We've Expanded the Run!

Our lights had been flickering so we called the power company. The transformer for our house (and our neighbors!) is right next to the chicken coop and is COVERED in trees!! So last week the tree guys came out and chopped a bunch of trees down and topped some others. This was GREAT! I was planning on extending the run anyway and already had the fencing, so I found out what day they were coming and ripped half of the run down so they could get in there and spray painted lines on trees to let them know where I'd like the stumps cut. Now the chickens have a lot more room and even have some underbrush to play in and trample! The guys mulched up all of the branches they cut down and it has made a GREAT ground cover for the run!

Check it out...

They LOOOOVE to sunbathe!

No, that black one isn't dead... She's having a sun bath!

Can you find the camo chicken in this picture? I've named him Rambo!

In other news, the little chicken with the infected eye is looking LOTS better! I've posted a new picture of him in my online album if you want to see :)

The Roosters Are Crowing!

Well, some of the boys have started crowing! I got a video of it this morning. The first crow is from the big silver easter egger (off screen) who I was hoping beyond hope was a hen... Nope! The second one to crow is the little guy with the big comb, then his brother with the smaller comb. They aren't very melodious... actually they sort of sound like dying sheep... hopefully they'll get better!

The other crower...
In other news, the rabbits have bred! We'll see if we get some babies in a month. Cross your fingers! :)

We Got Our New Bunnies!

Meet Sonny & Cher!

I met with a local "rabbit guy" who found me a very nice pair of New Zealands! They are both about a year old and are proven breeders. Cher has already had 2 litters and is a great mom. She has a number tattooed in her ear which will make it easier to tell her apart from Sonny. She settled right in and only gave me a couple of irritated foot stomps.

Sonny on the other hand... Well, he wants to see me dead! I swear he's the rabbit from Monty Python's Holy Grail... He already clawed me pretty thoroughly. When I put him in his cage I saw blood on his foot and thought he had hurt himself! Nope, it was mine!! Oh well, he's still very handsome... Even if he gives me constant dirty looks...

Look familiar?

Plague Strikes!

So about 10 days ago I noticed that one of the younger cockerels was squinting. Then I saw another one closing his eye. I thought that they were fighting (like boys do) and had poked each other. But, as the days went on I noticed that the eyes were bubbly and getting a little crusty.

I grabbed the 2 perps and separated them, each in their own little dog crate. I added vitamins and antibiotics to their water and hoped for the best.

Over the next 2 days there really wasn't any improvement. I also noticed 2 more chicks with the same thing - so they were removed from the main coop and added to the dog crates.

Thanks to the EXCELLENT people on the BYC Forum (see links to the right) I was able to discuss the problem with people who had "been there" and found out what to do. I went to Tractor Supply and got some injectable Tylan 50 (anti-microbial, bacterial, biotic) and some terrimycin eye ointment. Because of the forum I knew that 1/2cc was the normal dose for a chicken - so I gave my little ones 1/4cc once a day for 5 days. I also flushed their eyes with saline and applied the ointment daily. I saw almost an IMMEDIATE improvement!!! I was so happy!

Now I won't post pics of the sick chickens... because some of them are pretty gross - but if you want to see what it looks like click here. Here is a pic of one of the easter-egger cockerels when he was almost all better :)
Now I've released 3 of them back to the flock - they look GREAT! But, I'm keeping the Lakenvelder cockerel for a while longer. The infection is gone, but he has a big scab over his right eye and I need to get it open so it doesn't heal shut. He still has a ways to go. I'll keep you updated!!

Rehabbed Rabbit Hutch

My neighbors next door neighbors (who are very nice people!) just lost their last rabbit. He was very old and had to be put down. He lived in a HUGE rabbit hutch that used to have 3 rabbits in it - but they too were very old and passed away. They decided that they didn't want to have rabbits again and offered me the hutch! I said YES! (of course!)

When I brought it home it was SERIOUSLY unimpressive and my MIL wanted to burn it. I don't blame her - it was a mess...




But I was inspired and KNEW I could make something really nice out of it! So I got to work. I SCRUBBED IT OUT, removed the rotten wood and the too-small gauge mesh on the front and the rotten mesh on the floor...


Once it was all clean and dry I started with my "master plan". This is going to be used to raise meat rabbits. One boy, one girl and a section to raise the babies to the right size.

The door in the back was used only as an access panel and was left closed all the time. I decided that I would use it as cross ventilation so I put a hinge in the LARGE door so it could fold up against the back of the hutch in the summer and be closed in the winter.


Here it is! All done! Looks pretty nice I think... nothing like the shack it was when it got here! It makes Chubs hutch look TINY! This new one is REALLY big. I actually sat in it to put up the inside walls...
I decided to put this door between the moms section and the center section. While she's pregnant and is nursing I can leave the door open to give her more room - once the babies are weaned I can shut the door and they can grow up in the familiar center section.

So anyway! That's my latest project... Now I just have to find my new bunnies! We're going to a local fair this week, so I might find them there.

Who knows what I'll be building next - the neighbors (same ones!) just did some construction on their house and gave me a big pile of leftover lumber... MUAHAHA!!!

Oh Pani... So Much Trouble!

Here is the video I promised of the invader in Pani's coop! The little bugger is still stealing food!

In other news I think Pani is eating her own eggs! I've rigged up a slanted floor that will roll the egg underneath a mesh floor where she can't reach it. We'll see if this works! I really don't want to get rid of her... It looks like she may be living the single life for quite a while. I don't want her teaching the other chickens how delicious eggs are!!! Maybe someday we'll get a male Sultan and breed her. We'll just have to have the incubating Silkies in another "sub-run". Oh well! All this means is that I get to build some more! YAY!

The Chicken Song

Sorry... haha!