Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Kansas Prairie]

Quote:
Originally Posted by NikkiMiChickie

(this is where the experiment comes in... I intend - with your permission lol - to keep it this way to see if anyone bullies or kills the chicks.
Sounds like you will receive some experience.
Remember the old saying: don't count your chicks before they hatch.
Let us know how your experiment goes.

 

[bruceh]

Yeah...not a good time to check for that. This time of year a really good layer could be slowing down for the season but will perk back up again soon. If you cull her for non lay right now, you will be kicking yourself next spring. I'd try again at the end of Feb, beginning of March. By March everyone who is laying, should be laying.

oh i am waiting to spring for sure

 

[Mountain Momma]

Heavens, it has been a long day! A neighbor's dog got after one of my hens and she has run off (or worse). There are a lot of bloody feathers in the front yard, so I am pretty sure the bird is dead. I searched the woods around our house for two hours and not a single sign of her. I tried to load the dog up to carry her back home and she bit the inside of my thigh. My husband shot at the dog with rat shot to run it off. The neighbors are raising heck and my husband is throwing a fit right back. Don't get me wrong, I am broken-hearted about the hen. She was my first bird to lay an egg, so she was special (yes, I know how gooey that is---insert crumbling rainbows and crying unicorns here). My question is, what are my legal rights if this dog comes back? Our county has no leash laws. And the dog came from almost a mile over. And what are the chances that it will come back after my husband shot at it? And if it's hurt, are responsible? And are they responsible for my bird?

Alabama I am so sorry for your bird. And your thigh. And your neighbors. What an ordeal. Your poor hubby must be beside himself. Remember that neighbors are like inlaws, you may not want a long term relationship with them but you have it. As hard and traumatized as everyone probably is you can maybe make a better neighbor being super nice about the whole thing. Try to stay calm. If this whole ordeal happened to me I would try to talk it over with someone who knows the players and get my thoughts in order rationally. If the dog has bitten a person before or killed other livestock then even his owner might be done with him. I am so sorry. You guys need to be careful out there. I am sending you all good thoughts and a little prayer for happy long term resolutions. Do you have roosters?

 

[Celie]

I agree, it may not be politically correct, these days, but it is morally correct to protect your flocks and I would do the same. I may be small and old, but I know how to use a gun if I have to and thanks to hubby, we have lots of ammo. He loves to have to site in his guns (rifles, etc.) all the time. He thinks he's foolin me, but.....

 

[Mountain Momma]

Alot of you may not know it but the Federal Gov't has a program that pay's you not to plant corn, their effort to keep prices propped up. They offered it to me and I don't even plant corn as I am still on a 5 yr CRP rotation. So your president is artificialy keeping prices high for corn and ethynol in support of the greener energy initiative.

well, I thought that was all a bunch of malarchy. I hate hearing that its really true. You want to read some crazy **** thats not chicken ****? Google farmer suicides India Monsanto 200,000.00.
And hes not my president. (chuckle here) 4 more months 4 more months 4 more months

 

[Celie]

Alabama I am so sorry for your bird. And your thigh. And your neighbors. What an ordeal. Your poor hubby must be beside himself. Remember that neighbors are like inlaws, you may not want a long term relationship with them but you have it. As hard and traumatized as everyone probably is you can maybe make a better neighbor being super nice about the whole thing. Try to stay calm. If this whole ordeal happened to me I would try to talk it over with someone who knows the players and get my thoughts in order rationally. If the dog has bitten a person before or killed other livestock then even his owner might be done with him. I am so sorry. You guys need to be careful out there. I am sending you all good thoughts and a little prayer for happy long term resolutions. Do you have roosters?

Here in Louisiana, if a dog bites anyone, it is picked up and after being tested for rabies, is put down. They test for rabies, etc. because if it is rabid, you will need treatment and it is painful, so they need to know if you are infected. That dog would be a goner! Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, Got 2 of them, myself, but they are trained and fenced in to protect our flocks and animals. I sure you are OK and will be keeping you in our prayers tonight. Father takes care of his own, you'll see !

 

[Celie]

well, I thought that was all a bunch of malarchy. I hate hearing that its really true. You want to read some crazy **** thats not chicken ****? Google farmer suicides India Monsanto 200,000.00.
And hes not my president. (chuckle here) 4 more months 4 more months 4 more months

Not mine either, and the gas that is made from corn is no good for your motor and lowers gas mileage,too. I know, I used to make the stuff. Bad for your seals, gaskets, really just light ends and a waste of money. I won't buy that stuff. I didn't vote for that "want to be king" and I won't this time either. No wonder this country is in such a mess. All he ever did was show folk how to get over!!!

 

[Mountain Momma]

SSS....very valuable thing to know. Shoot, Shovel, Shut-up.

thats an interesting OT comment. MMMM. We have had a lot of fires in Co this year and has resulted in our neighborhood having lot of bears and a mtn lion too. From June through the last couple weeks we saw bears nearly every day. A 1yr old and a 2 year old and an old momma. Momma has been limping all summer. 2 year old getting into garbage, being fed (better snacks than I give my kids) by idiots and causing trouble. 1 year old hanging in real close to houses etc. Well I was out by the woodpile planning to renovate the coop roosts (back to chickens topic) And the recycle truck bangs up on the road, I turned to look....And the bear was running right for me. Big shoulder flesh flapping like wings above his head.

So like a dummy I ran straight for the house where my Golden was like "whats the matter?" And my lab was like "don't bark he'll know you are here".

Well, about a week after all this my old timer neighbor called me to let me know that the bears were "gone". Just gone. So being a nosey biddie...(back to chicken topic) I kept digging and she said the momma was dead outside her den and the baby one too. She said the Wildlife dept removed the middle sized bear. I said "Well, how did you find out? "to my terrific OT neighbor who has been my friend for 16 years. She said she heard it on Fox news. Yeah, There was no story on any local news of any bear being killed or removed from our area. We havent seen any of the bears since and she and her hubby consider my kids their grand kids. I havent been able to reconcile in my mind how confident she is they are gone.

So what do ya think? A case of SSS?

 

[Celie]

oh i am waiting to spring for sure

Yeah, Here the girls all but stopped a few weeks ago, went from 4 dozen down to less than a half dozen a day, went into molt mode, feathers everywhere. I thought some of the girls must have met their end with all those feathers. Never had them all molt at the same time in the 7 years I have been keeping chickens, then this last week, they are pouring out the eggs again. I wish they had a longer shelf life. I guess I'll try to give some neighbors some, before I have to boil them up and feed them back to the chickens. The dogs are sick of them and won't touch them.

 

[Beekissed]

Sell them eggs!! Feed is expensive! Donate them to a foodbank, give them out at the local senior center, etc.