Thinking of trying an experiment.

[bobbi-j]

Well, I finally found out where the attack happened - right around the outbuildings where they like to hang out. I found a couple of Barred Rock feathers (from my poor, pathetic looking hen that was on my list of birds to cull anyway), and a lot of downy feathers and a few actual feathers from my rooster. So, my guess is something grabbed the hen and he tried to protect her. Darn! I mean, I'd have felt sorry for the hen, too, but she's going to get culled anyway... No sign of a carcass, though, so it was either the dog and he hid it (still can't rule that out), or maybe it was a hawk that killed during the day and something else carried it off. I suppose it could have been a land predator that's not the dog. I'll likely never know.

 

[aart]

Could have been the dog, or anything, then something else took it the tree where hubby saw it to finish it off.

 

[bobbi-j]

Could have been the dog, or anything, then something else took it the tree where hubby saw it to finish it off.

Yes, it could've been the dog or anything. The one in the tree wasn't this fresh - sorry - got my dead chickens all mixed into one. The tree one was older than this. I'm not going to lose sleep over it. As I mentioned before, we have so many possible predators, without seeing what it was, there is no way to know. I'm not losing them on a regular enough basis to warrant putting up the game cam. Even if I did, where would I put it? They free range and cover a lot of ground. It is what it is. At least I can keep my EE mix cockerel this way! Maybe I'll get another green egg layer!

 

[bobbi-j]

In preparation for tomorrow's expected blizzard, (62* and sunny yesterday, possible 8-12" of snow and 25-50 mph winds tomorrow...)I will be splitting the flock tonight as I don't think my (roughly) 16x8' setup is quite big enough for 23-24 chickens for the winter. My two Roos will have 1 each of the following pullets: buff rock, light brahma, orange meat-type, white something or other, barred rock, and dark Cornish. The ones I have one of are: black australorp, generic red, penciled rock. I also have 6 of the older girls who will be divided up. Two barred rocks, one grey/blue EE (my only green egg layer and broody) one red one, and a couple of mixed breeds. EE and two mixes will stay in current coop with EE mix cockerel because they all roost way up in the rafters. I think the black australorp and penciled rock will go with the white giant cockerel.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[aart]

Oh Frickin' ICK!!!!
We have some rain/snow forecast Fri and Sat...no inches tho.....temps are going to plummet tho, was 70 today!
Scrambling to get the last of the 4 yards of wood chips out of the trailer and into the run by tomorrow noon.


I am pushing my 6x16 coop this winter with 21....ready to slaughter a few if things get hairy.
Was glad to see them all harmoniously lounging and dust bathing in the 4x8 under-run this afternoon.

 

[bobbi-j]

Oh Frickin' ICK!!!!
We have some rain/snow forecast Fri and Sat...no inches tho.....temps are going to plummet tho, was 70 today!
Scrambling to get the last of the 4 yards of wood chips out of the trailer and into the run by tomorrow noon.


I am pushing my 6x16 coop this winter with 21....ready to slaughter a few if things get hairy.
Was glad to see them all harmoniously lounging and dust bathing in the 4x8 under-run this afternoon.

Oh, Aart, your first words made me laugh! I'm kinda feeling the same way. Just saw the radar and we're right smack dab in the middle of the blizzard warning. I have ambulance training tonight, but DH isn't comfortable with me going in since it's supposed to start raining by then... I will have to wait until it's time to leave before I make up my mind. I'll probably stay home, though, if it makes him feel better.

I had planned on slaughtering all but one of my older girls. Don't know when that's going to happen yet. They may get to freeload for awhile - maybe all winter. The one I'm keeping is my green-egg laying broody. Hoping to get more green egg layers if I keep her with the EE cross cockerel.

 

[bobbi-j]

While moving chickens tonight, I discovered another chicken with a wound. One of my meat-type pullets has an open sore (not deep, but missing a chunk of skin) on her side, under her wing. She's also missing some of the feathers on her back. Now that they're in smaller groups I don't feel so bad about cooping them up for a while. They won't be too crowded this way.

 

[Mrs. K]

Check your roosters' spurs. I had a wound like that once, and I was pretty sure it came from a rooster.

I need to go down at night this week-end, and take some spurs off of old Chrome.

mrs K

 

[bobbi-j]

I'll check. The only one breeding (that I've seen) would be my White Giant - hatched in March. Would his spurs be that big already? I'll have to admit - I kind of hope that's the case. I was thinking maybe another critter attack.

 

[bobbi-j]

Ventured out to the coops today. Not surprisingly, no one is out playing in the snow. The ones that got moved were scratching around in the fresh straw, and one of them had already found the nest and laid an egg. I was kind of amused in the other coop. All the hens and pullets were either scratching around, or on the roosts, seeming fairly content. Then I looked up. There was my poor cockerel, perched on a rafter. Can't blame the poor guy, I guess. He's the youngest bird in the coop, and three of the hens in there are the older ones. One of them being particularly cranky. He's 5 months old, so it's possible he's not reached maturity yet. That's fine, as long as he figures out that breeding thing by spring...