I lost 4 hens this spring to a goss hawk! Small puff of feathers left behind and no blood or parts. No tracks either. We saw the hawk a few times around the coop. They will take their pray and stick them up in a tree to eat later!
I have been noticing my hens spitting up clear liquid when on their roosts at night. They will shake their heads and clear liquid/water comes out of their beaks. I only notice this at night, It started about 3 weeks ago. I had one hen doing it occasionally and now many of them are doing it...
I raised my first batch of 50 meat birds last spring/summer. I got them at .95/bird, used 1 bag of chick starter @$7.03, then 14 bags (50lb) of broiler crumble @ $13.53/bag. I used 7 bales of shavings and raised my roosters until 7 weeks and the hens until 8 weeks.
50 birds=$47.50
1 bag...
I have newbies in the coop. They were in the coop for a while, got beat up so I nursed them back to health in my basement. Now I have put them back out in the coop and the frizzle is mainly getting pecked at. I recently got rid of my rooster since he was breaking feathers on my ladies backs...
I love this coop! I will be raising meat chickens again this spring and hopefully a few turkeys too. I was looking for something inexpensive and easy to move to house them, and also to be able to move them around so they can do a little foraging and to eliminate the need for bedding! I think...