#so i can observe their behaviors like they are exotic lizards | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

homeofhousechickens · 3 years

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Saw your post about wanting questions! Do you have any basic tips for chicken behavior and husbandry? And i mean BASIC basic.

I always suggest new owners to do their own research but chickens are actually really simple to keep and care for

Outside Chickens need:

-A secure and safe coop and run. Free ranging doesnt replace a good coop and run size and sometimes you will have to confine chickens due to quarantines,predators, or weather so its just better to have a good sized coop and run for those times. This will be the biggest expense but a well build coop should last a lifetime.

-Water, needs to be clean and changed daily depending on set up

-Food, I dont recommend layer feed but instead recommend feeding a complete All Flock Feed or keep the birds on good grower feed (18% or 20% protein). If you have only hens you may be able to get away with feeding Layer Pellets but keep in mind layer pellets are designed as a bare minimum food for battery hens.

-Good Bedding and Cleaning. People hate the farm chore of mucking stalls or cleaning coop. I suggest spot cleaning the run and coop often and do cleaning every 2-3 weeks depending on the bedding and set up. I use pine pellet bedding as it smells nice, is phenomenal at keeping ammonia down, and is very good at absorbing moisture.

-Free choice Oyster Shell and Grit. Oyster Shell is how chickens should get their calicum. It will sit in the crop or gizzard and slowly be absorbed over a period of time which is important for laying hens who need calicum during the ENTIRE egg laying process. Grit is how they break down food and get trace minerals that arent in their feed. So its important chickens have constant access to both.

-A vet, doesnt even have to be a poultry,avain,livestock, or exotic vet. Any vet who is willing to do a fecal or examination for you is a vet you should know because even if a vet doesnt know much about chickens you can help them learn. Outdoor Chickens like outdoor dogs need to be wormed regularly so taking in a fecal every 4-6 months to determine if your birds are healthy is very helpful especially if you live in a humid or muddy area.

Indoor chickens are pretty much the same as outdoor chickens other then for 1 or 2 chickens you dont need a huge coop just a dog crate or cage

Simple chicken behavior

-The Egg Song:

This is when chickens do their famous "buck buck buck bucawk" its technically chickens contact call but you will normally hear it after a bird lays eggs or gets spooked by something.

-Warning Call:

a really grating high pitched loud "braaaaaw" that will send most birds looking for cover. This is the hawk call and anything can make a chicken do it. There is a softer version of the sound which is used for smaller threats Young birds are known for constant warning crying about new things

-Scratching and digging:

Chickens are very instinctually inclined to scratch and dig. Chickens who have survived decapitation and only have their brain stem left show scratching and forage behaviors. Scratching is how they find tasty bugs,plant seeds, and anything else they can get their beak on.

-Preening:

This is what chickens are going to be doing most of the time. They are like a cat in terms of keeping themselves clean. Preening helps them maintain feather quailty and get rid of parasites. They have a oil gland at the base of their tail that looks like a nipple and they use that to spread oils on their feathers to help waterproofing and other stuff.

Dust batheing:

Chickens do not naturally clean themselves with water, instead they use dirt or dust. This is another way they can dislodge parasites but its also good for getting rid of access oils and the abrasiveness of the dust is good for cleaning grime off as well.

Sun batheing:

Chickens need the sun to help with vitamin and calcium regulation. They show of their similarities to lizards by laying down and stretching out to catch more sun. This can very alarming if you are far away and have never seen it before.

Yelling and other noises directed at you:

Chickens are pattern mappers and social animals, friendly birds will more then likely act more like a tiny angry toddler then angry dinosaur. A bird standing next to you and screaming is probably a bird who wants something from you or is complaining to you. Chickens will even growl at their owners or tell them off. Chickens have very distinctive documented noises that have important meaning to each, the best way to learn is by observation :)

There is definitely more stuff i could talk about but i think all of this is pretty basic and a good place to start.

#chicken husbandry #chicken behavior #chicken care #ask #chicken #pet birds

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cgbraincell · 3 years

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Be Gay, Do Crimes. This is Thel, one of four geckos I’ve actually purchased. He comes from Brian at Altitude Exotics, and was sold at a deep discount during his 2020 Black Friday sale due to the missing ‘toenails’ (actually missing a number of phalanges on that hand, but yes, he has exactly one toenail - likely just a shed issue, it happens).

I was contemplating names based on moons for the two I’d picked up from the sale, settling on Io for the other. Kind of led into naming for video game characters following that, so while I’d originally gone with Callisto for this fellow, it didn’t feel right. Technically Thel doesn’t either, but he is an incredibly handsome reptilian so...

Thel was my first ‘difficult’ crestie, showing a fear of literally everything and bouncing around my room so intensely that the chase lives on in memory forever. I sat down with him while he was in his temporary bin a few times and just talked to him following this, moving at his pace, and one day he came out to see what the heck I was about. I soon gained a significant trust with him, where my hands were his comfortable place to be outside of his space. When he relaxed, dropping his body weight entirely into my hand and was fired down, it was a truly spectacular thing.

To this day he still needs to see my hands before I touch him or he is startled. It’s a good practice though, so it’s come with me for many of my cresties.

His fired down tones took my breath away. I may be an oddity, but it’s a weird idea that we look for these animals based on what they look like fired up, naming them after that even. Often, the paler, sometimes pastel colors of a fired down crested gecko really win my heart.

Older picture, but the greenish tones he has are beautiful.

Granted, he does fire up super dark, which is also spectacular.

Probably could have waited to get a better picture though, this light is putting off enough UVB that he’s fully fired now and woof. He is also loosely pawing at this thing of superworms and it’s kind of cute, but I’m not sure what the heck he’s doing.

...he’s rubbing his femoral pores on it. Okay. Weird flex, but okay.

When outside of his enclosure he lacks a certain confidence and is most comfortable in my hands still, but I try to get him to explore a little bit. This does make the crimes part a little odd though, but he’s been watching me like a hawk recently when I’m around his enclosure, waiting for me to open the door so he can decide if he’s going to break out or not. I do like that confidence.

Thel is unbelievably soft to the touch, he feels extremely delicate and light-weight for his size (and he is light, 36g at 8″ / 20.3cm), and is honestly just a pleasure to hold. And look at. And be around. He’s a good boy. A scared boy, but a good boy. He may or may not grow a little more since he’s about a year and a half at this point, but we’ll see.

Homosexuality isn’t uncommon in the animal kingdom, but there’s very little referencing it in lizards (whiptails and mourning geckos come to mind). I see that some geckos are also marked to have observable homosexual behaviors. So what I am about to outline with Thel is probably not too bizarre, just not studied enough.

Thel was the first gecko in my house to show off his hemipenes to me, but specifically in the context of me feeding him on the same plastic lid I’d just fed Io on. Io is a very smelly boy, so while I don’t detect his smell on his person, I know the other geckos certainly can. I have had Thel meet (again, don’t do this thing) with Eddie and Chally and he has expressed an entire lack of interest. It was particularly amusing when I was showing him Chally and he leaned in really far to get a smell...of the food in a cup behind her. Thel may have some homosexual behavior, he’s a bit young still and we’ll see how it develops over time.

He seems to have decided to adopt the mantra of Be Gay, Do Crimes. Honestly, let’s do it.

There could be more to it than that. Alduin expressed an interest in Thel’s smell in a very similar way as he does to a female. I also would have no idea about hermaphroditism in reptiles, although I recall a post on Facebook not too long ago where someone’s Definitely Male crestie had laid eggs. Could certainly just write it off as “there was a female in there at some point too,” but who knows? only the poster in question.

Thel is a truly excellent fellow that I love dearly, and he has been sitting on my back for the bulk of my writing this after I took him off the superworm cup. I am hunched over like a shrimp, it works, but now I must put him back and finish feeding everyone.

...After we decide what crimes we’re doing next.

#crested gecko #reptiblr #behavior

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