Calling all Penedesencas Owners/Breeders

[nukusjeff]

Hey, I started my incubator again but failed to engage the egg turner the first day. Is this an egg ender? Should I just start over? So far not seeing much interest by locals for newly hatched pps...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

First day is not a problem. However the next 15 are critical.

 

[karenerwin]

Just lost 1 of my 2 Black Penedesenca roosters to an attack last night. He was in a pen with 3 white leghorn hens & 1 Black Pene hen. Whatever attacked got 1 of the white leghorns & the roo.
No sign of forced entry so it was small enough to fit through field fence. This field fence does have some bigger openings higher up. The head & neck are gone on both birds as well as all internal organs. I am suspecting ferret/weasel as I saw one crossing the road a week or 2 ago. Any thoughts? I am going to post on the predators link & include pictures. Will also be beefing up the coop today so nothing can get inside the coop even if it gets inside the fence. The coop was open on half the front. I guess I had lulled myself into a false sense of security because the fence surrounds it on all sides including the top. Unfortunately, 2 of my birds had to pay for my stupidity.

I do have 15 Black Penedesenca eggs in the incubator on day 9.

 

[nukusjeff]

Sorry for the loss of your birds. It is always devastating for the kids when they see a pile of feathers where once sat their pet chicken.

 

[nukusjeff]

First day is not a problem. However the next 15 are critical.

Thank you very much. We are hoping for the best.

 

[nukusjeff]

Ok, a couple pics of our week old chicks.

Still say 3 pullets? Ones on left?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Just lost 1 of my 2 Black Penedesenca roosters to an attack last night. He was in a pen with 3 white leghorn hens & 1 Black Pene hen. Whatever attacked got 1 of the white leghorns & the roo.
No sign of forced entry so it was small enough to fit through field fence. This field fence does have some bigger openings higher up. The head & neck are gone on both birds as well as all internal organs. I am suspecting ferret/weasel as I saw one crossing the road a week or 2 ago. Any thoughts? I am going to post on the predators link & include pictures. Will also be beefing up the coop today so nothing can get inside the coop even if it gets inside the fence. The coop was open on half the front. I guess I had lulled myself into a false sense of security because the fence surrounds it on all sides including the top. Unfortunately, 2 of my birds had to pay for my stupidity.

I do have 15 Black Penedesenca eggs in the incubator on day 9.

I vote raccoon, possibly opossum. That's about what they'll eat.
Weasels rarely eat any of the prey. They'll lap blood from the wound. They also won't leave any birds alive. Unless an escaped pet, we don't have ferrets here. Members of the weasel family in MO include the least, long tailed, mink, otter, skunk, mink and badger.
Raccoons can squeeze into very small gaps and are among the best climbers. They are one of the few animals that can descend a tree head first. If they can climb a sheer wall, they can certainly climb a fence - no matter how high.

This one shows how incredibly strong they are and the tight space they can squeeze through (toward the end).

smart

Ok, a couple pics of our week old chicks.

Still say 3 pullets? Ones on left?

In this photo, the two on the right and the near one on the left are girls.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Wildman catches chicken eating coon

 

[Hangtown Farms]

In this photo, the two on the right and the near one on the left are girls.

I agree
looks that way to me too

 

[BlackBriars]

I just read this entire thread. A few days ago I decided to add a substantial number of thrifty, free ranging egg layers to my flock of Buckeyes. I wanted white and brown egg layers.

The terrain here is pretty wild and wooly with the only open grass area immediate being my yard. The rest is former farmland with 40 years or so of overgrowth. My chickens are protected from predators by my 2 dogs day and night and it really works well (crosses fingers).

I decided to order Anconas for the white egg layers and after a little searching stumbled across Penedesencas for the brown, while checking out Med breeds. They seemed a perfect fit. I had purchased from Cackle last year and had thought to give Privett a try this year so I gave them a call. They told me they had the wheaten variety available Jun 08 hatch. I ordered 50 pullets each of both the Ancona and Penedesencas for a June 10 delivery date. No cockerels as I don't intend to breed.

Then I started reading this thread from the very beginning with all its broken links and missing photos, following along as you guys chart the course of Penedesencas while shipping eggs, hatching chicks, fighting city governments and establishing the PenedesencaUSA website. You all must be congratulated for sharing your knowledge. I didn't expect to see the same players at the end of this thread. You can imagine my surprise and disappointment at the mention of Welp and Privett at the end. Even when ordering from a hatchery I hold a little hope that I may end up with some genetic winners. Now that small chance seems even more remote. I will be satisfied if the birds I get forage well, are predator savvy, are thrifty, vigorous and lay well.

Now i wait...