Recent content by Whisper

  1. Whisper

    chix hopping fence

    There's plenty of pages on wing clipping, just do a search. However, just a warning, if your birds are Leghorns or bantams or other "light" breeds, clipping their wings won't stop them from simply jumping up onto 4, 5, even 6' high fences.
  2. Whisper

    9 week bantam pullet - gold/black - what is she?

    Golden Sebright. I have one in my flock that's identical. We call her Vulture, lol.
  3. Whisper

    They flew the coop!

    Clip their feathers and see if that helps. It helped me a lot with my heavy breeds while they were jumpy. It has not helped AT ALL with my Leghorns and White Faced Black Spanish. The Leghorns can leap, from a standstill, the five feet to the top of the coop. So! We spent this afternoon running...
  4. Whisper

    Earliest Age to Integrade?

    Heh, thanks
  5. Whisper

    Earliest Age to Integrade?

    I forgot to add, also we have a couple bantam hens, which the babies are the same size as or bigger, so I don't think the adults see the size difference as important as the behavior. As long as the chicks are subordinate, the hens seem content to leave them be so far.
  6. Whisper

    Earliest Age to Integrade?

    I'm trying to integrate my 8 week old chicks, out of sheer necessity. We've been letting the adults and adolescents free range in the back yard at the same time for a couple weeks. Mostly they've avoided each other. There were a few pulled feathers and pecks. Nobody's gotten killed so far...
  7. Whisper

    Going to be SO glad when it's over

    Heh, I might try the broody thing, if any of my hens ever get "the urge." I have one tiny OEGB hen, I doubt she could cover three eggs, lol! We named her Dove because she looks exactly like a whitewinged dove, just a little lighter gray, and the same size. As far as drinks and vacations go...
  8. Whisper

    My Cayugas *New Pics 7/6*

    Aww, so jealous! They're so pretty! My Cayuga girl is loud, has zero green sheen, and thinks she's a chicken.
  9. Whisper

    Free range in the backyard

    I let mine out into the yard to hunt for bugs and graze, less now that we have the garden planted. BUT . . . someone let them out this afternoon unattended for an hour, and they managed to dig a 2 foot by 2 foot trench in the lawn to make themselves a suitable dust bathing spot. They're way more...
  10. Whisper

    Going to be SO glad when it's over

    This is my third batch of chicks in a year. The brooder, the heat lamps, the losses, the monitoring, their escapes, rehoming the roosters, I'm worn out . . . . I am going to be so happy when I have ALL grown chickens and I can just relax and let them lay eggs for a couple of years! I have 5...
  11. Whisper

    Do you guys name your chicks?

    My first two batches of chicks all had names, except for five packing peanuts that came with my second batch. This time around, only two of the 15 chicks have gotten names. Out of our four ducklings, the two that survived got names. Maybe that will change down the road, but there's simply too...
  12. Whisper

    Just a whine, lol, the perils of "straight run"

    Well, last fall we bought nine chicks and Ideal rounded them out with five "packing peanuts" which ate like greedy guts, grew into huge bullies, and became terrors before we rehomed them. I had the bright idea this time to buy some straight run bantams of a pretty breed, hopefully get...
  13. Whisper

    Ratsnake got one of my chicks

    I hate to kill a good snake, but even a ratsnake is something I don't want in my yard as a frequent visitor with my 12 month old and 3 year old around. They're just too little to tell the difference between a nice reddish ratsnake and, say, a copperhead. Unfortunately we live backed up to a huge...
  14. Whisper

    Ratsnake got one of my chicks

    Well we did two things today to try to help. The neighbor's house is abandoned and their yard was waist-high in weeds, so my oldest and hubby went over and mowed it all down. Ought to provide less habitat anyway! We also relocated the chick pen to the opposite side of the yard, just in case...
  15. Whisper

    Ratsnake got one of my chicks

    I came downstairs and glanced out the back window this afternoon, just in time to see a four foot long ratsnake exiting my chick and duckling playpen. It had a noticeable bulge that spelled "dead baby chicken" in its midsection. Since I knew it would be back for seconds and thirds and...
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