Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Well poop! My Amerucana was either snatched by a hawk or she hopped the fence! Sigh.....

KarenS - looks like my chicken math isn't so bad if Sesame (my Amerucana) has flown the coop.

The bummer part is the kids and I really like those blue eggs!

I called the neighbor to see if Sesame decided to go hang out with her flock. Is it possible that a hawk would grab her and fly off?

Sorry about your hen, Pikeman! Hope she comes back or you can find her. I don't know what a hawk would do, but I'd think they'd leave a lot of feathers around. I'm pretty sure my turkey was attacked by a hawk and there was a HUGE spot of feathers everywhere. If Seymore hadn't been standing next to me, I'd have said a bird died in that spot it was so awful.

 

[JosieChick]

Pikeman- How old is she? Red tailed hawks can carry a small full grown chicken away. I had a coopers hawk come down and try to carry a 3 pound silkie away last summer but I scared him in time. If she was petite it is possible. Keep an eye out though, maybe if she is laying she has a stash of eggs she is sitting on?

Tweety- Love the set up, very nice. Those ducks are getting huge!

Ivy- So glad you are home and doing well!

Hawkeye-Usually when a chick is close to hatch all you can see is dark mass and air cell. I usually can't see hardly any veining anymore and you can usually see there head pressing up against the air cell as they move into hatching position. Don't beat yourself up, I can't hatch silkies to save my life. I set a dozen eggs and wind up with 2 or 3 chicks out the bunch.

Have you tried some mutt chicken eggs or large fowl eggs just as practice? I have a friend out in Andover that would gladly give you a couple rhode island red eggs to practice with. I hatched a batch of her eggs and made so many mistakes and still had a 100% hatch. Sometimes it is good to have a confidence booster before you set dainty silkie eggs.

Molly got her hair done yesterday and is looking like a show girl!! I will post pics of her later and her new helper!! We are thinking about doing an invisible fence on the property to keep her within our acreage? I just got a book on LGDs and they recommended either electric fencing or an invisible fence to keep dogs on your own land. I don't know that I want to run electric fencing everywhere just yet so the invisible fence is sounding better....

 

[HEChicken]

Pikeman - is there evidence of foul play (blood, feathers etc.)? If not, could she have found a place to hide away and set a clutch of eggs?

Josie - a consideration with invisible fencing is that it will keep Molly on your property but won't keep other animals out. She will then be limited to running them off to the edge of your property (or to the invisible fence line since that will likely be inside your property lines) but won't be able to chase them further than that. Just something to think about.... Also, if you ever want to take her off your property, you'll have to take off her collar first. Just last weekend I talked to a guy who put his dog in the back of his mule and drove over the invisible fence without thinking. The dog is okay - but it wasn't a pleasant experience for the poor thing.

 

[JosieChick]

HEchicken- Right on the taking the collar off before leaving the property! Ouch!! Poor pup. I have thought about that. From what I have read in my book so far they recommend on smaller properties keeping LGDs within securely fenced pastures and using electric fence to contain them on your property. We don't have 900 acres of pasture for her to patrol and I am a bit concerned that if she wanders off she will wind up shut in someone elses pens by accident again. I think she would have come home that day if she hadn't been locked into a pasture surrounded by hotwire. At her old house the owner kept her in his 2 acre goat pasture when she was protecting them and used hotwire to keep her in so she wasn't able to wander away from the goats. From my understanding a Pyrs territory is "as far as the eye can see" and that is pretty far out here!! I would much rather she stay within our property and protect than go protect the neighbors cattle. She is VERY respectful of all fencing though so I know she has had some run ins with hot wire in the past and is pretty sure all fencing may bite.

 

[pikeman94]

Good News! Sesame had indeed hopped the fence -- Stinker! She is getting her feathers clipped later today to prevent that kind of escape. I like a happy ending. Now back to work.

 

[Ivywoods]

Josie-Her new helper? Did I miss something? Did you get a new pup? Yes, post a picture of Molly with her new "do."
I am NOT a fan of electric collars left on a dog. A regular hot wire is easier to put up and take down and less expensive, too.

My step son had a nice dog. It was a golden retriever/ lab mix. Very sweet dog. They were at work, and when they came home they realized something was wrong with the dog. In checking her they found out her collar was continually shocking her. I don't know how they figured it out, but it turned out that a nearby cell phone tower had the same frequency as her collar. The poor dog was never the same after that. It just totally ruined her. I would never want that to happen to any dog. With all the new electronic gadgets being used, I just wouldn't want to take the chance, and our world is becoming more and more dependent on wireless communications.

I don't have so much of a problem with collars that are put on and used in training. I have heard of dummies putting them on and then putting the contoller in their pocket and then inadvertently shocking the dog by sitting on the controller or something.

 

[Ivywoods]

Well folks, you may get kind of tired of me here. Since I am recovering from my surgery I do a lot of sitting on my rear. The most comfortable place for me to sit is in this compter chair with my leg up.
Gees. I just typed a long post with multiple replies in it, then lost the whole thing. I've done this so many times I decided I need to do some modifications to my little mousepad on the keyboard of my laptop, I used a very sophisticated method. I cut a piece of plastic from the lid of an ice cream bucket, then I taped it over the thing so my hand wouldn't accidently brush over it.

Is this what they call "redneck electronics?"

 

[HEChicken]

Gees. I just typed a long post with multiple replies in it, then lost the whole thing. I've done this so many times I decided I need to do some modifications to my little mousepad on the keyboard of my laptop, I used a very sophisticated method. I cut a piece of plastic from the lid of an ice cream bucket, then I taped it over the thing so my hand wouldn't accidently brush over it.

Is this what they call "redneck electronics?"

Haha - too funny. My MIL took one of those fake credit cards they send you when trying to entice you to sign up for the card, and taped that over hers - its the perfect size and keeps her from using it inadvertently. Mine can be turned off with just the touch of a button and I used to have it turned off but my mouse, ahem, kept disappearing. I got tired of trying to figure out which family member had stolen it most recently, so I gave up and now use the touchpad exclusively.

Glad you're back with us Ivy - hope you are keeping up with the PT, and the pain meds are working well.

 

[HEChicken]

Good News! Sesame had indeed hopped the fence -- Stinker! She is getting her feathers clipped later today to prevent that kind of escape. I like a happy ending. Now back to work.

Glad she's back - its always a relief to find them when you thought they were gone for good.

 

[JosieChick]

Molly's spring tidy up hair do! Good for preventing cockle burrs! I should have trimmed her tail up some more but she was getting tired of standing on the table.



An Lucie!!! Molly's new helper. Molly is very protective of her, it is really cute. She barks at the goats if they get too close to the pup. She went for her first property walk with Molly and I on the leash this morning. So far she is a really nice pup and very smart.