Our plan was to candle on Friday and remove any that aren't growing, then have her sit on the rest until the end. We had a hen sitting on 12 and 1 broke and one got pushed out. Then of those 10, 8 had embryos which she hatched all 8.
Our other hen did fine in one, but we put up a barrier fence that they could all still see each other but not actually get to each other through it. We loved her and the chicks when they were about 4 or 5 days old and that worked well. I was just wondering if it was better to move her now since...
Hello all,
We have a broody girl, she's been on 16 eggs for a week now. Every once in a while we find the others eggs under her that she scoops out after they lay to add to her clutch. She is in a nesting box in the main coop with everyone else (3 nesting boxes and currently 3 other laying...
I called this morning and they will not let you dispose of the bird yourself, you must pay the disposal fee. My husband doesn't want to pay for it and says if we have another hen die like that then we would get it done. Is this reasonable or should I just cough up the $25 and have it done?
Hello,
I had 5 hens 2 years an maybe 3 months old. They were free ranging all the time until about 3 or 4 weeks ago we had an attack by a redox that took out a mama and 5 of her chicks (I posted about that at that time). So now we have the 5 remaining hens and 2 chicks that are 2 months old...
Oh wow! That was a hungry owl I guess.
Painful reminders of Mother Nature and the food chain. My 3.5 year old has learned quite a bit about predators and prey that a week ago she had no idea existed.
Do you just keep revamping your coop? Have they destroyed it in the process?
So sorry to see about your loss of 33 chickens. That is just crazy and so devastating.
My husband just looked up our local laws and it appears that if "wildlife" is entering our yard and taking out our livestock we have the right to defend and destroy. So that's good to know.
Can they lift...
Thanks for all the tips. Leaves me feeling overwhelmed. I don't know a thing about trapping. I have only shot a gun in a range, I'm hoping my husband can take it out for us. He is leaning toward training exercises.
Anyone have any tips on securing the chickens in a run? Will I need a roof over...
Thank you azygous for all your support over this emotional weekend. You're right, emotions are in tatters. I now know for sure it's a red fox, saw it in my backyard this morning at 1130! Coming back for more I'm sure. They are locked up tight in their run, just wish they could have more space...
Funny I was surprised to see both, I didn't think the black one was, and I had to do a double take at the picture I posted. In person her comb doesn't look red at all, so it is strange that in this picture it does look red (I'm calling them her until proven otherwise ;)) I definitely agree that...
Yup it was a red fox....I actually saw it in my backyard today at 1130am. It just looked at me. Now to figure out my game plan on dealing with it and protecting whats left of my flock.
So I posted on Friday and Saturday about my chickens and babies being under attack. Lost 5 babies and their mama and was suspicious of a fox. We have kept the girls locked up tighter since then. Secure run unless we are home and in the vicinity, otherwise contained in a larger run, but not...
The gray and white and black chicks are 5.5 weeks old. Same dad different moms. Dad was a silver Wyandotte and unsure moms breeds. We were hoping for a few new hens and I felt we had some but we had a predator attack Friday and lost mama and 5 chicks. These are the two left. I've thought for...
Thanks for the support everyone. This morning about 6 I went out to check on everyone. The mother hen that went to bed injured was dead in the coop. I was by myself yesterday and tried to examine her and get ointment on her injuries, but this morning my husband looked her over better and we...
We had an attack in the yard today, Something got 3 babies and injured the mom. I put everyone in the run, we have a secure and not quite as secure, but pretty decent. I spoke with a few people in the area and the opinion was they would probably be okay in the insecure area as long as I went out...
Update...I went outside after writing this and 4 babies had returned to the run. I'm going to Neosporin the injured mama and bring the other remaining hens back into the run for now after speaking with a fellow chicken friend that lives nearby.
Also, there is a stray cat that "lives" in my...