Our rooster died. We nursed him for 2 days but he just never got better. The last day he was having breathing difficulty, too. So, we’ve buried him and put the 6 hens on garlic and other herbs to be sure they don’t catch anything if it was contagious. If all seems well in 3-4 weeks, I may get another ameraucana rooster…. or I may get some hatching eggs this spring and try my hand at it. I’d love to have Marans (that lay chocolate brown eggs) and another Speckled Sussex and Buff Orpington (we had some of these breeds initially and they were killed. But, they were really sweet and good layers!)….
After losing two chickens, I’m wondering how strict you all are about cleanliness of your coops…. do you change shoes when ever you go in? Do you let other people, who have chickens. visit with your chickens? Etc…
Sorry for Crowey. Losing any part of a family is sad.
I am sorry that Crowey had to go to the Rainbow Bridge.
So sorry about Crowey. I don’t have just chicken shoes but we are in an area where most folks don’t have chickens. I will share everyday maintence things in case you are interested. I add acv and garlic to their water. It was a recommendation from an old timer. I also add kelp to their feed regularly and d.e. a couple times of year. I hope all the rest stay perfectly healthy for you!
Marans would be so cool. I love Buff Orpingtons. Ours almost purrs like a cat when you pet her. Our best layer by far is our Australorp. She turned 7 this year and laid throughout the summer. She is on winter break since we don’t artificially light them. Noisy when she lays though.
Thanks for the tips. How do you add garlic to the water? Crushed? I’ve been chopping it up and putting it on their feed… ACV is a great idea though. What is d.e.a.?
We started of with two Buff Orpingtons. Buffy was a total sweetie and liked to jump on my shoulders when I was sitting down. She was killed when she was just a pullet. We had two Australorps. We got them because they were supposed to be such great layers. The funny thing is that our best layers have ended up being our Ameraucanas!
sorry to hear about crowey. we don’t really do much for maintenance. i always forget about using acv but that is a good idea.
we’ve had a few casualties but that’s to be expected. it’s always a mystery why but i’m sure it’s most likely due to it being their time.