Chelsea's Chickens

05/29/2026

It's PT test day! Woooo! 👐

05/27/2026

Locals - check in! Y'all ok? We had quite a storm last night!!
All of my growout and free rangers coops are flooded/damaged - but they are all ok!
Did some chicken tetris first thing this morning and everyone has been relocated or combined into a dry coop!
It may make my PT testing on Friday a little more challenging 🥴 - but not impossible!
Can Mother Nature can take a nap now please?

A TORNADO WARNING has been issued for the following counties (Wharton, Fort Bend, Austin) until May 27 1:45AM. Seek shelter immediately if you are included in this warning.

This is an automated post. Go to abc13.com/live?ex_cid=SND_KTRK_FBWX&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sndwx for the latest updates and check out 13 Alert Radar for your location at abc13.com/13alertradar?ex_cid=SND_KTRK_FBWX&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sndwx.

05/25/2026

👏👏👏👏 Mareks is a scary word, especially if you do not understand it!!!
And if you do not follow Dam Kids Ranch - please do - she not only has pretty chickens but shares a ton of very valuable science based knowledge for your flock 🥰

There's a virus in 85% of US backyard chicken flocks. For breeders, that number is more like 100%.

Most of the birds carrying it look completely fine. They eat, they lay, they do chicken things. The whole time, they're shedding into the air, into the dirt, onto your hands, onto every bird that comes onto your property.

It's called Marek's, and it is endemic in the US. If you have chickens, you probably have it in your coop.

Here's the part that trips people up: only 3-4% of exposed birds ever develop Marek's Disease, the clinical illness. The other 96% carry Marek's Virus their whole lives and never look sick. The virus and the disease are not the same thing, and having one doesn't mean you'll see the other. So most flock owners never see a clearly sick bird, conclude they don't have Marek's, and move on. That's not how it works.

What Marek's actually does, even in birds that never get "sick," is suppress the immune system. Symptoms may be infrequent and present like other things, such as wry neck or "failure to thrive." Your birds are running at a disadvantage their whole lives and you may never know it by looking at them.

For backyard pet flocks that might mean shorter lives and harder recoveries from other illness. For breeders it means every bird you sell, every bird you buy, every show you attend is an exposure event. The virus spreads through feather dander. It travels in a cardboard box. It comes in on the feet of passing crows. It lives in a coop long after an infected bird is gone. It is unavoidable, and if you have chickens long enough, you WILL have Marek's exposure.

There's no cure. It's a herpes virus, and once they have it, they have it for life. Vaccination reduces clinical disease but doesn't prevent infection or shedding. Once it's in your flock, it's there. Statistically, you should assume it is there, whether you see it or not.

I'm not telling you this to scare you. I'm telling you because when I figured it out, I wished someone had just said it plainly a LOT sooner.

More on what we do about it this week.

If you didn't know this, share it. Someone in your chicken groups needs to see it.

05/24/2026

At least someone is enjoying all this rain 😑

05/22/2026

⚠️ Warning: Cute - but graphic 🍆 🐥
Pm to claim - Needville-Fairchilds 77469

05/21/2026

These have been claimed BUT I have an identical dozen available now! PM to claim 🥰

05/20/2026

Available - Silkies - freshly hatched chicks!
3 Mottled showgirls left (2 chocolate, 1 black)
Porch pickup in Needville-Fairchilds 77469

05/20/2026

Available - Heritage Turkey Poults
Lots of color varieties - freshly hatched - straight run.
Porch pickup in Needville-Fairchilds. 77469
15 currently Available & still hatching!

05/20/2026

We needed rain - but not this much rain.......
I can already navigate the backyard by kayak and we have a whole week of it left to go! 🌂⛈️
If your current or impending weather looks like mine that means:
It is time to prepare for mosquito explosion (aka fowl pox), coccidia teaming everywhere, and respiratory infections! Get stocked up on your meds now!

05/18/2026

BIG NEWS! SHIPPING COMING SOON!
My PT testing is officially scheduled 🥳 which means shipping is coming soon!
Keep your eyes 👀 peeled for a special hatching egg tester shipping special! 🥰

P.S. this baby has the perfect set of bloomers! 👖