Anyone have luck catching a feral chicken?? UPDATE: Rooster caught, no hen

[Suzi18]

It is brisk but sunny here today. High of 49. It rained and was windy the last 2 days so I'll take the cooler temps and the sunshine

 

[Annemade]

I've read that they LOVE cabbage, so I ran out and got one then got out my husband's drill and bored a hole through the middle of it,

*side note- I thought that would be safer than trying to stab it through and through with a kitchen knife...

Ran outside to hang it up for them....

They stared and cowered in the corner.

So I peeled off a petal and tore it to bits and tossed it to them.

They screamed and ran to a different corner.

It hung there for four days until it got soft and wilty!
A few peck marks was the only sign of attention it got.

Guess they just weren't feeling it without a side of corned beef.

I hope yours like it better than mine!

Too funny!

 

[apryl29]

I have a question. I know the chicks have food outside the feeder that they kick out. I fill it in the morning, and I will usually fill it in the evening too, but I know half of it still lying around. Should I refill twice a day or just once a day (because I know there is food there)?

My chickens live at my parent's house so I only see them once a day, in the evening so I only fill up their food dish in the evening. I figure they eat bugs out of the dirt, if they're really hungry they can scratch at the floor and dig up some feed from there. They haven't starved to death yet, though it's only been about 6 months.

 

[Parront]

I have a question. I know the chicks have food outside the feeder that they kick out. I fill it in the morning, and I will usually fill it in the evening too, but I know half of it still lying around. Should I refill twice a day or just once a day (because I know there is food there)?

Depending on the age of the chicks, raise the feeder so that they will not be able to bill out the feed. I like the big hanging metal feeders, mine held a weeks worth of food for the flock I had. No worries about running out of feed. I used 2 at the end, the leghorn bullies would chase others away from the food! I liked the way they laid eggs, but those leghorns were a flock of raptors!

 

[rjohns39]

I have a question. I know the chicks have food outside the feeder that they kick out. I fill it in the morning, and I will usually fill it in the evening too, but I know half of it still lying around. Should I refill twice a day or just once a day (because I know there is food there)?

I prefer to feed mine twice a day, as @Parront suggested, raising the feeders will help with the mess. Mine get fed out of trough feeders only because it takes less of them, and they are at ground level because no matter where I put them, they knock them over. I put out about 3oz of feed per bird in the morning and another 2oz in the afternoon (about 4). There's never any food left when I go out in the afternoon, and very little left when I put them to bed, which they'll finish before I feed in the morning. I tried the once a day routine, but it didn't work well and I would get mobbed in the morning when it was feeding time. With the twice a day routine I seldom get more than the curious on looker.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I'm in central WV and it is supposed to only get up to 46 today with a low of 33 tonight. I'm surprised my mama and 10 3.5 week old chicks are doing so well in this weather. They are now about the size of a balled fist and mostly feathered out. It has been cold and rainy here, but Mama and the babies seem to be doing great. two days ago it was raining really hard and I was wondering why Mama wasn't taking the babies back to her broody run and tote. I talked to my SIL and she watched and said Mama and chicks didn't want to cross the 3 inch deep pond that had formed in the middle of their pasture. My SIL was so proud that she could "think chicken" enough after a long day at work to figure out what the issue was. We went out in the pouring rain and moved their house over to dry (aka not flooded) land on the side mama and babies were on. They were so happy to have their shelter back. I had to boot one of my older leghorns out because as we were getting ready to leave, she booted mama and babies out of the tote shelter. So we decided to shut them in with their shelter to keep the older birds from taking it over. She is such a good mama, but the leghorns are a pain sometimes and have been known to kick mama around. I would post a pic, but my phone is being stupid about transferring the pics I just took. I'll post them later.

I got the pictures to transfer. Yay!

Mama and the chicks LOVE running through the remnants of the garden.

What is really cute, is watching Mama try to keep 10 fist sized puff balls warm under her. I just went out and put her and the babies back in their run/shelter. I think it is a little cold for the babies today.

 

[pitbullmomma]

It IS A MASK.
" ear loop masks"
In the first aid section. About $2-$3 for a box of 2 dozen.
The ear loops are veeeerrrry
Stretchy ( maybe in case you had enormous ears or a gigaaaaaantic head )
They are very soft though and nice in case someone needs to come inside for a bit. Lol.

Directions:
Insert one wing fully through one loop.
Then over the back and on the next wing.
Make sure loops are up on shoulders. ( like bra straps lol)

Picture putting on a vest...
Next, Pull rectangular piece down towards tail like a SLINGSHOT down to cover the vent.
Ta daaaaa!
Discrete indoor undergarments for chickens. I can't take credit for it though I saw a picture of it somewhere along time ago on the Internet. I do think it's genius however. And although it looks snug fitting, just like your favorite underwear, it's not too tight in all the right places and doesn't give a wedgy !

If/when the zombie apocalypse arrives, I want you in my village. That is some *awesome* ghetto homesteading skills!

Cindi

Who splinted a broken ankle today with an unknown piece of plastic, some Maxi pads, a couple bags of ice, and lotsa ace wrap...queen of 3rd world nursing/mad postapocalyptic skills!

 

[venymae]

UPDATE??

 

[Rubysword]

Oh no! Broken ankle? I hope you feel better!!!

 

[Redhead Rae]

If/when the zombie apocalypse arrives, I want you in my village. That is some *awesome* ghetto homesteading skills!

Cindi

Who splinted a broken ankle today with an unknown piece of plastic, some Maxi pads, a couple bags of ice, and lotsa ace wrap...queen of 3rd world nursing/mad postapocalyptic skills!

Yikes, whose ankle? Yours?

Sounds similar to what we did to my mom a few weeks ago. She tripped while taking feed to her horses, hit her shin on the feed buckets and broke both bones in her lower leg. We made a splint out of a magazine next to her skin, wrapped that in a standard sized pillow and wrapped all that together with a polo wrap (fleece wrap for horses legs with velcro). The doctors said it was a great makeshift cast.