I have never seen an eagle here, would love to! We have lots of coyotes here, as well as foxes, bobcats, raccoons, possums, roaming dogs, several types of hawks, etc. We have been fortunate to have so far beaten the odds, but that could change at any time.
There used to be a huge pack of...
I get that, but free ranging is not why they fight. That freedom to run is one reason I think they might avoid real bloodshed, the expending of that extra energy. Of course, predators can get chickens even in a pen or inside a building.
As long as Nathaniel accepts the hierarchy and doesn't...
I have free ranged here for going on 21 years, every single group. Never a predator loss, not one. Free range is always a risk, but I believe they are much healthier for it, getting green forage, animal protein and natural wormers. Roosters will always compete in a group, even the bantams in the...
When Nathaniel sits on a little separate 2"x2" roost bar we call The Princess Bar (made for bantams) to avoid Angus and I come in to get eggs, as I pass him, I baby talk him and do a chest rub and he holds still for it. That really reminds me of Hector, who hated being picked up, but he loved a...
I'm glad that Bash and Tallulah had each other for company. It did them both good.
Today, Angus interrupted Nathaniel's stalking of me out on range. The group was about 25 ft away from me and Nathaniel left the group to come back to me, sidling closer and closer as he was picking up stuff off...
Iris, little blue Iris, is crowing. She's been crowing for two weeks, but i never caught who was doing it, only that it wasn't one of my roosters. I caught her in the act early this morning. Silly thing. Remember that old Irish saying? A whistling woman and a crowing hen are fit for neither God...
Update: Buried Tallulah a couple of hours ago. Poor Bash, alone again. Maddie was outside with Bash today for the first time, but she is very unstable on her legs still so I put her back in the hospital cage for the night. Her feathers are coming in very quickly so maybe she'll be better soon...
I have seen it in my hens several times, not often with roosters. When a head hen is dying, it seems the second in command will often watch over her and let her eat without being harassed. They will even deny themselves food sometimes and wait for the dying hen to eat. I saw that happen several...
Lisa, that is so sweet. My Belgian d'Anver males were like that, great with chicks. Even my Delaware, Isaac, tolerated being flogged and pecked in the face by his two week old son. Ladyhawk snatched him up before Isaac lost his patience, LOL.
Oh, yes, Bash and your BO guy would change anyone's mind about roosters. If people could only experience that like we have, they would never settle for anything less.
Thank you both. Bash went over to her and laid down beside her as she was slowly contorting with oxygen leaving her body; he's a guardian until the end. He knows what's happening. He won't be far behind her, unfortunately. Since Maddie is having a hard time with her molt, maybe she can continue...
Tallulah....We tried it all, always do. She was very important to me, of course, being one of only four. At least the others are thriving.
I believe she will be gone today, found her like a puddle in the floor, alive but barely, and put her under her heat lamp. She isn't coming out of it this...
Sebastian is certainly a gentle giant and I'm very glad he's decided that Tallulah is an okay pen-mate. Also, I am glad that you concur about what I can do at this point, Mary. You know me, always holding out hope for the ones I know deep down will likely not make it.
Yes, it really is! I'm glad that new relationship is working out. He treats her more like a friend than a young pullet. They eat out of the same bowl or pile of scratch all the time and he doesn't make a move.
I think so, too, Lisa. I hate not being able to fix this for her, but if there is anything I have learned over the past 20 years, some things are not fixable.
Bash is being really nice to her and she hangs around him when they're outside so both have company for now. I hate losing one of only...
It is odd, for sure. She is better than she was but isn't improving further. I can't imagine what she could have gotten hold of. I do think she had a bacterial infection, which likely resolved itself with the antibiotic course because of how much better she seemed afterward. But it's two steps...