Yeah, I put up a bit of a fight against what they were telling me, but it turns out they were pretty much spot on. For a beginner, it's just so hard to imagine that a 4 pound bird can shrug off Winter temps, much less run around having fun in it. I guess it makes it even worse when you fall in...
Well, I got home from work today, and Nugget was still at her design temperature. I am continually in awe of these birds. They are freakishly tough if you give them proper care. Tomorrow will reach 40 degrees, so the danger is past. Let us hope this is the coldest it will get this Winter.
I am over in Evansville, so very similar weather to yours. I am super worried about one of my barred rocks, Nugget. She had the good sense to start her molt the last week of December. Right? She looks pitiful. I have a dog crate set up inside the house, if I could only catch her. I figure...
He might be TRYING to assert his dominance....but he takes off every time I come near him. He definitely knows not to mess with me. I do think it pisses him off when one of the girls sits in my lap though. He stands and stares.
I recently installed a surveillance camera in my chicken run. The results have me perplexed. Those little maniacs are sweethearts when I'm not there. No running around pecking each other on the head or fighting over treat_00763 when they have millions of others lying right next to it. My roo...
I caught my raccoon the very first night I put the trap out. Just make sure you put the bait far enough in that you don't smush his tail with the drop plate.
I wouldn't lose a moment's sleep over trapping that cat and dropping it 10 miles away. Of course, I have popped a cat in the butt with a pellet gun before too. Didn't kill him, and he hasn't been in my yard since, and even when he sees me on the street in broad daylight, he takes off running...
I couldn't tell you for sure if chickens love...(but it sure seems like it sometimes).
I can only tell you I feel love for them. I am thankful all of them are only 1 year old, and hopefully have many more years left before I have to start losing my babies. I have two favorites that I just...
I have nine hens, all of whom are named:
BO's: Rosie, Sissy, Little Miss
PBR's: Bean, Dumplin', Nugget, Domino
SLW: Frosty
BA: Betty
And a BO Rooster: Thing
The funnest thing for me is, I can close my eyes and tell each and every one of them by sound (or silence, in Bean's case) as well...
That's the worst part of keeping chickens. They don't live as long as other pets, even if they don't come to an unnatural end. I have a favorite hen myself that I literally have to try not to get too attached to, because I know she may only live 5 years. That will be a tough day I do not look...
I had a little fun yesterday. I grew raspberries for the first time this year. I grabbed a handful of them that weren't up to table standards, added some freshly-shelled peas, and drove the girls wild. Bounce and roll equals hilarity from my little pack of raptors. They definitely got their...
I have found an orange feral cat skulking about around my chicken run several times. My handsome man roo finally has his spur points now, so hopefully if worst comes to worst, he can spank that kitty. Unless I get him first with a trap. I already caught a raccoon in my trap and took him for a...
My limited experience agrees with this. I had a cuddle roo cockerel that turned absolute jerkface when the hormones hit. I ended up keeping the roo that was the least cuddly, but at least he's stable and calm and after I smacked him one time for biting me, is all good. I'll never cuddle a...
Poor little Rosie...she got a 4 day vacation in a dog crate in my living room. but it worked. She was a cuddly fool this morning when I got her out to put her back out with her family. She immediately went right back to normal...hogging treats and bullying her favorite sisters LOL. But no...
Dagnabbit.....Rosie, my alpha Buff Orpington gal...is now broody.
I saw it coming on. The walking around flapping her wings, stretching and making this little alpha roaring noise.
She didn't come out of the coop today when I tossed their treats down.
I went and opened it up and there she sat...
Stuff like this is why I regularly walk around my yard in the day time, carrying a hunting rifle, in full view of anyone in the neighborhood. I don't really have any actual mayhem in mind, other than for the rabbits trying to get at my cabbage garden. But sometimes a little doubt in the...