Recent content by currycat

  1. currycat

    Just how useful is a rooster anyway?

    Sometimes you need to try a couple before you get a good one. Ours is like yours except for the mean streak, any like that go to the auction, we will not keep a mean roo. We also have flying predators that the hens never watch for, he does and does a good job.
  2. currycat

    Just how useful is a rooster anyway?

    I would guess you don't have flying predators where you live. We will not be without a rooster, if ours dies or is killed we immediately post we need a roo. Two fought to the death, one with a neighbors gd hunting dog that got out and one with a coyote. We free range during the day and the hens...
  3. currycat

    Lifespan of hens

    There has been some standouts over the years, high personalities. I got a Salmon Favorolle chic and immediately named her Annie Lenox. She was so loud, itty bitty with this huge voice and she never shut up. Loved all our roo's but one and he went to the auction, will not abide a mean roo. Right...
  4. currycat

    Lifespan of hens

  5. currycat

    Lifespan of hens

    We've got a Speckled Sussex and 2 Buckeyes that are 8 yrs. old, a Partridge Rock and a black Australorp that are 7 yrs. old. They were all still laying til the weather changed. We let them be natural, no lights or anything to try and get them to lay more. My Buf Orp. was still laying at 7 1/2...
  6. currycat

    Comment by 'currycat' in article 'Old Chickens: Giving Them Comfortable Last Days'

    We use a lrg. wire dog cage also. Once the younger hens or roo realize ones sick they make it's life hell. We had a roo on his last leg so to speak, was having trouble getting around, the last wk. or two my husband would carry him out into the sun every day for awhile. It's sad when you don't...
  7. currycat

    Whats the best chickens for eggs?

    Our buf orp Wilma Rudolf ( has always loved to run ) is 6 yrs. old and still gives us eggs, she's our oldest hen. Lacey our wyandotte is 5 and is still a good layer, but we don't keep a light on in the winter mo. nor do we heat the coop. We let them lay on their time schedule not ours and give...
  8. currycat

    How long do chickens live?

    My Wilma Rudolf ( has loved to run since a peep ) a Buff Orp. is almost 6 yrs. old and still loves to run and in the warm months gives 2 or 3 eggs a week. She's the only one left out of my original batch of peeps though. We're rural and they free range, a neighbors dog got out and got 3 before...
  9. currycat

    How Can I Get A Hen UN Broody?

    For us it's not because of loss of eggs. We have 9 hens and a roo. We don't want to stress the roo with too many hens to take care of, and unless they are molting it's plenty of eggs for us. Last year we let one hatch 4 eggs, we got 3 roo's and a hen, we kept 1 roo and the hen and took the 2...
  10. currycat

    How Can I Get A Hen UN Broody?

    We had a stubborn one and finally my husband just kept checking for eggs every time we heard the egg song and taking them, really PO'd her, had to use heavy gloves. After about a week she gave up, left the coop like nothing had ever happened. Has not tried to brood again.
  11. currycat

    Combining two groups of chickens - I can't take the stress!!!

    If you have very aggressive roo's there are some really good posts on here about how to deal with them. You should not let them be aggressive with you, that could be dangerous.
  12. currycat

    Combining two groups of chickens - I can't take the stress!!!

    Not everyone. We love having a roo, they are SO protective. We're on a hill above the Columbia River and have eagles, hawks, vultures and herons that hunt allover this area. Our roo calls all the hens and gets them under something if he sees any of them flying over, it's funny though when he...
  13. currycat

    She thinks she's safe.

    Moving the planter is not possible, it's 3'6" tall and looks 2' wide by 3' long. With the soils and shrubs and all the wood I'm sure it weighs hundreds of pounds. I took her out of the planter 3 evenings in a row, and boy did she complain, really told me off, but I guess she's given up on the...
  14. currycat

    How Many Eggs Did You Get Today?

    6 hens, 6 eggs today. Some really dark gray days we only get 3 or 4 though.
  15. currycat

    She thinks she's safe.

    I put a phony egg in a nesting box in the hen house, she has not sat on it. Fencing in the planter is not an option, if for no other reason than it rains here a lot. We got 10 in. last June, it's a rare day that it doesn't get wet at least once, yesterday everything was covered in ice in the am...
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