Chicken math

[JaimeP]

So last year I started with 6 beautiful chickens in March. My Amberlinks, Abigail and Amelia, my cuckoo Marans (I think) Joey, and my Bantum rooster Chicken little were killed this spring. So sad as those 3 were awesome layers, not so sad on the roo. He was a jerk! That left me with my 2 silkies, Cluck and McNugget, that hardly lay. I then purchased 5 more, Raven, Olive, Pika, Joey Jr. (JJ) and Big Bird (BB). Unfortunately, my sweet Olive passed away 2 weeks ago . So I went to tractor supply to get feed and ended up with 2 more chicks, Thelma and Louise! Here is my flock old and new! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

 

[Xerocles]

[QUOTE="JaimeP, Here is my flock old and new! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do![/QUOTE]
You must freerange unsupervised a lot? I see part of your run in the background and it looks substantial. What happened to the ones that got killed? Sorry for your loses, and good looking fowl. Good luck with them.

 

[JaimeP]

[QUOTE="JaimeP, Here is my flock old and new! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

You must freerange unsupervised a lot? I see part of your run in the background and it looks substantial. What happened to the ones that got killed? Sorry for your loses, and good looking fowl. Good luck with them.[/QUOTE]
My entire run is enclosed, they go in and out as they want. It’s not as big as I would like. As for what happened to them, I didn’t latch the coop properly and they got out. I didn’t realize, let my dogs out, and the dogs killed them. I’m still heartbroken about it.

 

[JaimeP]

View attachment 1910372 View attachment 1910373 View attachment 1910374 View attachment 1910375 So last year I started with 6 beautiful chickens in March. My Amberlinks, Abigail and Amelia, my cuckoo Marans (I think) Joey, and my Bantum rooster Chicken little were killed this spring. So sad as those 3 were awesome layers, not so sad on the roo. He was a jerk! That left me with my 2 silkies, Cluck and McNugget, that hardly lay. I then purchased 5 more, Raven, Olive, Pika, Joey Jr. (JJ) and Big Bird (BB). Unfortunately, my sweet Olive passed away 2 weeks ago . So I went to tractor supply to get feed and ended up with 2 more chicks, Thelma and Louise! Here is my flock old and new! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Oh my, I didn’t put pics of my silkies! Here they are.

 

[Xerocles]

I didn’t latch the coop properly and they got out. I didn’t realize, let my dogs out, and the dogs killed them. I’m still heartbroken about it.

I fully understand about the heart broken part. I had a similar incident, though with happier outcome myself. I put it in a thread a few weeks ago called Caution: Complacency. The door was partially secured but not enough. The flock got out. But my dog did not discover them. Now I have put a lot of hours in training my dog so she will not attack the chickens. But do I trust her? I guess I'm a glass-half-empty sort of person. First, I only free range when I'm physically in the yard with the chickens. So the dog is only near the chickens when I can supervise. No overt threats in a couple months, but if I see her getting too close or too intent, I call her down.
Not everyone has the luxury of time that I do. So for me to spend a couple of hours in the yard with my chickens is no big deal. Plus my run is technically big enough for 25 chickens, so for my 6 it is no big deal if they spend a lot of time in the Run. But life is a series of trade-offs. If you're limited in run space, and time, I understand having the run open so they can come and go as they please. But maybe you want to take some advice I have read from other posters here. Monitor the TIME OF DAY that you give them their freedom. Daytime predators, apparently, prefer to hunt early to mid morning or late afternoons. No guarantees that something's not going to happen in mid-afternoon but the odds are more in your favor. I know it hurts to lose your pets. That's why I insist that I'm in the yard with them when they free range. But that's me. I'm retired. I have the time. Best of luck to you. And I do like the pictures of your flock.

 

[chrissynemetz]

What a good looking flock!!
Your silkies are adorable!

 

[JaimeP]

I fully understand about the heart broken part. I had a similar incident, though with happier outcome myself. I put it in a thread a few weeks ago called Caution: Complacency. The door was partially secured but not enough. The flock got out. But my dog did not discover them. Now I have put a lot of hours in training my dog so she will not attack the chickens. But do I trust her? I guess I'm a glass-half-empty sort of person. First, I only free range when I'm physically in the yard with the chickens. So the dog is only near the chickens when I can supervise. No overt threats in a couple months, but if I see her getting too close or too intent, I call her down.
Not everyone has the luxury of time that I do. So for me to spend a couple of hours in the yard with my chickens is no big deal. Plus my run is technically big enough for 25 chickens, so for my 6 it is no big deal if they spend a lot of time in the Run. But life is a series of trade-offs. If you're limited in run space, and time, I understand having the run open so they can come and go as they please. But maybe you want to take some advice I have read from other posters here. Monitor the TIME OF DAY that you give them their freedom. Daytime predators, apparently, prefer to hunt early to mid morning or late afternoons. No guarantees that something's not going to happen in mid-afternoon but the odds are more in your favor. I know it hurts to lose your pets. That's why I insist that I'm in the yard with them when they free range. But that's me. I'm retired. I have the time. Best of luck to you. And I do like the pictures of your flock.

I agree, and thanks!

 

[JaimeP]

What a good looking flock!!
Your silkies are adorable!

Thank you!