East RIver - South Dakota

[SouthDakotan]

My broody hen is available for sale! I have been trying to find a new home for her as the other hens will be going to the deep freeze and she has proven she will set well regardless of predators & heat! (She defended her nest box successfully, when the coons assaulted the hen house). She is a larger breed and despite the extreme heat managed to hatch out a bantam chick & two ducklings. I was just experimenting with the concept of broody hens and heard how large breed hens can brood duck eggs due to their size. So I wondered about their ability to brood a mixed nest of duck, bantam, standard and heavy weight eggs. She had 15 eggs under her, and I watched as she diligently turned all her eggs under her bumm!

And she is turning out to be a great little mamma hen too. Watching her baby duckling and teaching it how to move about the yard and eat grass seedlings and feed and go to water sources, etc. She is so cute as she clucks to it to "come here". And the duckling scanters off to where she is.

I live east of Brookings about 7 miles, if you are interested in her, just let me know. I will be leaving for the winter so all my little hens will be finding a new home or the freezer once we have hard frost. My rooster has already got a new home scheduled up in White, for a friend needs a "younger roo". Her's is over 10 years of age. But I'd love to see this broody momma hen find a home for having a broody hen is far better in my view than having a brooder box!

 

[SouthDakotan]

Equipment Exchange Opportunity --

Since S.Dakota law won't allow us to have poultry swaps, I figured that our Sustainability Fair this year might be a great place for those raising chickens to consider bringing their "sterilized" poultry equipment they want to sell --

Or perhaps just photos or fliers with photos showing what they have for sale or barter.

Its also an opportunity for poultry people to exchange contact info

So Don't forget that September 8th from 9am to 6pm is the South Dakota Sustainability Fair, taking place in Bushnell, SD (east of Brookings abt 7 miles).

This is a FREE event and gives poultry people and others a chance to network and exchange information, ideas and much more!

Hope to see you there

 

[CherieAmie]

Would anyone be interested in adopting some ex battery hens (white leghorn) in the Sioux Falls area? I have several that are still looking for homes. PM me for more details.

 

[SouthDakotan]

Would anyone be interested in adopting some ex battery hens (white leghorn) in the Sioux Falls area? I have several that are still looking for homes. PM me for more details.

May I ask what does "Ex battery" mean? I'm not familiar with that term.

 

[SouthDakotan]

South Dakota Sustainability Fair - Sept 8th
​

Location: Bushnell town hall, Bushnell, SD
Time: 9 am - 6 pm

Event will include workshop on backyard poultry rearing & also butchering of poultry.
Other workshops and presentations will also be taking place throughout the day.​

 

[CherieAmie]

An ex battery hen is a hen that has been kept in a tiny cage her whole life for commercial egg laying. They usually have almost no feathers from rubbing against the wire cage, and have no idea how to behave like a "real chicken" once they've been released from their cages. With a little time and TLC, they can become just as beautiful, and "normal" as other chickens.

 

[spartman]

I SOOOOOOOO want to go to that fair!!!!

 

[SouthDakotan]

How many must one take? How old are they?

 

[SouthDakotan]

I too lost my entire breeding duck flock to predators. It was a large coon family. Each nite they wiped out another pen. Then went on to wipe out my breeding flock of pigeons by tearing into my coop through a vent. Then assaulted my hen house, killing three hens and injuring two so severely I had to put them down.

I learned its not wise to live-trap & relocate coons, as they are territorial & by removing them. You simply open up the territory to another coon & more assaults. I learned from that it is recommended that you "Teach" the coons (and other predators) that your coops aren't worth their time. In the case of the coons, I resorted to back filling the holes they dug with broken shards of glass. I also laid down a "carpet" of mature stinging nettle on the pathways they had been using. This all helped in reducing their interest in my coops! Additionally, where they dug along the parameter of my coops, I drove in three foot rebar rods so that regardless of digging they wouldn't get into the coops.

Occassionally I have a skunk come to the chicken yard, to look for loose seeds, bugs & get water. So now I merely keep the gate open at night so he can get to the water & he has been leaving my coop alone. Mind you, I have a wild game feeding station further back in the trees, where I place old eggs and the like -- so they don't come looking for eggs at my coops. Its been an "Agreement" of sorts with nature's wild critters.

I lost my replacement pullets to none other than a dog! By then the weather was getting too hot for hatcheries to ship. So I have chosen not to replace my old hens this year. What I have currently are three years old and they provide me just enough eggs to stay ahead of what we eat. The only ducks I have now are my muscovies who were in a Duck Tractor when the Coon assault took place & they weren't killed.

Anisah

 

[lauriemae15]

Hi from Mitchell!