I do not know what kind she is. I met a man who sold his ranch and he was leaving and was going to leave her there, so he gave her to me. She is small and solid black. Is that a specific breed? The rancher called her a banty. She has been laying a light brown, kind of large egg a day, then...
I also think they have been eating *fire ants* of all things.
I had several fire ant mounds pop up recently since it has gotten warm, and one was in my garden. I do not like to use any type of ant killer because I am an organic gardener and have the chickens. These are those nasty fire ants...
Rebel is my new black banty rescue chicken.
She crows like a rooster in the morning, and then lays an egg during the day.
So we named her after Bowie's Rebel Rebel cause she is not sure if she's a boy or a girl.
Does anyone else have a crowing hen? Is that normal? (define normal haha)
I know how much they love bugs, and help with bug control. And their great eggs.
I have another confirmed reason why I love my chickens.
This weekend my daughter and I found our first scorpion of the season. We are in an area of Texas where we do see quite a few scorpions. We moved a brick and...
Hello everyone
Does anyone have an extra banty hen? I acquired a banty hen that was being left at a ranch, and she is so great I would like her to have a banty hen friend.
I have 5 silkies and they get along well with the banty. But they have different nesting habits and the banty is left to...
I am happy to report the feral tom I was worried about has respectfully stayed away.
I see him prowl through the field to this pocket of trees. He hunts there for something and must be getting what he wants.
I copied this re. predators:
Several birds killed; mauled but not eaten
Dog
Several birds killed; lots of small bites on body, bodies neatly piled, some heads eaten
Mink or Weasel
Several birds killed; heads and crops eaten
Raccoon
One or two birds killed; mauled, abdomen eaten
Opossum
One...
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I am in the hill country in Texas. I haven't seen many feral cats around here until this big guy started coming in from the ranch behind my house. I noticed him a few weeks ago, but he kept his distance and vanished into the woods. But today he was on the fenceline...just looking at my...
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I guess I do not know for sure. I am not really sure how I would know, except that it is a very large, wild, un-neutered male cat that lives in the woods in a pasture behind my house. I think it is very unlikely that he is a stray. He is wild, not just scared. My fence backs up to...
If you have seen a hawk, chances are that is what it was. Hawks killed all of my chickens one year during a drought. If food is scarce, like when it is cold or during a drought, they are ruthless.
I am thinking that the chicken feed that I throw in the yard is attracting mice and possibly rats from the field. That is probably what the cats are after.
And if there are mice attracting cats, the feed might also attract rattlesnakes that eat mice, too. My sister stepped on a rattlesnake...
A large feral tomcat was on the other side of the fence a few minutes ago eyeballing my chickens.
I went out there and told it to "scat", and it ran off into the pasture.
I have 5 large free range silkie hens.
I think I know the answer to this but will ask anyway:
Do cats kill chickens?