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Right - we have two roosters and both are far more wary of me (and respectful of my personal space!) than this little hen.

Hi all, So this feels like a new one, for me anyway. I have a mixed age group of mainly ~5 month old hens/roosters. I've raised Welsummers before and have them found them to be inquisitive, flighty, and sometimes rather nervous. I have two Welsummer hens in this group. One of them has been...

Hm, actually, I don't know for sure that it wasn't a young male. From a cursory internet search and the pictures I took, I THINK it was a female (based on the color of the head and the chest feathers) but really, I'm no expert. I don't know of anybody in my area who raises turkeys but could...

I imagine that when you're a game warden, reports of Yetis and chupacabras and extinct species get tiring, and you don't want your local population getting in a fuss about mountain lions, especially if one is just wandering through. But, denying that one popped up on a trail cam just seems strange.

It's been an interesting morning in my backyard. I heard a commotion and looked out and saw an eastern turkey hen strutting around and trying to inspect my flock. The chickens reacted as I'd have expected - the hens gathered up behind a large bush and took up the warning call, and the rooster...

I was just listening to the Meateater podcast from a few months back about mountain lions. Sightings have apparently been up all across the midwest. I for sure believe when game wardens say there aren't any stable or reproducing populations that far east, but there certainly do seem to be the...

Well, that does seem a bit harsh on the roosters. If there's anything I've learned from this thread it's that despite my best efforts it's hard not to anthropomorphize these birds. Chicken sex is definitely not romantic to look at, but I think some of the problems I don't have (especially...

Ha! That, too, is good insight.

No. Because my inner dialogue doesn’t cause any harm to my flock, which really would be the only reason to be sarcastic or dismissive of a new flockster just sharing thoughts and getting info.

Wow! I think I’ve learned as much about BYC members as I have about roosters from this post! You’d think I was hitting my rooster or starving my flock of basic needs by the level of condescension! I didn’t try to get a rooster because I knew it was out of my league as a beginner. And of course...

Doesn’t sound harsh at all!

Hi all, I've posted a few times about my back and forth thinking regarding keeping a rooster that showed up in our first order of sexed chicks. We ended up with four hens and a RIR rooster. There were a lot of up and down moments, but in the end our observation seemed to be that our little...

Well again, spent grain isn't fermented. It's removed from the wort well before the brewing yeast is added.

I posted a question regarding using spent grains from homebrewing to supplement feed a little while back. Most agreed at the time that it was "harmless" since it was stripped of nutrients, so I appreciate this insight into the fact that it's actually got to be pretty beneficial. I'm a small time...

For what it's worth, the dog munching the poo was the major catalyst for wanting to clean this up. It's pretty unpleasant to see and to smell. So starting to spray them has resulted in less coprophagy from the dog as well!

Hi all, I wanted to follow up on this thread in case it helps anybody in the future with the same decision. At this point, Courtney Love is alive and thriving. I can't say for sure that things won't change (he is now going on 7 months and I've been suspiciously watching his spurs come in)...

Hey all, for what it's worth, I've been keeping a gentle plant sprayer/mister near the back door. Anytime I walk by and see the chickens have set up shop again on the doormat, I give them a little spray and they take a hike. It's far from fool proof but they definitely are spending less time...

Hey all, Over the past several months I've really loved watching our little free-range flock of four hens and a rooster explore our property. There's a great combination of forest, pasture, and and shrubby spots, and plenty of cover all over. There's just one problem. Despite having 3.5 acres...

Hi all, I just walked out to check on my chickens in their snowed in coop and was surprised and upset to find that one appears to have pretty advanced frostbite on her comb. We've had a lot of sudden snow and though I thought their coop was free of drafts I may have been wrong. It's also been...

Thanks all! From the sound of it, since I want healthy birds in as natural a state as I can provide, I should just let nature do its thing and look forward to the spring.