Colorado

[COChix]

Wow on the bear story and sorry for the loss. Glad we are not all the way up in Bear country. Although bears are seen around Boulder so there is always a chance.

 

[katie5668]

A bear can almost get into anywhere or thru anything. Their strength is amazing! Indeed report this bear. Once finding an easy food source they will always return! Look at the issues at various national parks where people leave food in their cars..the bears do not even look for food they just break into the cars or campers.

A bear that is willing to go to that much trouble to get chickens can be a threat to people as well. Between fences, locked doors, and flood lights it sounds as if it is well acclimated to Human smell and activity..that equals a dangerous bear.

 

[katie5668]

My Spring chicks are now pretty girls & are giving me eggs daily...hurrah!
I have for the past few days gotten one egg with NO shell..the one yesterday had the beginnings of a shell.
The one today had only the egg sack with no indication of a shell at all.
I get 4 to 6 eggs daily & this is the only one like that the others have lovely solid shells.
The beginning shell was a whitish color whereas all the other eggs are brown or dark brown.

They get calcium..any one else have this issue??
I have had one or two before..but then it usually resolves & the hen develops the ability to create a shell.

Our main predator here is the local fox population and coyotes. I had a flock of 24 nearly wiped out one nite when a coyote dug thru and took 18 of my hens. It is discouraging when something like that happens to say the least.

 

[Percheron chick]

My Spring chicks are now pretty girls & are giving me eggs daily...hurrah!
I have for the past few days gotten one egg with NO shell..the one yesterday had the beginnings of a shell.
The one today had only the egg sack with no indication of a shell at all.
I get 4 to 6 eggs daily & this is the only one like that the others have lovely solid shells.
The beginning shell was a whitish color whereas all the other eggs are brown or dark brown.

The white egg could still be from a brown egg layer. On brown eggs, the brown bloom is the final step. If you look at the inside of the shell, they are white.

If they have been laying less than 2-3 weeks, I wouldn't read too much into the odd eggs. Just give her more time.

 

[Penny Hen]

My Spring chicks are now pretty girls & are giving me eggs daily...hurrah!
I have for the past few days gotten one egg with NO shell..the one yesterday had the beginnings of a shell.
The one today had only the egg sack with no indication of a shell at all.
I get 4 to 6 eggs daily & this is the only one like that the others have lovely solid shells.
The beginning shell was a whitish color whereas all the other eggs are brown or dark brown.

They get calcium..any one else have this issue??
I have had one or two before..but then it usually resolves & the hen develops the ability to create a shell.

Our main predator here is the local fox population and coyotes. I had a flock of 24 nearly wiped out one nite when a coyote dug thru and took 18 of my hens. It is discouraging when something like that happens to say the least.

I know a shepherd who puts out an electric line with strips of aluminum folded over the line. She smears peanut butter on the aluminum strips so when the coyote licks it it shocks him full force. After that they don't challenge the fence.

 

[suncatcher]

I have decided to downsize my layer flock, I have five hens for sale, Buff Orpingtons, RIR, Barnie cross,

Mottled Java's ( can include this years chicks with them). These girls lay almost every day, and are hatchery stock. Please PM if interested!

 

[suncatcher]

This years chick pictures, they are now three months old...

 

[yawningreyhound]

Drat it, you guys! I lost my first bird (that's her as my avatar) since this flock moved here 1/31. To a fox. I had the north-side-of-the-house radio off cuz it had rained. I thought she was I-laid-an-egg clucking and looking for the other birds. The other 4 and I were in the coop, renewing their water...then my neighbor, who came down to help look for her, said I think I'm going to go put mine up (she's down to 7 from 25), as she's walking, she hears squawking, runs and sees the birds scattering and a fox running through them. One bird was missing. We looked for hours for my bird or feathers, and for her bird, and for the fox lair. We did find 3 piles of feathers from her bear rout the other night. Do the bears eat and then go back for more, and the birds are catatonic and just let it happen?

we both get our remaining birds back in the coops and the phone rings at 4:30 or so.

Joanne is excitedly yelling "my hen just showed up!"

I guess when Jo started screaming at the fox, he must've dropped her and it took 5 hours, but she ventured out of the forest squawking like a banshee.

No injuries.

I'm just about over the drama 'round these parts the past 2 days.

Now I'm leaving a radio on very low in the coop (which I normally play at normal volume when the birds are outside of their run) over night. I think the sound of murmuring voices would be a further deterrent to the bear.

That, and the Alaska Bear Mats he'll be walking on.

 

[alebuela]

Wow again! I'm so sorry for all of these losses. I can't imagine what it must be like to have raised your chooks and cared for them and rejoiced in the eggs and entertainment they provide and then to lose them to such devastation.

People say there are predators in Denver, like fox, raccoon, coyote, and skunks. But I've never seen them, and so have been increasingly careless about closing the coop door until late and long after my five chooks have gone to roost. I think I need to learn from your story and pay more attention to the hazards there are here in the city - dogs, cats, and even the two-legged kind - because I would be devastated to lose my babies .

Thank you for the wake up call.

 

[yawningreyhound]

Re your shell less egg question...I was having this issue, too. Occas a soft shell in the coop overnight. Once there were TWO! I had calcium (oyster shells) in a bowl in the coop that was never touched and someone on here said again...it's got to be calcium. I was blaming that the suspected bird is the omega bird and can get picked on mercilessly by the next up int he pecking order bird when there were treats handed out--so I was blaming stress. So I changed out the calcium in the coop and man! it started disappearing right away. I don't know what was wrong with my oyster shells, it came out of the same bag as the new pour, or if someone had fouled (no pun intended) it and I couldn't tell or WHAT! But that calcium bowl is now routinely used and my shell less eggs have disappeared.