California-Southern

[member 453429]

I live in Lakewood, CA. Last Saturday I found a chicken. I put up notices around my neighborhood, but no one is claiming her. I can't keep her & am having trouble finding somewhere for her. Does anyone want her?

I will be bringing her to a feed store tomorrow afternoon. They said they could find her a good home. I hope so. If you're interested in her let me know soon!! Thanks to everyone that has helped me!

 

[Sylvester017]

Idyllwild Ca here, building my coop now for spring chicks

Gary

Be sure to post your coop in the BYC thread "post your chicken coop pictures here" - we'll want to see it!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the kind words! Sorry for your losses as well. I'm beginning to accept the "secret" that loss might be par for the course with chickens. I certainly do whatever I can to prevent that though.

My girls are pretty sweet. Although our silkie is a bit nippy to me, I think it's because she's at the bottom of the hierarchy. (Even though she's the biggest!)

Yep, losing a bird is never easy. I tend to wonder what I did wrong, if I had been better experienced, or fed them some other feed, or whatever -- but after losing a few over the years I stopped beating myself up. If my vet can't save them either then who am I to blame myself?

I was entertaining myself this week looking up girlie names for our newest pullets (we haven't even ordered them yet! but wishful thinking it will be in Spring). And there were numerology readings on the various names -- darn! if the numerology personalities didn't match every single one of the hens we have! The #1 in the reading said it was for leadership and that's exactly what our #1 girl name was -- "Phaedra"! Maybe your Silkie has a name that makes her a little less friendly than a different name with another numerology rating LOL!! All our current hens' names have a numerology #9 rating and I don't know if I should continue choosing #9 names to keep them all compatible or not

! Coincidentally, my DH is a #9 and likes to take care of them -- maybe because his #9 is compatible with them too!

 

[chick-habit]

Yep, losing a bird is never easy.  I tend to wonder what I did wrong, if I had been better experienced, or fed them some other feed, or whatever -- but after losing a few over the years I stopped beating myself up.  If my vet can't save them either then who am I to blame myself? 

I was entertaining myself this week looking up girlie names for our newest pullets (we haven't even ordered them yet! but wishful thinking it will be in Spring).  And there were numerology readings on the various names -- darn! if the numerology personalities didn't match every single one of the hens we have!  The #1 in the reading said it was for leadership and that's exactly what our #1 girl name was -- "Phaedra"!  Maybe your Silkie has a name that makes her a little less friendly than a different name with another numerology rating LOL!!  All our current hens' names have a numerology #9 rating and I don't know if I should continue choosing #9 names to keep them all compatible or not !  Coincidentally, my DH is a #9 and likes to take care of them -- maybe because his #9 is compatible with them too!

There is a Nancy Sinatra/Lee hazelwood song with the name Phaedra in it. The video is pretty funny.

You can sing that to her wheh she arrives!
If numerology is going to make chicken keeping easier I'll have to try it!!!

Btw. Not sure if I've asked you before, where do you get your chickens?

 

[chick-habit]

Hi, and sorry for those experiences, always sad.

I also had extra losses this year.  My vet has finally helped me to concede that chickens have short life spans for a variety of reasons

Thank you. It helps to know we aren't alone in this. They are prey animals and naturally more suspetible to things going wrong. We just have to keep doing our best for them.

 

[ChickenMomma14]

Hey have any of you guys been having problems with Hawks eyeing your birds lately. I live in Riverside and I have had to let my 4 hens out only with supervision because I have had 2 Hawks hanging around lately l. Usually Hawks kind of move to the hills by now but they are still hanging around.

 

[Dekthai818]

They want your puff balls hahaha.

 

[Marthab1953]

Hey have any of you guys been having problems with Hawks eyeing your birds lately. I live in Riverside and I have had to let my 4 hens out only with supervision because I have had 2 Hawks hanging around lately l. Usually Hawks kind of move to the hills by now but they are still hanging around.

This time of year yes! Probably the Coopers Hawk as that is what is usually around here in the Fall and also back in the Spring.

 

[Sylvester017]

There is a Nancy Sinatra/Lee hazelwood song with the name Phaedra in it. The video is pretty funny.

You can sing that to her wheh she arrives!
If numerology is going to make chicken keeping easier I'll have to try it!!!

Btw. Not sure if I've asked you before, where do you get your chickens?

Nancy Sinatra is my age range so I'm familiar with the song from years back. DH and I wonder what they "were on" when they wrote the flower child words

but we liked the mellow melody anyway!

We lost our Breda "Phaedra" a couple months ago and miss her so much. She was DH's favorite and I am going to get him another Blue Breda. Can't replace Phaedra's personality but Blue is a pretty variety:

PHAEDRA actually craved human interaction and often joined me on the computer bench.


Phaedra was very gentle and docile with the Silkies


Our Blue Wheaten Ameraucana was very timid but she let gentle Phaedra around her


Phaedra loved the camera lens to see the "other" chicken


Breda's don't have combs but a little triangle tassle where a comb would usually be on other chickens. We never got tired admiring her pretty Blue plumage!



Our Phaedra when we first got her as a pullet, loved her vulture hocks and feathered feet. She was a little wisp of a thing at 2.1 lbs at 4-mo-old but very confident -- we knew she would be a leader.



Numerology is a hoot but scary how accurate numerology, astrology, and Chinese zodiacs can be!

I get my chickens from different private breeders and once got a Dominique from a feed store. If you're interested in my sources/experiences/breeders/feed stores/opinions, PM me. I'll be happy to share!

 

[Sylvester017]

Hey have any of you guys been having problems with Hawks eyeing your birds lately. I live in Riverside and I have had to let my 4 hens out only with supervision because I have had 2 Hawks hanging around lately l. Usually Hawks kind of move to the hills by now but they are still hanging around.

In our suburb neighborhood there is a large murder(flock) of Crows that seem to chase away any Cooper's Hawks and the Crows don't bother our hens. In the Spring when Cooper's are breeding they get more aggressive to find food for their hatchling(s) and even though we have the Crows around we still keep a lot of shelters out for the hens to hide from the Cooper's -- pop-up canopy, several large doghouses, lean-to shelters, lawn furniture, benches, potted plant containers, even trash cans and wheelbarrow placed around the yard. I have mixed feelings about the Cooper's because on the one hand they keep the rodent population down but on the other hand I worry about our backyard free-ranging hens. I definitely would not keep chicks, ducklings, or goslings outdoors because even the Crows would love THOSE!! So far, with the many shelters in the backyard our resident Cooper's Hawks haven't got any of our Silkies or large fowl in 6 yrs. Hawks want easy prey to swoop down on and if there are a lot of interfering shelters, bushes, etc, they will look for easier open areas. My hens over the years have taught the younger pullets how to forage near places that offer some protection where they can easily dive into a doghouse or bush. I don't think Hawks like confrontations with their prey on solid ground and prefer swooping mid-air using their talons.

Open flat areas (below pic) are easy areas for Cooper's to swoop down on running hens so we've filled up open areas with canopies, plants, shelters, lawn furniture, benches, compost bin, large city trash can, wheelbarrow, cart, and various potted plant containers on the patios to fill up space.


Some things we left in the yard over the years that hens use to hide in/under - we even left bldg materials in the yard during construction. Many times we found missing hens hiding in between brick stacks.