From what the neighbor was informed, bobcats must be actively pursuing or killing livestock or poultry before action can be taken. This is different from coyotes and foxes.
I apologize for not responding to this earlier. One of my neighbors has given up all their poultry (we took them in)...
I know this is old news, but the bobcat/s killed 11 of the neighbors fully grown large fowl that were in a large fenced in area, during mid morning, no bodies carried away. That neighbor has lost about 20 birds this year. Between just us 3 we are over 50 poultry dead. I have spotted at least...
Bit of an update,
The neighbor to the North (~400yrds away) lost 7ish ducks last night. two found dead with bite marks on their necks, ~5 just missing. They have a trapper friend that said the birds that were left were killed by a weasel or mink. I did not know that they carried off...
Yes, I agree hawks are not very likely but keeping an open mind, since its a puzzle. Im taking steps to reduce the chances of canine type animals doing this, hopefully that will be finished by fall.
For the most part the flocks are protected but I had to reduce their range area considerably.
I am hoping people with more predator experience can help me figure out what is taking my birds.
I first lost two, a twelve pound rooster and a ten month old hen, sometime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eight days later, I lost seven more, six that were about two months old and one that was three...
Camo,
Yes, that may be an issue. My thoughts are that I only need 1 or sometimes 2 roosters per breeding focus group and that I could have enough free range hens and/or space to keep them all busy.
I believe I am going to try what Mrs. K suggested and make adjustments from there. Ill...
Mrs. K,
Thank you for the suggestions. This may be a great solution.
No, I will not be hatching every week. Mainly to replace birds, strengthen flock or if neighbors would like some chicks/birds.
Perris, Fluffycrow,
Your posts have been taken in and I have no argument with what...
Great question.
What I would like to do is preserve a rare landrace breed that can be strengthened and passed on to the next generation with purpose. At the same time, I want to keep working with my favorite breed while still enjoying the looks, personality, and dynamics of a mixed flock. That...
I apologize that this is long. I just don't know what I don't know...
I’m in the early stages of setting up breeding pens and want to plan ahead before I get too far in.
The goal is to keep different lines of birds pure, but I don’t want to give up free-ranging. My birds have access to about...
I had a great experience with Heartland Hatchery today at one of their Chick Days stops. They’re only at the location for about two hours, so if you need a long conversation or a lot of hand-holding, it might not be your cup of tea. But the man running it took the time to answer my spouse’s...
This is not my work, but I found it open source. This is the 3d print file for a divider to go inside the trays. I printed them and they work great, I was using hair ties before that (also not my idea).
I print from ultimaker cura and it fits perfect.
I also have the 2 files for the big...
I’ve been working on improving my candling skills, especially with the darker and blue eggs, and I’m getting better with each hatch. In my first couple of attempts, I wasn’t very confident in what I was seeing, but going forward I’ll leave out any clearly unfertilized eggs from my count.
I’ve...
The Maticoopx 30 just finished a great hatch—18 out of 18 chicks hatched from my new DNA line of Jersey Giants, and 11 out of 12 hatched from my Jersey Giant × (JG, Brahma, or Sapphire Gem) cross batch. One egg from the mixed batch hasn't hatched yet, but it's fully developed and I'm giving it...
Thank you all!
I appreciate the help and yes the "Ameraucana" were listed as "Americana" I believe, then I read here that they are a hybrid easter egger most likley. They have been great birds, very independent.
Number 7 and 10 have been in a full out battle today for at least an hour. Even...
1. Where did you get the birds?
These chicks were hatched from my own mixed flock.
The parent birds are:
• Black Jersey Giant roosters
• Hens: Black Jersey Giants, Sapphire Gems, Golden Comets, Speckled Sussex, Buff Brahma, and Ameraucana.
The original flock came from Tractor Supply...
A bit of an update: I hatched 11 of 11 duck eggs. the newest egg was about 6 days old when we put them in the incubator. The neighbor had a hen hatch at 13 out of 13 that we found hidden after I started my eggs.
I believe I have the sweet spots figured out on this incubator and it will be a...
Thank you for the reply. The govee's arrived today and I put them in their spots and let it all stabilize.
My temps in both incubators were about 1.7 degrees under 99.5. 7 of the ducks have hatched now and I expect two more at least.
I had read a lot about temps, but I was relatively sure...
I am a resident of Florida
I live in Central Kansas part of the year.
I am new to chickens, I picked up 28 at the beginning of last winter.
I currently have 23 adults, 15 chicks (mostly mixed, pure are BJG), and 5 ducks have hatched so far, should be more in next 12 hours
Black Jersey...