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

[staceyj]

We are having an Orpington named Mellow for dinner. We were keeping him as a breeder, but he was the beta rooster and was constantly causing problems in the flock so he went to freezer camp. One of my Orpington hens went broody at 7 months old. I'm hoping the rest are broody too. I had two others that were flirting with the idea of going broody. I got them from Murray McMurray as well.

My oft-broody girl Dory is a buff Orpington from mm.
So glad she broke last time.
I didn't want to give her away!

 

[rjohns39]

That sounds interesting. I have a lot of ants here, too. If I use pots this year I will try that!

It's the stuff they make signs out of and works great. Love my little heaters. Only wish I had made them taller. 4' is a pain, but covers come off easily...

 

[Parront]

My oft-broody girl Dory is a buff Orpington from mm.
So glad she broke last time.
I didn't want to give her away!

They were not all broody. But it seems like many are! I did not pressure cook the broody one, the kids loved her. But, ones who only laid 1-2 eggs/week or ZERO eggs, made good chicken noodle.

 

[staceyj]

That stuff costs more than the plants I was growing!

Oh jeez. So true.
The kind of growing is really just for the fun of it.
On a small scale the comparison is rediculous when you factor in all the associate costs...
it'd be cheaper to buy it all organic from Whole Foods honestly.
I just love to grow things.
The process of preparing, planting, tending, waiting, picking and eating just makes me happy.

 

[Parront]

Oh jeez. So true.
The kind of growing is really just for the fun of it.
On a small scale the comparison is rediculous when you factor in all the associate costs...
it'd be cheaper to buy it all organic from Whole Foods honestly.
I just love to grow things.
The process of preparing, planting, tending, waiting, picking and eating just makes me happy.

One reason for moving out of the desert was to have a garden. I like picking fresh stuff for salad & stir fry. A little fresh perks up everything!

 

[Redhead Rae]

My oft-broody girl Dory is a buff Orpington from mm.
So glad she broke last time.
I didn't want to give her away!

I let my broodies hatch, unless they are meanies. I've had 3 broodies. My Dominique/Buff, a Dominique, and one of my MM buffs. I let the Buff and Buff cross hatch because they were tolerant of being handled. The Dominique kept biting me and trying to take a chunk out of my hand. My theory, if she is this mean before she has babies, how mean will she be after she has them. I need to be able to handle the babies if necessary without Mama trying to kill me. She also nest hopped which isn't good for eggs.

 

[Kiki]

I just bought a bag of alfalfa pellets (from the small pet section at TSC) to try giving my girls once all my yard vegetation dies off. I want to make sure they still get a variety of greens. Do you think they will eat them as is or should I soak them to make a warm mash? Or even ferment them? Share you thoughts and wisdom please squatchers!

I'd vote for fermenting them.

 

[Parront]

I let my broodies hatch, unless they are meanies. I've had 3 broodies. My Dominique/Buff, a Dominique, and one of my MM buffs. I let the Buff and Buff cross hatch because they were tolerant of being handled. The Dominique kept biting me and trying to take a chunk out of my hand. My theory, if she is this mean before she has babies, how mean will she be after she has them. I need to be able to handle the babies if necessary without Mama trying to kill me. She also nest hopped which isn't good for eggs.

When I let my broody Orp hatch her eggs, 7 out of 10 were roosters. I had 2 roosters and I thought that the chicks would be 1/2 brown leghorn, but turned out they were 1/2 Sultan and 1/2 Orp. Cute, but not egg layers!

 

[CSAchook]

Thanks @rjohns39 ! Thanks @KikisGirls ! I think I will be doing a lot of alfalfa experiments this winter! Should be fun!!!

 

[Kiki]

I buy alfalfa cubes for my horses..they ferment really well.