Hi All,
I've lost two of my hens in the past two days, and I'm thinking I might want to find homes for the remaining two. They are both Behl and Behl/Sigrid mix. The roo is about 1.5 years old. The hen was hatched this spring. I don't want to keep them locked in the run, but I can't handle...
Very happy to find my single chick and two mommas all safe and happy when I got home today. It was in the 80's, so I worried about baby Zap (Named by my 10-year-old son. His first choice being The Kraken.) getting enough water. Seems that mommas are teaching her well (using a nipple waterer)...
Woo hoo finally got a chick! I tried putting one of the hens in a dog carrier to hatch the last couple eggs, but she scattered the eggs in the bedding and wouldn't sit on them. So I put her and the eggs back in the coop. Another dead baby was there this morning but there was also one that...
This is the nesting box that I'm using.
But imagine it with two Icie hens in it. Definitely if the chick got out, it wouldn't be able to get back in. Think I may try to use a small dog kennel as you have shown. Thanks so much for the great information!
I've been trying to let my hens hatch their chicks on their own, but I found a dead baby chick outside the nesting box today. So sad. The first hen went broody 23 days ago. The second hen got into the box and laid a couple more eggs. Now they're both stuffed into the same nesting box. I don't...
Thanks for all the great info. She did leave the eggs for a while yesterday and I took a peak. Looks like only three eggs. I only have two hens and a roo. They have a protected pen, and I also let them do some free ranging. The coup is 4'x5'.. The food is right next to the nesting box and the...
One of my Icelandic hens seems to be making a real effort to hatch her (and probably her sister's) eggs. At first she was acting really boody, but she'd easily abandon the eggs to go play with the roo and other hen. The past two days, she's been on the eggs full time (I think; I'm at work during...
Just lost one of my Icies to a hawk today. Think it was Roadie, who was always a bit off on her own. I feel terrible that I left them out with snow on the ground. They mostly stayed in the coop/pen, but it warmed up today and they headed for the barn. My husband spotted the hawk in front of the...
My chickens are back roosting on the roof of the coop again. I changed the height of the roost inside of the coop because it was across from the open window, and it is getting too cold for them to sit there. Last night it was raining hard, and they begrudgingly roosted inside. Most nights I have...
Finally got a photo of all of the chickens together. From the right they are Sid, Nancy, Jett and Roadie. Their colors have gotten much nicer as they have gotten older. Nancy is lighter with less grey than Roadie.
Viking Chickens vs. Wild Turkeys
Wish I had a photo, but I had a flock of wild turkeys pass through my yard while the chickens were free ranging. The Icies ran right up to one of the turkeys, who then proceeded to approach them sideways, wing flapping. My brave Viking chickens swiftly...
I ended up with one roo (I was right about Sid) and three hens. Now if I can just get them to go into the coop at night instead of roosting on the roof of the coop. I moved their favorite launching pad (a plastic table that is in the pen as a hiding spot), so I'm hoping that they can't reach the...
Yes, I just have the 4 chicks. One of the chicks (the last to be caught tonight) actually put her head through the chicken wire, which worried me. Definitely an animal on the chicken wire "roof" could trap the chicks. I'm wondering if I should try to predator proof the pen, but I know that is...
All four of my 8-week (or so) birds are now roosting on the roof of the coop rather than going inside. They are upset when I put them in the coop, flying around and trying to get out through the hardware cloth covered windows. I have a low roost in the coop. I could put something higher up for...
Went out tonight and two of my six week old chicks were happily roosting on the roof of the coop, more than 5 feet off the ground! I had read that they would roost in trees, but they are still babies. So cute!
Good thing there is chicken wire over the top of the run. You can see it just...
Here is a photo of the four of them (sort of) with the mystery chick (still unnamed) on the left, then Sid, Nancy and Jett (looking off to the right).
She looks like Nancy and Jett with no real evidence of a comb or waddle at almost 5 1/2 weeks. I think that the breeder will give me one of...