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  1. chad

    Old Rooster "Shooting Blanks?"

    I guess it's time for Spike to retire as Barnyard Boss and become "Rooster Emeritus." Thanks!
  2. chad

    Old Rooster "Shooting Blanks?"

    Good morning, all, haven't been on her in ages. We have a salmon Faverolle rooster, "Spike," whom we love. He's eight years old. In years past our hens have produced one or two batches of chicks a year. For the last couple of years, though, nothing. Our hens are nice, healthy Barred Rocks...
  3. chad

    "Bottle Chick"

    Thanks. She didn't make it. Her wounds were more extensive than I originally realized.
  4. chad

    "Bottle Chick"

    My wife found a newly-hatched chick on the coop floor, mother not really paying attention to her. (I say "her" because I hope we don't go through all this for a cockerel!) Susanna has her in a little shoe box "brooder," with a heat lamp. Chicky is showing a littlr more strength/energy than she...
  5. chad

    Dumb Question

    Been raising chickens for a number of years but don't really know the answer to this question: When a hen sits a clutch of eggs, are they apt to be all eggs she's laid, or eggs from other hens as well?
  6. chad

    What Was This?

    Had one of my Production Red hens go down a couple of days ago. Acted eggbound. We did everything we knew to do, putting her in a warm bath, lubricating her vent. Finally my wife put a finger up and couldn't feel an egg. I massaged her abdomen and couldn't feel an egg. But her vent kept...
  7. chad

    Busted Beak

    My rooster got hit by a car yesterday. He will recover, but a small portion of the tip of his beak got broken off. It doesn't seem to prevent him from eating. Does anyone know if it will grow back? I know it doesn't if it's de-beaked, but don't they use a hot tool to cauterize it with, to...
  8. chad

    Free Range and Nutrition

    What's these birds' destiny? Broilers? Layers? The corn will help them, but if you want these gals to lay eggs you'll probably want to supplement forage with an egg production feed, at least to some extent. If they're broilers, keep doing what you're doing and let us know how you go!
  9. chad

    Cornish Foraging

    Don't know if anybody else has had this experience, but this summer I've been trying to get my broiler chicks (Cornish X) to graze of grass, both to cut down on the feed bill and to get some fresh greens, bugs, etc. into them. I've been turning them out on grass every morning and "sowing" the...
  10. chad

    Good Grief - A Massacre!

    Quote: And who knows if it might not have been a predator party? Symbiotic relationships and all that. Thanks, all for the input!
  11. chad

    Good Grief - A Massacre!

    Quote: "It's the c-i-i-r-r-c-l-e of life...
  12. chad

    Good Grief - A Massacre!

    Woke up today to discover that 7 or our 12 layers were missing. I got home late last night and closed up the coop without checking. We found 3 carcasses, two of which were decapitated. What do you think might do this? We have had coyotes, but not for a couple of years since our LGD has been on...
  13. chad

    One of our new hens (4mos old) is gone!

    Sounds like a coyote or a fox. Definitely a predator.
  14. chad

    anyone Mainers?

    Pittston, Maine, here, but I''m not a "Mainer" and never will be. Always and forever a "Mainiac." Just out of curiosity, anybody in Maine who's interested, e-mail me at [email protected]. I'll put together a distribution list. It'd be great to work up a Maine chapter of BYC for maybe...
  15. chad

    COYOTE !

    What kind of community allows you to keep chickens but not discharge firearms to protect them? We have two Great Pyrenees dogs that live in our barn and attached paddock 24/7, year 'round. Though there are plenty of coyotes around where we are, we haven't even heard one close by since we put...
  16. chad

    My lazy Cornish X's

    Yeah, you look up "lazy" in the dictionary and there's a picture of a Cornish X right next to it. (Cf. "stupid.") FWIW, the last batch of Cornish I did, I fed them a game bird crumble instead of a broiler mix. They gained just as fast, and yet seemed to have a bit more ambition. It got so I'd...
  17. chad

    Rooster wranglin'

    To whom is he being aggressive? Another rooster? Hens? You probably know you can only have one rooster successfully in a barnyard. If it's the hens, is it aggression or mating behavior? (My wife complains that our rooster likes rough sex...) Roosters do a lot of posturing. If he starts to...
  18. chad

    Barn Cats?? -- It happened fast!

    We have no cats in our family, neither my wife nor I feel a need or desire for 'em around the place. We do have a number of feral cats around that a neighbor has irresponsibly allowed to be bred. We also have 6 dogs, two of which are Great Pyrenees who are in the barn and attached paddock...
  19. chad

    Beware of even the "Good Dog"!!

    He's a dog. A hunting dog, no less. He's not "bad." He's just doing what comes naturally. Correcting him will do no good, unless you catch him in the act, and even then maybe not. We who love animals would like all of ours to behave like in a Disney cartoon, sitting on the split rail fence all...
  20. chad

    Perhaps you'll appreciate this...

    Quote: That's the problem with strays: There is no home. Don't litter- spay and neuter. Yep. Then we wouldn't be faced with these unpleasant decisions. I have nothing against cats, but I do have to protect my chicken flocks.
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