Beth has lovely Orps and cochins. l know she has lav, blue and blacks, LF and some bantam, but she can tell you what she might have available specifically. 2 of my girls are from her eggs and they are very pretty.
Connecticut!
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Beth has lovely Orps and cochins. l know she has lav, blue and blacks, LF and some bantam, but she can tell you what she might have available specifically. 2 of my girls are from her eggs and they are very pretty.
Thanks for the welcome. We are fairly new to chickens. Last year June we got our first day old chicks from mypetchicken.com. They were so wonderful we got a few pullets from a heritage breeder in Oxford in August and then in October we got more chicks from mypetchicken. Our kids were so excited by our growing flock and we were tracking our birds growth, egg laying and had great plans. We lost one chicken to a cat attack, our beloved Buckeye Goldie. But all was well with our flock otherwise. The new girls integrated and all the girls were in harmony in the flock. We didn't have a rooster, so having fertile eggs was only a dream.
Then on New Years Eve, the birds were ambushed by a fox lying in wait for them to put themselves to bed. They had only free ranged for 2 hours that day because we only let them free range when we are home and we had been out all morning. The kids and I were inside doing a "dance party" with music blaring. When I went to lock up the run and the coop, there were no birds to be found. We hadn't heard anything outside because of the music. It was a humid foggy night and I was outside in a tee shirt. I went in to get a flashlight as it was getting dark quickly and then I saw the feathers. Everywhere. It was a terrible night of searching the woods and the properties around ours for hiding chickens in hopes of saving them. Of 21 birds, we wound up with 10 survivors. We only found 2 carcasses in the woods, heads bitten off only. The other 9 birds were never found. Daylight brought a world of feathers to our sad eyes and I didn't let our kids go out to play for 3 days while we waited for the winds to take most of the feathers away. As you remember, there was no snow, but our white cochin feathers were everywhere and it looked like snow. It was so sad. We lost our RIR, Russion Orloff, Welsummer, Barnevelver, Mille Fleur Bearded Bantam, White Cochin, Golden Laced Wynadotte, Easter Egger, Light Brahma, Salmon Faverolle, and Buff Brahma Bantam. As you can imagine, our hearts were broken.
Now that some time has passed, we are ready to grow our flock and have since gotten a wonderful Great Pyrenees Puppy who very seriously takes her job of guarding the flock. She and our Akita, who won't be friends with the chickens, have chased off Mr. Fox twice and he hasn't been back in two weeks. The GP puppy wants to stay outside and do her job, so we are out with her as often as possible and so the birds are getting to free range a lot more often again with her beside them. We are getting some more chicks soon and love having the chickens in our lives. I just ordered an incubator and we are going to hatch so we may get a rooster ( we will see how that goes!).
So now you know a little bit more about us!
Then on New Years Eve, the birds were ambushed by a fox lying in wait for them to put themselves to bed. They had only free ranged for 2 hours that day because we only let them free range when we are home and we had been out all morning. The kids and I were inside doing a "dance party" with music blaring. When I went to lock up the run and the coop, there were no birds to be found. We hadn't heard anything outside because of the music. It was a humid foggy night and I was outside in a tee shirt. I went in to get a flashlight as it was getting dark quickly and then I saw the feathers. Everywhere. It was a terrible night of searching the woods and the properties around ours for hiding chickens in hopes of saving them. Of 21 birds, we wound up with 10 survivors. We only found 2 carcasses in the woods, heads bitten off only. The other 9 birds were never found. Daylight brought a world of feathers to our sad eyes and I didn't let our kids go out to play for 3 days while we waited for the winds to take most of the feathers away. As you remember, there was no snow, but our white cochin feathers were everywhere and it looked like snow. It was so sad. We lost our RIR, Russion Orloff, Welsummer, Barnevelver, Mille Fleur Bearded Bantam, White Cochin, Golden Laced Wynadotte, Easter Egger, Light Brahma, Salmon Faverolle, and Buff Brahma Bantam. As you can imagine, our hearts were broken.
Now that some time has passed, we are ready to grow our flock and have since gotten a wonderful Great Pyrenees Puppy who very seriously takes her job of guarding the flock. She and our Akita, who won't be friends with the chickens, have chased off Mr. Fox twice and he hasn't been back in two weeks. The GP puppy wants to stay outside and do her job, so we are out with her as often as possible and so the birds are getting to free range a lot more often again with her beside them. We are getting some more chicks soon and love having the chickens in our lives. I just ordered an incubator and we are going to hatch so we may get a rooster ( we will see how that goes!).
So now you know a little bit more about us!
I like your fox solution - I wish our schedules allowed for keeping a dog 
Up until now we've enjoyed all the wildlife. Bears, a fisher, opossum. A couple years ago we had a momma fox and 4 kits and were so excited to see them here and there, playing in the ferns, looking so happy. Unfortunately some seemed to show up as roadkill and we found remains of one in our yard....we were very sad to see that.
Yet now, with chickens coming, growing fox families leads to a conflict. But, my view is that we greedy people took all their hunting territory so I wouldn't feel right trapping and shooting them as seems to be a popular solution. We're just planning on LOTS of hardware cloth, including underneath the soil in the run. And we'll have to be outside with our little Silkies if they're out in the yard. I wonder if a fox might be bold enough to try to snatch one even then? I hope not.
I'm so happy to hear of so many others keeping chickens around here! By the way, do any of the TSC stores have chicks yet? The ad in a Chickens magazine we have said starting March 2.....but I hear some get stocked earlier. Not that we can buy any, but I have to live vicariously and I'd love to go see them. Just to see the fuzzy butts and hear those little peeps.
Up until now we've enjoyed all the wildlife. Bears, a fisher, opossum. A couple years ago we had a momma fox and 4 kits and were so excited to see them here and there, playing in the ferns, looking so happy. Unfortunately some seemed to show up as roadkill and we found remains of one in our yard....we were very sad to see that.
Yet now, with chickens coming, growing fox families leads to a conflict. But, my view is that we greedy people took all their hunting territory so I wouldn't feel right trapping and shooting them as seems to be a popular solution. We're just planning on LOTS of hardware cloth, including underneath the soil in the run. And we'll have to be outside with our little Silkies if they're out in the yard. I wonder if a fox might be bold enough to try to snatch one even then? I hope not.
I'm so happy to hear of so many others keeping chickens around here! By the way, do any of the TSC stores have chicks yet? The ad in a Chickens magazine we have said starting March 2.....but I hear some get stocked earlier. Not that we can buy any, but I have to live vicariously and I'd love to go see them. Just to see the fuzzy butts and hear those little peeps.
In '10 I had a fox grab one of our RIRs not 15-20 feet from where I was sitting outdoors having my morning coffee watching the girls scratch around in the yard. Before I knew what was happening he broke her neck and trotted off into the woods with her. If you don't already have one, get a dog and train it to watch the chickens (any of the herding breeds will just about do this naturally if introduced at a young age). We have not lost any hens to foxes since dragon came on duty.
Well, thanks for the heads up though I wish it weren't the case!
I don't think we can swing a dog right now.....so I think we'll have to take our chances horrible as that sounds. I am very disheartened that a fox would be that aggressive.
I don't think we can swing a dog right now.....so I think we'll have to take our chances horrible as that sounds. I am very disheartened that a fox would be that aggressive.
Sigh.
Yeah, my signature just tells you how far we are from guard animals. Our cats are there to provide cute fluff. Well, we do put it out in the spring for birds to use in their nests....but the contribution ends there!
Yeah, my signature just tells you how far we are from guard animals. Our cats are there to provide cute fluff. Well, we do put it out in the spring for birds to use in their nests....but the contribution ends there!
Hey all! New to the forum - and I've got new babies! (Pics taken while I was moving the little rotters out of their brooder to check for pasty rears).
A lot of them I'm not sure about - they're mostly from a random assortment of ornamental breeds - but I know I've got more than a few cochins and some EEs. I'm also pretty sure there are a few faverolles and lakenvelders.
A lot of them I'm not sure about - they're mostly from a random assortment of ornamental breeds - but I know I've got more than a few cochins and some EEs. I'm also pretty sure there are a few faverolles and lakenvelders.
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