It really varies. My current roo likes to have a buddy to help him watch the flock if I get more than about 8 hens (I am at that brink right now). Last year I let him keep a banty roo to help him with guard duties and it made him much happier (I had around 14 hens). With fewer birds this year...
I agree that not all roosters will protect and they can't protect against what they can't see, though I have had one try (young roo got between a coon and the girls but there was probably enough light from nearby houses for him to see). I also think you need the right breed. I have pretty well...
I think every bird is going to be different, so far I have had a number of banty roos and I don't think any of them were nice at all. I have had a few others who were okay, but my favorites by far have been two RIR boys. One was killed pretty young by a coon (sad, but it saved all the hens)...
It is not unusual that it takes them a little while to start laying regularly, give them a few weeks and they should sort themselves out. I do know that mine are not laying well right now due to stress from fireworks (drives me crazy every year). Hopefully they will start laying good for you soon.
I was going to say Brown Leghorn... she is not a RIR, as you said red earlobes, the shape is all wrong, etc for a Rhode Island Red (not to mention the color). I only had one brown leghorn, so I am not 100%, but that would be my guess.
I spent 8 months battling a group of foxes. I finally got the two that broke into the pen a few weeks ago. We couldn't trap them for anything and they would seriously play games with us and the dogs. They aren't afraid of people in the least (a neighbor fed them until recently, he stopped and...
I think it depends on the TSC. The one in town won't bend the rules for anyone, ever. The smaller one that is closer to me let me get smaller amounts last year. They know I have birds at home, they actually begged me to take one duck last year (she was the last duckling and they didn't want a...
I have been using the deer netting too. I have a dog kennel panels up to 6ft, and then I have a further 6ft of deer netting above that. I do have to replace/repair mine every once in a while when big branches fall on it. I just strung it over a top wire and loosely zip tied the bottom to the...
Tilly, our 9 year old collie, will sit and watch the chickens for hours. She chases off anything that shouldn't be there, including wild birds. She has treed a few coons, and chased one down and brought it to me once (I would never have sent her after one, but I thought she was after a rabbit...
Our TSCs get theirs from Ideal. They usually have a straight run assorted bin, a bantam bin, a CX bin, and a pullet bin. Oh and the ducks, last year one store had pekins and the other had runners (I took home the last pekin for one store and got two runners from the other). I also got some...
I think I have heard, and this makes sense to me but may not be true, that the red bulbs give off heat but don't effect laying (red light doesn't effect sleep either I don't think). The white bulbs heat as well as provide added light, and will therefore keep hens laying through the winter, my...
As has been stated, pick your bamboo carefully. We inherited bamboo with this property and we can't keep it cut down fast enough, and years after you have cleared an area sprouts will still come up from time to time. I love the look of it though and all the animals like to hang out in it.
Eh, I am fine with the birds getting whatever meat they want. I haven't ever picked up road kill for them, but they have gotten a rabbit/squirrel that the collie caught. I see no problem with it as long as whatever it was is fresh, mine will tear apart a turkey carcass like crazy (and while...
My standard roo is certainly the boss, the banty has never even tried anything with him. They get along very well, I would say so long as there isn't any fighting and the hens aren't being pestered to much (problem I had with my drake until his duck hens grew up) you should be okay. Just keep...
I think my roosters are great, and while I have a few people who won't even take eggs from because they are fertilized (I laugh because the ones from the store I cracked a few days ago were fertilized as well), the boys keep the girls safe. I have been fighting a few foxes for months now and...
They're house dogs, so they are only "farm dogs" for a few hours a day.
The Collie actually herds them on occasion, she certainly stays right with them.
My Newf pup and her ducklings. She and the ducks are a lot bigger now, and she is still fascinated by them.
I have been surprised that...
He sounds a lot like my RIR roo personality wise. He is nearly 2 and still just as sweet as when he was a chick. He has gotten attitude with me two times, and both times I had one of his hens and they started screaming, even then he just gives me an evil eye (Banty roo on the other hand is a...
Having a similar issue here, only we haven't had any illness or new birds. I have just assumed our bad year for eggs is due to nature. We had a late end to winter, then the flood that came through the area back in May. They stopped laying for a few weeks during the cleanup, my run and coop...
I had a pair of RIR brothers that were inseparable like that. And just as you said they did everything together. I think they are fine until they pick a favorite, at which point you end up with a bare backed bird. You could try a saddle if you have one hen getting more attention. My two boys...