Well it took awhile but we finally found a home for the surviving 8 hens. Luckily its a family member here in town, so I can go visit them! I bawled like a baby when the truck backed out of the driveway though. But I know they are in a safer location and already laying eggs for their new family...
Well, after a week we are holding at 9 surviving hens. I can report that my green egg laying EE Cleo is still alive! In a case of mistaken identity, I got her mixed up with the Mahogany Buff , Maggie. 1 of the badly injured was an EE named Robin, she hung on till Thursday. The Buff with the...
So no antibiotics to be found, something about new laws have to get them from a vet? Our family vet doesnt deal with chickens, not that we could afford for him to anyway. Still waiting on animal control to contact us, not holding my breath. We've called several times about stray dogs and feral...
Thank you for writing this! How timely it is. After 3 predator attacks in the last three months, plus health problems with my hubby and me , plus financial concerns we have had to make this decision. Just can't do it anymore and its not fair to the surviving girls to be so cooped up all the...
Well we have checked on them this morning and everyone is still alive. The 3 worse ones are still in really bad shape. One EE is missing feathers from the top of the head to the tail. The Cuckoo Maran is missing feathers from the base of the neck to the tail. The one I’m worried about the most...
Unbelievable! We are a little numb right now. 2 months ago we had an attack on our baby coop, lost 6pullets and my gorgeous EE Roo. They were around 4 months old. We think it was a large cat, bobcats and Carolina panthers have been spotted in the area. We found a large paw print in the loose...
Thanks everybody! Checked on everybody this morning and so far so good.The Mahogany Buff is being chased by a couple of the older hens but I did see her eating from the big feeder and a couple of my younger hens seem to be guarding her while she eats. The 3 injured girls were moving very...
Tonight I am absolutely heartbroken! When I went out to collect eggs this morning I discovered feathers all over my yard and I first thought it was molting gone crazy. Then as I came up to the baby coop I saw a horrible sight! Apparently we had a predator last night, it dug under the fence...
Watching the girls free ranging yesterday afternoon I noticed Brahma Mama (smartest chicken I've ever owned) chasing the SLW back from the woods, yep she wandered off again. About an hour later I went back out and did a head count because I have 5 month olds experiencing their first free range...
Yep! My silvers and my golds did it! That's why I'm not getting more! I have one silver left and she's going to freezer camp ASAP. I lost the others to their own stupidity. They wandered off during free range time and never came home, easy pickings for the predators hanging out in the woods!
Well it's finally happened! After four years of raising spring chicks we finally have a roo! It's one of my 10 week old EE's. We've been hearing suspicious noises coming from the baby coop for a couple of weeks, and I had finally narrowed it down to two suspects. Well I finally saw him crowing...
Chicken math is taken over! In February I planned on getting a batch of 6 babies and left the feed store with 11. In my defense the store owner found out I was not a new chicken owner so she sent me home with 4 babies that had gotten cold during shipping and need some TLC, 2 of those didn't make...
This is the time I always wonder if I'm seeing things. My Welsummer babies are 3 weeks old and I'm amazed at how big they've gotten. Last night I was hanging out in their coop just observing and talking to them, letting them get used to me and my voice. I noticed that one Welsummer was lighter...
8/14 today, thats about average for the last couple of weeks. I sure my 3 Red Comets(3 yrs old) have quit laying, followed by strong suspicions of my 2 Cuckoo Marans and 2 Silver Wyandottes(2 yrs old). They are my first candidates for this years freezer camp! Depending on how many of my new...
That didn't take long! I put the baby ladder in the baby coop and checked on them 2 hours later and a Wellsummer had figured out how to perch on the top! Another milestone today, I put up the temporary wall in the run. It limits their access from the whole run to a small 5 foot section. It took...
I got new babies! This is the earliest I've ever had newbies, hopefully that means they'll be laying by early summer. I got 6 buffs, 3 Wellsummers, and 2 EE's. Ive had them about a week. Unfortunately the EEs didn't make it, but I was expecting that. I got them from Sals in Columbia and talking...