I had a similar situation. Neighbors 3 dogs kept coming on our property. I made a few complaints and not much happened. One day they came on to property, and into our fenced orchard and killed a few hens. We got restitution and the owner was required by the city to either fully fence her yard or...
Heads ripped off usually equals racoon or weasel. Both are very crafty creatures. A weasel can find a hole where you think there isn't one. I would be shocked if the rooster was yanking the heads off your hens.
Have you offered her eggs and introduced her to the birds? Just a thought. The tasty gorgeous eggs may quiet her a bit. If that doesn't work just tell her that you chatted with the rest of the neighbors and they all agree that her constant complaining is more annoying than a few singing chickens.
Some roosters are people aggressive and some are not. No amount of "training" will change this fact. If you use him for breeding or give him away, that will just perpetuate the human aggressive rooster - his offspring will likely be aggressive too. We had a mean rooster and our experience was...
I would suggest getting eggs from another source that you know to be fertile and incubating them at the same time as your eggs and see if you get different results. I usually do not incubate, I have broody hens for that, they are much better at hatching eggs than I am. Also I was not aware that...
Fertilized eggs need to be kept at ambient temp. If you think about what a broody hen will do. . . she will lay eggs regularly for up to a month or so and they will sit in the nest at room temp. After she is satisfied with her clutch her hormones will kick in and she will become broody. So the...
I should have said grass, and all the bugs and microbes they find in it. Free ranging in the spring will give them more nutrients then when the grass/ground starts to dry up in the summer.
We've had many a rooster. Some are aggressive to humans and some are not in the least. Not sure why they go one way or the other. But a rooster that is aggressive to humans is a danger and a liability especially if kids are around. You will hear people say it is because of this or that, to try...
Welcome to the world of keeping chickens. Even if you end up with all hens of a breed you are happy with it will be only a couple of years before you find your self faced with this decision again.
Chickens are really only good layers for three years or so. Depending on the hen/breed. After...
Good work!
We've moved two buildings. A 12X12 coop that was 10' high at the peek. We removed roof and then cut the coop in half. Loaded each half separately onto a trailer. Made a few adjustments and reassembled the four pieces in about half a day.
The other building was a 10'X20' shed, with...
$600 is a good price for that structure, but I think that it is way too nice for chickens! Put it in your back yard and rent it out as an Air B&B. lol. Is that thing on wheels? Cool. You can make a chicken coop out of almost anything, chickens don't care too much. I would look for a less...
We have three coops: Big Coop (12'X12' walk-in). And two smaller mobile coops for when the chickens are out on pasture in the nicer weather.
In the Big Coop we use deep mulch bedding. Wood chips, wood chips and more wood chips to the rescue. Coop is covered, and dry but not too dry, you want...
Wow! I must be super cheap. I paid less than that for my car! I guess if your chicken coop is in your yard and you are trying to have it match the look of the house it makes more sense. Yes lumber and labor are expensive and $2,000 is probably a fair price.
But honestly chickens don't care nor...