NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

I am not I am just wanting a silkie

I'm you can score some hatching eggs nearby, though I have no idea why anyone would want them. I call them Aliens.

In other news: I've been seeing a cat out back. Saw it twice so far. I don't mind as I have some mice to deal with.

Something has been "plowing up the yard. Not sure what it is but it seem larger than a vole. Maybe a chipmunk? I've set traps but to no avail. Not even touched.

I'm not sure if the ground hog has taken leave since I've stuff an old shirt in one hole and "marked" it regularly for a few days. Once I'm sure I'll cover that area in the front of the coop with hardware cloth to keep any other critters away. The ground hog hasn't created a major problem but I'm afraid of what it might bring in.

The heat has made watering a chore. I expect to get some grapes this year. IF the birds can be averted. Any suggestions on protecting my crop.

 

[casportpony]

Quote:
You might want to try some of these threads:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ne...&order=descending&Search=SEARCH&Search=SEARCH

-Kathy

 

[Chicken girl 15]

So today SUCKS!!!! I woke up at 4 am to my entire flock of 42 having a spaz . I sneak out in to the barn area and find nothing. No sign of intruder at all. Not even the dog's could find anything. I get everyone calmed down and I go back to bed. 3 hours later I go to open things up so everyone can go out and I couldn't find Mojo my crippled rooster. The poor guy was fine at 4 crowing and having a fit with everyone else. At 7 my sweet (slightly over protective) boy was cold on the roost. So how in 3 hours time with no injury and no "fowl" play (sorry pun intended) does my perfect breeding boy go from warm and alert to no heart beat???? I'm miffed !!!

 

[tao chick]

So today SUCKS!!!! I woke up at 4 am to my entire flock of 42 having a spaz . I sneak out in to the barn area and find nothing. No sign of intruder at all. Not even the dog's could find anything. I get everyone calmed down and I go back to bed. 3 hours later I go to open things up so everyone can go out and I couldn't find Mojo my crippled rooster. The poor guy was fine at 4 crowing and having a fit with everyone else. At 7 my sweet (slightly over protective) boy was cold on the roost. So how in 3 hours time with no injury and no "fowl" play (sorry pun intended) does my perfect breeding boy go from warm and alert to no heart beat???? I'm miffed !!!

Hugs to you. I am sad to read this. He was such a good boy. The only birds I've had die without signs of a problem were meat birds in hot conditions.

I miss living in the country on well water. I'm on village water and we're under a boil water advisory. They test frequently to warn us when certain levels get wonky. If levels of anything got wonky in the country you rarely knew about it. I don't want to buy water regularly, but I might consider it soon. I've read reports of badness with that too. Need rain.

 

[Gramma Chick]

So today SUCKS!!!! I woke up at 4 am to my entire flock of 42 having a spaz . I sneak out in to the barn area and find nothing. No sign of intruder at all. Not even the dog's could find anything. I get everyone calmed down and I go back to bed. 3 hours later I go to open things up so everyone can go out and I couldn't find Mojo my crippled rooster. The poor guy was fine at 4 crowing and having a fit with everyone else. At 7 my sweet (slightly over protective) boy was cold on the roost. So how in 3 hours time with no injury and no "fowl" play (sorry pun intended) does my perfect breeding boy go from warm and alert to no heart beat???? I'm miffed !!!

So Sorry ..how old was he ? was he 5- 8 months ? they sometimes die of heart failure at that age .
Maybe he had a heart attack ..and that is what everyone was squaking about ...

 

[tao chick]

So Sorry ..how old was he ? was he 5- 8 months ? they sometimes die of heart failure at that age .
Maybe he had a heart attack ..and that is what everyone was squaking about ...

He would be just over 1 year old.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Hugs to you. I am sad to read this. He was such a good boy. The only birds I've had die without signs of a problem were meat birds in hot conditions.

I miss living in the country on well water. I'm on village water and we're under a boil water advisory. They test frequently to warn us when certain levels get wonky. If levels of anything got wonky in the country you rarely knew about it. I don't want to buy water regularly, but I might consider it soon. I've read reports of badness with that too. Need rain.

of all the birds I have he was my favorite roo. He was never aggressive unless he needed to be. He was awesome about protecting Girlie from the teen boys who see her as an easy target. Well today the evil monsters move permanently to the big coop.

 

[DeansMill]

Ugh!!! My partridge rocks went broody in the beginning of June, she played musical nests for for days before finally settling down. I allowed her five eggs. A week later, she had nine. On hatch day, nothing happened. The next day I found her in the wrong nest, eggs cold. I moved her to a brooding pen and she settled back down on them. I tried to candle and pulled one empty one. A day later, she broke one. I did that water test and all eggs were viable (wiggling around in the water, so cool) I gave them all back. She smashed the one she had cracked and killed that chick. I buried the poor thing. She left them again overnight. I did that water test again and found only three wiggling, put those back and knew we had to be close, next day, smothered chick, still partially in shell, yolk absorbed... sigh, buried that one. She has two eggs now. Today she is out with the flock, not puffed up, not clucking... I took the cold eggs and water tested them. One wiggled and killed, the other floated sideways. They are both under my ample bosom right now... what do you all think?

 

[rancher hicks]

So today SUCKS!!!! I woke up at 4 am to my entire flock of 42 having a spaz . I sneak out in to the barn area and find nothing. No sign of intruder at all. Not even the dog's could find anything. I get everyone calmed down and I go back to bed. 3 hours later I go to open things up so everyone can go out and I couldn't find Mojo my crippled rooster. The poor guy was fine at 4 crowing and having a fit with everyone else. At 7 my sweet (slightly over protective) boy was cold on the roost. So how in 3 hours time with no injury and no "fowl" play (sorry pun intended) does my perfect breeding boy go from warm and alert to no heart beat???? I'm miffed !!!

I hate to repeat myself but stress kills. I can bring on underlying conditions. Some breeds of chickens are more hyper than others. When one goes off they all get spooked. I have been wakened by my wife at four because my EE rooster and that coop where going nuts. I calmed them down and went back to bed. He has done this before. One hen lays her egg, she squawks and he goes off. Your boy could have had a heart attack. I had a rooster fine and then twenty minutes later dead in the doorway to the coop.

Sometimes we just don't know.

I am sorry for your loss.

Ugh!!! My partridge rocks went broody in the beginning of June, she played musical nests for for days before finally settling down. I allowed her five eggs. A week later, she had nine. On hatch day, nothing happened. The next day I found her in the wrong nest, eggs cold. I moved her to a brooding pen and she settled back down on them. I tried to candle and pulled one empty one. A day later, she broke one. I did that water test and all eggs were viable (wiggling around in the water, so cool) I gave them all back. She smashed the one she had cracked and killed that chick. I buried the poor thing. She left them again overnight. I did that water test again and found only three wiggling, put those back and knew we had to be close, next day, smothered chick, still partially in shell, yolk absorbed... sigh, buried that one. She has two eggs now. Today she is out with the flock, not puffed up, not clucking... I took the cold eggs and water tested them. One wiggled and killed, the other floated sideways. They are both under my ample bosom right now... what do you all think?

The only solution is to quarantine her to a space all her own. I've had this situation happen more than I care to mention. Unless all the nests are full of broodies it can get crazy. I've had three hens broody in the same nest box. Make me nuts.

Other hens need to lay and egg and they'll go into the box while the broody hen is up and doing her business. She comes back and Shazzam!! there are more eggs in the nest.

Folks it's good to plan for brooding hens. Not easy to do but a must if you plan to hatch this way. I still have five hens on eggs. Hope they hatch a couple each. I did buy a couple of these and half hoops are a good thing for brooding hens.

SOME TIMES COUNTRY MAX OR TSC WILL HAVE THESE CLEARANCED AT THE END OF THE SEASON. I GOT MINE THAT WAY.

 

[tao chick]

of all the birds I have he was my favorite roo. He was never aggressive unless he needed to be. He was awesome about protecting Girlie from the teen boys who see her as an easy target. Well today the evil monsters move permanently to the big coop.

Hang in there. Unfortunately, the best roosters are often seen as targets. Chickens truly act on survival of the fittest and usually attack or seclude the weakest. That's why Mojo and Girlie were such a good pair. I hope you find another roo to take care of her.