Araucana thread anyone?

[cackleberrycoop]

Quote:
I watch them very closely through the winter and make adjustments if i see that they are not doing as well. Last winter was LONG and they did begin to loose condition towards the end, so I upped their protein intake and bought some alfalfa bales for them. It seemed to help. The only difference that I do make every winter is I give them a second feeding of scratch just before they go to bed so that they roost with crops full of fast, heat producing energy.

Did anyone else read the Backyard Poultry magazine's article on winterizing chickens? I need to sit down and read it more thoroughly, but on first read, I'm not sure that I like their ideas. Just wondering if there is anyone out there who has wintered with the open air method like they suggest?

I should add that I think it would work marvelously for our Araucana's, but there is no way that I can see some of my other breeds making it through winter that way.

 

[cackleberrycoop]

Quote:
Well, at the moment, he's a single, bizarre neck tufted roo, but yes, I got that boy.

 

[Illia]

Well congrats!! I'm certainly very curious of how his offspring come out.

 

[welasharon]

How high a fence would I need to keep araucanas from going over?
sharon

 

[Rumbull]

Mine is only a 3 foot chainlink fence on one side and 6 foot privacy fence on the other three sides. I clipped one wing of the fella I bought and brought home but the others that have been raised as chicks I left alone. His wing has grown out now and I have not reclipped it. They have never ventured into the neighbors yard though they could. I have one that likes to roost ontop of their pen and that is as high as the privacy fence.

 

[welasharon]

I've got a three foot welded wire 2x4 fence and they clear it like it's not there. I also have an o shamo trio in there that hop over so I figured if I made it high enough the arauncanas can't get over then the shamo shouldn't either.

 

[Rumbull]

Did anyone else read the Backyard Poultry magazine's article on winterizing chickens? I need to sit down and read it more thoroughly, but on first read, I'm not sure that I like their ideas. Just wondering if there is anyone out there who has wintered with the open air method like they suggest?

Where can I read that article?​

 

[Illia]

Quote:
12 feet

Some of my hens can EASILY clear an 8 foot fence, honestly. My best suggestion if you want to make absolute sure they won't clear it is A) raise them in that confined area all their life and you're good with a 4 foot fence, so long as they can't find a way out or B) settle with 12 feet.

There's a reason my hen "Josephine" is always loose and I rarely get chicks from her. . . . She will escape or fly anything. And sheesh even my well-behaved duckwing and cuckoo girls will fly over a 7 foot fence if they don't like their situation. If I'm gonna introduce one of my bachelors for a little pairing time, I have to put the couple in a place with a roof.

Just in case though. Most of the time they'll squat the moment they see the boy. That or they'll demand to go visit him.

 

[cackleberrycoop]

Illia, your profile photo is awesome.

 

[welasharon]

Quote:
12 feet

Some of my hens can EASILY clear an 8 foot fence, honestly. My best suggestion if you want to make absolute sure they won't clear it is A) raise them in that confined area all their life and you're good with a 4 foot fence, so long as they can't find a way out or B) settle with 12 feet.

There's a reason my hen "Josephine" is always loose and I rarely get chicks from her. . . . She will escape or fly anything. And sheesh even my well-behaved duckwing and cuckoo girls will fly over a 7 foot fence if they don't like their situation. If I'm gonna introduce one of my bachelors for a little pairing time, I have to put the couple in a place with a roof.

Just in case though. Most of the time they'll squat the moment they see the boy. That or they'll demand to go visit him.

That's what I was afraid of. LOL Now they fly with pretty good height and distance. I want to be able to leave the shamo out of their pen while I am at work. Their pen is in a fenced in area of the back yard that is 35x40. My thinking was to go with a 4 or 5 foot extension on top of the 2x4 fencing. Maybe some netting of some sort? Second thought was putting a top on it like an aviary. Last resort would be to move them to some other pen but they have been raised with the shamo and still get along so well.
Sharon