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  1. SamLockwood

    Do pecking order fights normally include shaking the other chicken?

    It's a bit excessive, but maybe not out of line if they're still strangers to each other. How long of an "isolation period" did you have? How much roosting space is there? The most squabbling I have even in my established flock is over roosting space, and sometimes those conflicts get ugly. I'd...
  2. SamLockwood

    Bobcat has made it personal

    Good luck, bobcats are extremely intelligent and they're insanely agile. They can climb a tree faster than you can run on level ground. They're also incredibly brazen. I had one take a hen not more than 30' away from me while I was on watch with a shotgun (my thinking was I would bait it and...
  3. SamLockwood

    Swapping current rooster for 2 new mature roosters in a flock

    In my experience it's best to let them have a look at each other for a couple weeks without being able to physically interact. My setup involves an outdoor brooder with a built-in mini run. I let the newcomers and the established birds look at each other as the adults free range. When the...
  4. SamLockwood

    Invading Neighbors Garden

    I had a similar problem on my 16 acres with my mixed flock of chickens and guineas. They'd wander into neighboring properties or try to get into the nearby public road. I ended up fencing in about 5 acres to keep them contained and keep ground predators out. 5' high 2x4 wire fence on T posts is...
  5. SamLockwood

    Roosting for winter with a mixed flock

    I'm also on North Georgia. About half of my flock likes to roost "outside" in the run, which was always fully enclosed (2x4 frame with 1/2" hardware cloth). I ended up adding a corrugated polycarbonate roof and a piece of corrugated plastic on one side to act as a wind break for the roosts. The...
  6. SamLockwood

    Botched Chicken Introduction - what now?

    From the pictures that coop looks way too small. The outfits that sell those pre-fab coops tend to grossly over estimate how many full-size chickens they can hold. The general rule of thumb is 2 square feet of coop per chicken and one linear foot of roosting bar each.
  7. SamLockwood

    Rooster doing a weird crouch thing making a screechy sound when I approach him.

    If He.might be going out of his way to show submission to you. If so, this is a good thing if he's the alpha rooster because.it let's the other roosters know that he thinks you're the boss. In a healthy flock, a lot of the pecking order rituals are performative: the leader pretends to be scary...
  8. SamLockwood

    Roofed roosting bar at night and that's it...anyone with experience?

    I got them through Amazon, they're fairly generic make: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NQ4L1SB?ref=fed_asin_title&th=1 Plus if you use corrugated polycarbonate for the roofs they'll let enough light through you can put the lights under the roof and they'll still recharge. It's how I did the roofs...
  9. SamLockwood

    Roofed roosting bar at night and that's it...anyone with experience?

    The first potential problem I see is if you get severe weather any shelter light enough to move around is going to be light enough to get knocked down by the wind. So think about some way to secure the shelters in event of severe weather. The second problem is that anything in the weasel family...
  10. SamLockwood

    Olive Egger egg possibilities

    My understanding is if they're first generation olive eggers, you could get brown, blue, or green eggs depending on the exact genetics of the parents. If you want the really dark olive layers you've got to breed a second-generation olive egger. I think the combination is a green-laying hen with...
  11. SamLockwood

    How to train your chickens…

    When I give my flock bird seed, I always use the same containers (these white plastic mini-pitcher). If I old them up and shake them a little so they can here the bird-seed rattling around they go nuts and will follow me anywhere. Any time I need to gather them together in one place that's what...
  12. SamLockwood

    Can chickens be trained to stay in yard?

    It takes some time and patience but they're quite trainable. A good rooster actually takes over chick-rearing after their mothers are finished with them. I've seen mine do "predator drills" by making his alert sounds and then chasing them to hiding places. They also have places they prefer the...
  13. SamLockwood

    Precocious cockerel.

    I'm going through that right now. I've got two groups of new arrivals, one batch that hatched late May and another that hatched in June. The May chickens have two cockerels, and one of them has been acting very roosterly for the last three weeks: not only trying to mount hens but he's actively...
  14. SamLockwood

    Last Guinea

    Guineas period can be dangerous with chickens depending on the dynamics of your flock and how much space they have. In my free-range flock the male guineas are only really dangerous to each other and any bird of prey foolish enough to try to land in their yard. The guinea-hens tend to be the...
  15. SamLockwood

    OverEZ coop update: nesting boxes leaking--ugh

    I'm glad when I built my coops I put the nesting box doors on the sides instead of the top. My main worry was the birds freaking out from the sudden movement above them, but I can see where water leakage would be a problem with that design, too.
  16. SamLockwood

    Why can't brooder plate be used on floor?

    It seems an odd prohibition, but I'm betting there was some weird lawsuit that was the source of that instruction. That being said, I tend to like my brooders off the floor anyway. My current setup is on a cart, which allows me to easily access it from any angle and move it into storage when...
  17. SamLockwood

    Roosters

    It's possible, depending on the personalities of the roosters and how much space you have. The "sorting out" phase can get messy, depending on how stubborn one or both of your boys are.
  18. SamLockwood

    Rooster breaking up fight between hens?

    Good roosters are the peacemakers of the flock. If you introduce new birds to your flock, a good rooster will act like an ambassador to the newcomers. It sounds like your roo has good instincts.
  19. SamLockwood

    What does this chicken want?

    Some of them are just more vocal than others. Some are "drama queens" that will carry on at the slightest provocation. If you're worried about your neighbors, either move your set up as far as possible away from them or try bribing them with some fresh eggs.
  20. SamLockwood

    Normal teenage cockerel behavior or is he an ahole in the making?

    First, you really shouldn't be letting small children out with chickens. Second, when you're integrating new birds there are bound to be some conflicts that will include some fighting. I've even had hens raise hackles at each other and fight. Pecking on and of itself isn't necessarily a...
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