Problem is, she’s not letting those attacks be instructive. The hawk will absolutely not go away as long as there are chickens. Why would it? She could probably make free ranging work if she changed how she did it, like making sure the chickens had plenty of places to go for cover. But if she’s...
My grandfather had a great coin collection. I have a box full of coins from every country I've traveled to, plus a bunch of bills from different Arabic countries that some man just handed me at the airport in Riyadh when I was 17. (I know, that's not sketchy at all.)
Welcome! Poor little things - that's terrible about them falling in the mouse glue traps. (Also a cruel way to dispatch mice.) Good of you to take over their care and I hope it goes well for you.
If that's its hunting range, I'd say it is certain to come back. It's just doing its predator thing, looking for dinner. So if you don't have the kind of land where they can easily take shelter, that could be a problem. As it happens, I was starting to read this thread and heard the screech of a...
Hawks and eagles here, too. And owls, which I've seen in the daytime. But again, loads of cover, with 32 acres of woods. I think it really is important to find the system that works best for your land, as you seem to have.
I have my chickens in a very secure open air coop/run at night and they free range during the day. They range pretty widely, often making the trek up to the house. Here they are visiting this morning.
They have lots of places to take cover and sometimes it is hard for me to spot them until I...
Another option for cover is to plant shrubs and perennials (preferably native so they are suited to your area) and plant them thickly. Then leave them be over the winter so that they continue to provide cover. It's a win-win-win - the pollinators will love it in the spring-fall, those same...
We have every one of those predators as well. I wonder if it depends on how much cover you have for them? I live in the woods and the little bit that isn’t wooded has a tangle of perennials. They are just so happy when they are out and about.
This is fascinating. I'm working toward developing a full-time free range flock and I was working on my own color vision. But I sent my color blind husband a photo of my coop hens in the woods and he couldn't see them at all! From all these photos, white and light gray seem to be the biggest...
Mine range in age from 17 to 23 weeks and two of the older girls have been laying now for almost 3 weeks. I feed them chick starter/grower and started giving them oyster shell and crushed egg shell on the side when I saw them starting to squat and their combs and wattles darkening. I plan to do...
Totally get that - I had six ordered from a hatchery in late May, then saw chicks at Rural King in April and impulsively bought four. Four weeks later, I went back and picked up four more chicks - all before the ones from McMurray ever arrived. I meant to end up with about 8 chickens and now I...