The Funny Farm: Get Chickens They Said, It’ll Be Fun …

For most of us, having chickens is a sharp learning curve. Along the way we might seek out help from online groups which can send us off in all directions. Even feed stores, whose business is selling chickens, screw up.

Some of these ‘bumps’ along the way can be entertaining – maybe in hindsight, or if you see the bright side of things, which apparently the following contributors do. And maybe The Funny Farm is the chicken version of the old adage, “When life gives you lemons …”

Fun With Facebook Groups (Donna Marshall Garcia)

Here is what I have learned from online chicken groups:

You could have a rooster or a hen. Very rarely is it both.
It might need an Epsom salt bath. It might not.
You may want to feed medicated chick food, but then again it might be bad for them.
You should put them on electrolyte water, but you should only give them straight water.
You are a terrible chicken parent for keeping them in an enclosed coop/run, but you are also horrible for letting them free range and get eaten.
You shouldn’t put hardware cloth on the floor of your run, but shame on you for not predator proofing your run.
Your coop isn’t big enough for that many chickens, but chicken math happens.
No matter what feed you give, it’s not the right one.
You should do your research online, but if you raise an issue someone will tell you it’s wrong.
You should use pine bedding, but you also shouldn’t.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you ask for help you will get a ton of opinions and some facts. Take the advice (good and bad) and see what YOU think. If it works for you fine. If it doesn’t, then change it.

I’m so confused on what’s right and wrong my head is spinning. I’m doing what my gut (and some great advisors) are telling me to do. Sometimes I have to stop looking at the page because of so much conflicting advice. Sigh…

Fun With Feedstores (Erica Grove)

I’ve been seeing a few posts about what breed is this? Is this a roo? I was told this was a purebred Americauna.

So I just want to share the start of my chicken journey with my first flock of my own that started a year ago (I was raised with chickens but these were my first).

I went to Rural King. They had loads of chicks in the bins with tons of names. I had a list of what I wanted and substitutes if they didn’t have them. So here is what they were labeled as vs. what I ended up with:

1. My Americauna is definitely an Easter egger. (As is EVERY SINGLE OTHER “Americauna” you buy for under $20)

2. My so-called standard Cochin turned out to be a Rhode Island Red

3. My Australorp is a black Jersey Giant. (They lay way less and way later)

4. My Barred Rock pullet (you know, a breed that is autosexed at birth) is a rooster

5. My Gold Laced Wyandotte is a Blue Laced Wyandotte

6. My Buff Orpington is actually a Buff Orpington! Or so I assume

7. I can’t really bash on the four Silkie roosters I got because, well, they are Silkies and you don’t know until the lay an egg

8. My Olive Egger lays brown eggs; I don’t know what she is.

9. Black Copper Marans (I wanted that dark egg) lays super light brown eggs. Side note: there’s no such thing as a French Copper Marans in the U.S. Another lie they tell.

All of that to say, I absolutely love my flock! They are amazing. However if you want a specific breed or sex, do not expect that from Rural King or Tractor Supply. You will be disappointed. Order from a reputable hatchery or seek out local breeders.

And Finally, Fun With Fecals (Unknown)

It’s a Fecal Matter, a little game called “Fun With Fecals”:

Ok guys, let’s talk about poop. When you have chickens, it happens! Which of these stool samples would you consider to be normal?

The correct answer is ALL OF THEM. Images B, C, and F are not diarrhea, they’re known in the chicken world as the oh-so-hideous smelling cecal fecal. It’s poop produced approximately every 8-10 turds and it originates in the cecae which branch off the small intestines. The cecae are designed to absorb water and ferment any particles not previously broken down in the digestive tract. The poop can range in colour from yellow to black. Cecal stools are normal. The other images, A, D, and E are samples of all the turds that drop in between the cecal fecals. They’re firm and have a white urate cap where the stool contents mix with urates (essentially chicken urinary tract deposits) just before being expelled.

I’m a registered nurse; those of you who are in the medical field get it, we can talk about poop at the dinner table and don’t get grossed out. I attached the human samples chart of normal and abnormal poop for your learning experience today. Enjoy, save & share the Bristol Stool Chart.