the mouldy egg contents in the bin but it didn't feel right for this one so we buried it in the garden. It didn't seem fair that it would never get to enjoy doing chickeny things out there and it certainly didn't belong in the bin Sleep well little one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddyboy Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Those girls have been watching The Great Escape!!! Their run is made up of 10m chicken wire and around 9 ft of fence panels - almost squarish.... there is netting draped over an old gazebo frame (so nice and tall) over all of it apart from one small area which I need to sort (small as in around 1ft of chicken wire and about 2ft tall to the sloping netting over everything. Was just doing poo patrol and heard lots of clucking - looked over in time to see one of them sitting on top of that section!!!! Managed to get her back in before the beasts saw her. Put up a quick bodge job for that area. Honestly - do they not realise that the dogs would probably chase them, there are crows, rooks and magpies galore and a couple of months ago a Red Kite was happily living off the pickings in the field next door?!?!?!?! Egg production seems to have slowed to 3 per day, but as long as none of them explode from unlaid eggs I am happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted February 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Chickens might act brain dead most of the time but they make it their lifes mission to escape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EAD Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Glad all the chickens are doing well they are very cute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeadyP Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 (edited) Looks like John Cleese is a chicken fan too. John Cleese and his chickens. Edited February 26, 2009 by BeadyP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtychicken Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Cheryl and girls Run free ickle chick Georgina - I think you are either incredibly bonkers or very brave to take on chickens with the Thug Trio on the loose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted February 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I think we've got 1 girl and 4 boys from the little chicks. Emily will keep the girl as a replacement for Cara, her chick that has turned into a boy. He is so manly The big chicks have changed a lot this week and now Emily is frightened of Cara (who needs a new name) He looks like a vulture, all chunky legs and long neck. He is so different to the others and really does look weird. Even when I pick him up he feels different, his body is broader, more solid and he has much less feathering. I'll take more pics tomorrow so you can see just how different he is. He acts like a football hooligan too He really is turning into a thug, very in yer face, bullying the others, picking fights, showing off all the time. His appearance makes me question Paxo. Paxo looks like a girl now, the only difference is his slightly bigger comb than them. I really can't decide what Paxo is. But maybe Paxo is keeping quiet about his masculinity because of Cara being such a thug. And my little Robin just gets prettier by the day She's developing black feathers on her neck now, just like a Sussex. I think she's a bit too dark for a Buff Sussex but it's fun guessing. Until the dull emitter arrives, the little chicks are on the landing because we can't stand the 250w light in the bedroom. This is working well at the moment, I don't spend as much time with them, they all look the same so I'm not attached to one more than the other and if it carries on like this I don't think I'll have any qualms over the 4 boys being dinner. I'd eat Cara too but Emily insists even though she's frightened of him we're not allowed to eat him. He'll go to my breeder friend probably. I'm guessing he's a Welsummer x Cream Legbar so his offspring should produce pretty eggs, either the dark Welsummer or the blue of the Legbar. Not sure how chooky genetics work but I'm sure he'd be a nice father to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted February 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 And here he is............... brace yerself............ Emily is now terrified of him and refuses to get him out of his cage for cuddles He had several 'time outs' while I had them out today because he got over excited and wanted to start fights with everyone. Bless him, he does listen to his stern tellings off and eventually he settled down to play nicely. Typical boy Anyway, here's the others from today. Four weeks old tomorrow. Paxo Robin Poppy Robin, No Name and Poppy Robin, Paxo & Lily Pie Everyone preening Little chicks, 4 boys and 1 girl. She's got a tiny black head spot so is easy to find, you can just about see it in the photo. I think Emily has called her Delilah. The boys are Dinner, Dinner, Dinner and Dinner :lolcat: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Somebody has laid this today: I'm waiting for the folks on the Omlet Egg forum to tell me what's gone wrong with it It feels like sandpaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9Fran Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Do let us know what the Omlet peeps say Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddyboy Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Are you sure there is not a dog missing a rubber ball?? And it looks rather large - is there a hen with a John Wayne walk?? Hope you sort out the mystery soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebejo Posted March 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 It was definitely an egg. They've suggested a number of reasons, could be dietry or it could be someone coming into lay. Primrose is about to start laying so I guess it could be hers. They'd been on a different food while I was waiting for their usual A&P Smallholder pellets to be delivered so maybe it was that. They're back on their usual food today though. I've found two softies these past few days so I think it's probably the food. Maisie usually is the one responsible for those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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