#chicken question

[tomorrowsgardennc]

chicken communityyyy i has a question:

ok everyone say hi to quail. she's an ideal 236. all the ideals i have are named after other birds because they are ideal at being a bird but not a chicken. her name is quail because she is the smallest of all of them, almost bantam size small.

so of course being a runt she gotta do all her winter molting at the same time instead of gradual like everyone else. i get that.

but what i don't get is her comb???? WHERE DID IT GO???? the photo on the left is 2 weeks ago, the most recent photo i have of her prior to her losing her mohawk. the right photo was like 5 minutes ago.

now i check my babies at minimum 3 times a day, and now that it's getting colder i've been checking on their combs closer for frostbite or anything else parasites or whatever each time. the roo and 2 other ladies got minor frostbite the other night, but none of the ideals. but two days ago... poof quail's mohawk is gone!! no sign of damage, blood, parasites, frostbite, anything...

do they shed combs too or maybe there was just a frostbite i didn't see??? her wattle is even smaller, but like not that much smaller... i just checked her skin where she is molting and no signs of any issues, healthy chicken skin is all i see.

[smiley-chickens]

Does anyone have suggestions for good leg bands to help me identify my chicks? I want to be able to tell the 6 individuals apart until I can tell by looking at them. I keep seeing colored zip ties but those make me nervous somehow? Or are they ok? And I know whatever I use I'll have to keep going up in size until they're fully grown. Which hopefully by that point I won't need the bands anymore.

[chainedbones]

Who is Top Hen in your flock?

Penny, since she is unwell Dubh has taken over her spot. There is also Aubrey and Pepper who would then come under Dubh.

[chainedbones]

Hey! How did you go about rescuing battery hens? Our flock is small and I’ve wanted to size up with some rescues! 💕 thanks!

Hi!I was very lucky to find a wonderful rescue & sanctuary who try their very best each year to save battery hens. I can only advise if you have any rescue & sanctuary in your country that have any rescued farm animals that you contact them and even if they can’t take them all out they may be able to help you get a few. I hope this helps in some way ❤️ 

[chainedbones]

Hi. So, my rooster keeps attacking me. Is it humane to clip his wings so he can't get out of his pen?

Okay so you need to look at why. Do you have another rooster? Look at what happens before he attacks you. Are you holding another chicken? or have you held one of his chickens in the past who wasn’t happy. He may be defending them. You may need to build up your relationship with your rooster, lower yourself and feed him treats. Even carry him around for ten - fifteen minutes as you do something else. I have to carry Big Guy around sometimes when he is naughty and he does calm down so it may help. I am not personally big on clipping the chickens wings, if he is specifically jumping out of his pen to attack to you then maybe feed him treats him in the pen with the chickens so he associated your arrival with treats and hopefully that will encourage him to stay in. 

[ashen-vulture]

Random pondering I had today

I want chickens someday but have no actual experience with them. It'll be a small flock, probably 4-10 hens and maybe a rooster.

I know every chicken is different especially across breeda

but roosters all seem to come in a variety of fighty and mad.

And it got me wondering if roosters would enjoy a kick toy, like a plushtoy of a rooster that they can beat around and feel like the biggest, sexiest, most dominant bird, or maybe a snake toy which he can valiantly vanquish.

Maybe get some aggression out in a way that doesn't hurt themselves, there handler, or their hens. Or maybe it would be like giving them a training bag and they would just get better at kicking the feathers off everyone else.

I'm sure there are chill roosters out there, I just personally have not met or heard any stories of them. If I do get a rooster I'm going to try and train him, try and raise a happy bird who doesn't mind being handled.

Also I picture the rooster toy looking like the roostro from slime rancher.

[chainedbones]

You ever thought of putting up an Amazon wish list for your flock?

I haven’t to be honest but I will look into it 😊

[chainedbones]

Greetings and salutations to all the girls and boys! Does Dubh hang out with Pepper anymore? What breed are they?

Hi!Dubh and Pepper hang out everyday together, they usually go off on their own to have dust baths then come back to the others. In that time Saoirse is off doing her own thing but she tend to follow Dubh around when she comes back or keep her in sight.They are bantams, Pepper seems to have nankin in her but not really sure, that means Penny & Dubh will have that in their genes as well as mixed with a few other breeds.