Colorado

[coloradochick]

So sorry to read about your two girls. It hurts and the guilt just eats us (some of us) alive after somethinglike this happens. I walked out to see a big ol'behemoth Bald Eagle sitting in the tree this morning. Took some talking but I finally got it to take a hike.

My chickens, 3 adult geese, and 21 ducks are all in the same yard and all go in at night together. Sometimes the water fowl take their time especially when it's cold out. But everyone gets along just fine. The ducks and geese most definitely have a keener eye for sky dangers. They can spot a hawk that I can hardly see and the chickens haven't noticed at all. In that respect, yes they are kind of protectors.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

RIP Mrs. Fluffybutt and Whitey. We're pretty sure it was a hawk that got them late this evening. Fluffybutt didn't have any life threatening visible injuries, but we believe her neck was broken. Whitey is just gone. we believe she was carried off because fluffy was too big. The two of them were always among the last to go to bed which put them in the most danger of a predator attack. I can't believe it took this long after the run cover came down in the snow. We got comfortable and my poor girls paid for it. :'(

Sorry. It's never easy to loose a bird, let alone two in one day.


Question for you craigslisters out there; what should I look for in a honest good deal on dish washing machines? I went to just look at what is available and there are TONS. Anything I should look for to ID shady sellers?

Our washer is leaving crud all over the top rack. It just doesn't have the rinse power anymore. It's about 12 years old, so it's had a good life.

 

[Minchi]

RIP Mrs. Fluffybutt and Whitey. We're pretty sure it was a hawk that got them late this evening. Fluffybutt didn't have any life threatening visible injuries, but we believe her neck was broken. Whitey is just gone. we believe she was carried off because fluffy was too big. The two of them were always among the last to go to bed which put them in the most danger of a predator attack. I can't believe it took this long after the run cover came down in the snow. We got comfortable and my poor girls paid for it. :'(

I am really sorry about your loss.

 

[marlo1968]

So get this..I traded a friend of mine two little bantam brahma roos for two little spangled hamburg mix pullets....this was a few months ago, I think late August or very early September. The pullets were probably 10 weeks or so when we traded. Until today I firmly believed I had gotten two pullets....until today I saw one of my pullets mount the other....have NEVER heard a crow out of this guy.....who is obviously a rooster....totally surprised. This roo has no saddle feathers, doesn't have a "rooster" tail, neck feathers aren't significantly pointed either....I have been completely fooled by this roo.

 

[AlivianAcres]

RIP Mrs. Fluffybutt and Whitey. We're pretty sure it was a hawk that got them late this evening. Fluffybutt didn't have any life threatening visible injuries, but we believe her neck was broken. Whitey is just gone. we believe she was carried off because fluffy was too big. The two of them were always among the last to go to bed which put them in the most danger of a predator attack. I can't believe it took this long after the run cover came down in the snow. We got comfortable and my poor girls paid for it. :'(

im so sry!!!! Its so hard to loose them especially when it is a predator!! <3

 

[dennarahl]

Thanks everyone, it's so hard to lose them. My older daughter and husband sat outside with them tonight until they all went to bed just because we're so worried about them all. My hubby told me he was freezing his butt off and wanted to murder a few of them because they wouldn't go to bed and stay there. We're going to be moving everyone to their new coop this weekend with a covered run. We'll also start figuring out how to cover the old run with something that can handle heavy snow. The new coop's run is longer but skinnier, so the top will be better supported.

We do have geese with our chickens, three big embdens, one male, one female, one we can't tell because all of it's features are smack dab in the middle of the other two who are obvious. We'll see in the spring when mating season gets here. We think they are the reason we haven't had a problem til now because we have no shortage of hawks out here. They were probably just on the other side of the coop in their favorite spots when it happened.

My geese were really easy to raise from babies (messy as can be though). I brooded them next to the chickens so they could all see eachother, and then when the geese were big enough (about the time I couldn't carry all three anymore) they got to free range with the chickens. Then when we got their hut in the run done, they moved out to the run with the chickens. We're going to try letting them live in the big coop with all the girls, but we're not sure it's going to work because they're so messy. They see me as mama and will come when called. They see themselves as mama to the chickens even though most of my chickens are older than them. They are VERY protective of their chickens. They attacked my dog anyime he was out(small/medium), went after a neighborhood cat(large), and any strange people in the yard. We can take people into the run with us and they behave, but people can't just go into the run. If the geese are free-ranging strangers are not safe. They also acclimate to strange chickens slowly. With the meaties, we had to free range them together for quite some time before they would tolerate a meatie in their yard let alone their run. They make a heck of a lot of noise any time there is something in our yard that doesnt belong (deer, rabbits too close, cats, dogs, people, trash). They track every moving thing in the sky and if it's a big pigeon flying too low they'll make a ruckus. They don't alert on airplanes or little robins anymore, and I've watched them watch hawks that were really high in the sky. Those hawks never came near though.

All that being said I have never seen them deal with a predator. If anything I think they've been more of a deterrent than a protector just due to their size. I think we're going to hatch some out in the spring so we can have some geese in both runs.

 

[Pozees]

So get this..I traded a friend of mine two little bantam brahma roos for two little spangled hamburg mix pullets....this was a few months ago, I think late August or very early September. The pullets were probably 10 weeks or so when we traded. Until today I firmly believed I had gotten two pullets....until today I saw one of my pullets mount the other....have NEVER heard a crow out of this guy.....who is obviously a rooster....totally surprised. This roo has no saddle feathers, doesn't have a "rooster" tail, neck feathers aren't significantly pointed either....I have been completely fooled by this roo.

Could just be dominant pullet behavior - which I wasn't aware of until it came up a few weeks ago, can't remember if it was here or another thread. I know dogs will do it, just didn't know until then that chickens will.

 

[kmatt87]

sorry about everyones losses!

 

[wsmith]

So I have a Friend who wants to buy chicks from me in early spring. He wants me to hatch them for him and only charge around $1.00 a piece. I thought this was a little low. So I went on line and to various resources and checked out 7 breeders/hatcheries that supply Dominiques. I noted and then figured out the average prices of straight run, pullets, and cockerels. here's what I came up with: The average cost each for Straight run Dom chicks was #3.20. the average cost for pullets was #3.26, while the average cost for cockerels was #1.78. I think what i will tell him is that if he wants inexpensive chicks that will give him a good return for meat birds, he should go with hatchery cornishX, and not a Heritage breed that 1. costs more initially, 2. Take twice as long to mature, and 3. can be raised efficiently in smaller areas.

 

[Pozees]

So I have a Friend who wants to buy chicks from me in early spring. He wants me to hatch them for him and only charge around $1.00 a piece. I thought this was a little low. So I went on line and to various resources and checked out 7 breeders/hatcheries that supply Dominiques. I noted and then figured out the average prices of straight run, pullets, and cockerels. here's what I came up with: The average cost each for Straight run Dom chicks was #3.20. the average cost for pullets was #3.26, while the average cost for cockerels was #1.78. I think what i will tell him is that if he wants inexpensive chicks that will give him a good return for meat birds, he should go with hatchery cornishX, and not a Heritage breed that 1. costs more initially, 2. Take twice as long to mature, and 3. can be raised efficiently in smaller areas.

At $1 apiece I don't see how you could even cover your cost. Hatcheries are in the $3-$4 range, as you said, and Urch, Albritton, and Sand Hill are more in the $7-$8 range, and that is for straight run. Can't remember about Sand Hill but Urch and Albritton don't sell anything but straight run. I could see charging a friend a lower price but not $1. I also noticed that the Ameraucana chicks are usually more $, along with some other less common breeds.

I keep meaning to ask, are you using ACV in your water? I read elsewhere that it supposedly increases the pullet to cockerel ratio in chicks when added to hens' water for some length of time before collecting eggs for hatching (think it was 8 weeks but not really sure). Or maybe it was hens' and roos' water, although that makes less sense since gender is determined by hen, I think.

Hoping to get to your place next week one day if you are available, to meet your Doms and will bring my flash drive. Monday is month-end close, hopefully the rest of the week will be smooth. If not, another time