This is helpful guys, thank you! I might have my hubs help me dispatch him before everyone’s all the way awake and then deal with the rest after the kid/breakfast rush. It will be plenty cold.
DH has hunted, including small game birds before, and says he just popped their heads off 🤢. His...
What’s the best idiot’s guide to culling a rooster? My rooster has started getting out and coming after my kids so he needs to go.
Can I kill him while they’re still roosting and snoozing, and then let him hang til it’s light and I can get to processing? How do you catch a large unruly...
I don’t know. My guess is a raccoon. The first one we lost was outside, I think, and nothing was left but the head and feet. The other two were in the coop and it was at night, but we’ve since covered the top holes it must have come in through (which is really rather impressive). There was no...
@3KillerBs @Shadrach @Mrs. K
Now I’m second guessing because I don’t want to make life miserable for anyone…we shored up the coop so it’s as predator proof as humanly possible. The run is dig proof and has 4’ 1/2” hardware cloth all around, but is open above that except for fishing wire to...
The friend I’m going to has a bunch of roosters she’s trying to offload, so if I have a choice is there a particular age/size/whatever to try for?
my pullets range from 14-18 weeks old, with the majority in the middle there. I don’t know the roo’s age, just that they’re all laying breeds.
I...
Hi all! We are acquiring a rooster from an acquaintance probably tomorrow, after a run of predator problems leaving me in need of both protection for my remaining hens and more chickens. My girls are all between about 16 and 18 weeks although not laying quite yet.
Anything I should know? Can...
Hi everyone :). A friend from church has way too many roosters and offered me one, about a year and a half old. She said he’s a very pleasant fellow but he and his buddies are going to be stew shortly as she has no need for so many. One of her hens hatched eight Roos last year. I was...
In case anyone else searches this, I left them in the dog crate in the coop while I settled kids/nap/lunch/etc. Then went out and let everyone loose together after scattering some treats around. They were so busy looking for food that they never gave each other a second thought and it’s been...
So when it’s time to introduce, you’d suggest separate but unable to touch?
Not to negate bird illness but realistically I just don’t have space to have two sets of chickens for a month 🤷♀️. I know where they are currently living and the health of those birds (small town farm of a friend)...
Quick question - I have nine young 5-6 week old pullets and am getting two more that are around 10-12 weeks old or so.
The coop will be new to them all as mine are still in the brooder, although itching for freedom. I’m assuming they all need to stay in the coop a few days to acclimate to it...
Great! The coop isn’t done yet so they’ll have probably another week til DH finishes it. But I’m ready to have them out. They’re starting to try to peck holes in my brooder 🙄
Hey everyone :)
I have two sets of chicks pictured here; they’re about a week apart in age. The older ones are around five weeks old, the younger ones four weeks. The older ones look pretty feathered to me, and the younger ones have a lot of feathers. I don’t really see them going under their...
My Amazon no-name slowly loses heat over a day or two so I switched to a sunbeam (which was cheaper!). Much better and even with cold and wind, they’re happy outside.
Yeah, this chick isn’t going to make it. Something is wrong with her vent too…I cleaned it earlier and there’s no poop but I can’t even find the hole; it’s almost like it’s glued shut. Very different from my other that had normal pasty butt and recovered just fine. She’s quiet and cozy though…so...