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  1. Mark

    Starting over...

    We have been raising chickens here for 6 years, and they have always been free range. We have had as many as 16 chicken roaming around, but now they are all gone. I'm tired of losing chickens to predators. Losing a chicken is no fun. Back in May, a raccoon killed every chicken in the hen...
  2. Mark

    Free range chicken feeders

    When trying to feed our free-range chickens without feeding our dogs, the raccoons, the rats, the squirrels and opossums, I'm reminded of the old riddle about a man who has to get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of corn across a river. As it stands, we have a hen-house with a small enclosed pen...
  3. Mark

    Getting free-range peacock off the porch

    A peacock adopted us this fall. We have 7 to 10 free range chickens, so he is just one more bird on the hobby-farm. The dogs have gotten adjusted to it, just as they adjusted to the chickens. Several years ago, we had trouble with the chickens settling in on our porch to get out of the heat...
  4. Mark

    Wild peacock visiting us

    We live in the country and currently have 7 free-range chicken. Over the last month or two, a wild peacock has started visiting us. He is spending more time with us this week, but he may disappear again tomorrow. There was a woman raising peafowl up the road a few miles. She passed a way a...
  5. Mark

    The rooster must go!

    We have a 2 year old free-range rooster. It is pretty aggressive. I've read the instructions on rooster behavior modification (catch and hold will modify behavior). He and I have come to terms. It is still a bit stressful, since I never know when he will pick a fight, but I know what to do...
  6. Mark

    Wobbly 3 year old

    This morning, DW reported that one of our 3 year old hens looked wobbly while heading down to the coop last night. This morning, she didn't want to leave and stayed inside. We have not had any 'sick' chickens in the past 4 years since we started keeping them. Our chickens free range, so...
  7. Mark

    broody hen with eggs in a high horse feeder

    We have a broody hen with eggs in a high horse feeder. I think she is fairly safe there, but I don't see how this arrangement will work once the eggs hatch (if they do). It is starting to get cold at night. The next two months will be a tough one on chicks. The current plan is to wait and...
  8. Mark

    Missing without a trace, 4 in a week

    Over the last week, we have lost 4 of 16 chickens: 1 rooster and 3 hens. All were full grown. All free range. Each has vanished without a trace. One vanished within a 2 hour period between early dusk and 1 hour after dark. One night we thought we had lost two, but a hen (buttercup) emerged...
  9. Mark

    Raccoons can't jump

    Raccoons can't jump. Below is a link to a cat feeder based on this principle. http://www.thewildones.net/raccoons.htm I suspect there is a way to use this idea. Has anyone seen a hen house built with this in mind My hens have no trouble flying up to rails 4 feet off the ground. Mark
  10. Mark

    Broody for weeks but no eggs

    One of our chickens (Black Australorp or Jersey Giant, I can't tell) has been broody for at least 2 weeks. She sits in her nest all day, day after day. Other hens have done this (I assume this is 'going broody'), but they all sat on a lot of eggs. This hen never seems to lay an egg! She...
  11. Mark

    An egg with no shell

    We have 16 pullets that just turned 5 months old. Three of them started laying eggs last week. Another two seem to have started this weekend. Last night we got an egg with no shell. It seemed the membrane was strong enough to avoid a puncture, but there was nothing 'hard' about it. It was...
  12. Mark

    Removing cholesterol

    Any one know how 'egg beaters' removes cholesterol from eggs?
  13. Mark

    Bossy hen

    While watering some plants, I was surprised to see our 1.5 year old hen (Sophie) knock down one of our 5 month old hens. She proceeded to sort of lay on top of younger hen and looked like she was going for the throat. The younger hen was not low in the pecking order as I understood it, so...
  14. Mark

    No eggs

    I'll skip the setup story. It is too confusing. Anyway, one of our chickens has gotten 'broody' (I guess). We let our chickens free range. For the last month and a half, she has headed off into the bushes to lay eggs. About 3 weeks ago, we found her nest and about 15 eggs. We don't have...
  15. Mark

    Electric fence

    Hi, I've been looking into electric fence as a way to keep hens in the orchard. Our hens free range near the house, where there are plenty of dog and human smells to warn off the local raccoons. Down the hill, in the orchard, we have lost a two hens, though. Here is an interesting link by...
  16. Mark

    Separate nesting house?

    We have 17 hens, 16 two month old chicks and 1 year old hen. They roost in two chicken tractors and free range on the several acres we own. The year old hen used to lay eggs in a box in the roosting house, but she now shares the roosting house with 4 chicks and has been laying eggs under some...
  17. Mark

    Fun with oatmeal

    A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a post here that mentioned offering chicks wet oatmeal as a treat. For some reason, I hadn't connected the dots and offering our 4 week old chicks treats had not come to mind. I guess I'm a slow learner. So my grand daughter and I decided to see if the chicks...
  18. Mark

    A slow learner

    We have 7 week old chicks, 8 varieties. There are 2 of each variety, 16 chicks. Over the last week, they have all started roosting in the hen houses we have for them. 12 are in one house. We call them the rowdy bunch. The 4 un-rowdy, who got pecked a lot, stay in a second hen house with...
  19. Mark

    Multiple hen houses

    We have 16 chicks and 1 full grown hen. The hen currently lives in a tractor It isn't clear how many birds can sleep in the hen house, but my guess is 10. So, here is my question. Will all 17 birds (should all the chicks grow to full size) want to stay in one hen house, even if 2 hen...
  20. Mark

    Flight school?

    These chicks are 12 days old. I'm clucking to calm them down. They just go into this 'alert' mode. Unlike my clicking/clucking activities, when I change their water they get fairly agitated. Today, I noticed several flying 5 or 6 inches off the ground to 'get away'. Basically, they would...
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