FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[N F C]

How do y'all encourage crows to hang around.

Have had hawk problems lately

I'm glad you asked, I've wondered about this too.

I just did a Bing search and a link to an old BYC thread came up! It's short but here you go:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/599633/how-to-encourage-crows

And I found this on a gardening forum:
"I used to feed a crow population that was living in the woods near our cabin at a holistic retreat center. We weren't growing anything so I can't speak to that problem. We also had a bird feeder and there were plenty of other birds around. I would feed the crows stale bread from the kitchen and chicken bones and roadkill that I would harvest from the nearby country roads, mostly squirrels. We just set the stuff on our railing and they would take it. They would follow us whenever they would see us. They are very smart and you might be able to feed them away from your gardens and still gain advantages and not have them pick at your plants. There were still hawks in the general vicinity."

 

[cmom]

I put out scraps and if I have any cracked eggs. Crows are scavengers and will eat about anything. Since I always am putting stuff out for them they stay around. A hawk flew over and the crows were after it pretty quickly.

 

[LocalYokel]

I'm glad you asked, I've wondered about this too.

I just did a Bing search and a link to an old BYC thread came up! It's short but here you go:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/599633/how-to-encourage-crows

And I found this on a gardening forum:
"I used to feed a crow population that was living in the woods near our cabin at a holistic retreat center. We weren't growing anything so I can't speak to that problem. We also had a bird feeder and there were plenty of other birds around. I would feed the crows stale bread from the kitchen and chicken bones and roadkill that I would harvest from the nearby country roads, mostly squirrels. We just set the stuff on our railing and they would take it. They would follow us whenever they would see us. They are very smart and you might be able to feed them away from your gardens and still gain advantages and not have them pick at your plants. There were still hawks in the general vicinity."

I put out scraps and if I have any cracked eggs. Crows are scavengers and will eat about anything. Since I always am putting stuff out for them they stay around. A hawk flew over and the crows were after it pretty quickly.

Thanks yall

 

[Seatrout00]

I too will have to try to attract the crows, or at least, the grackles. Sadly, I dont' get too many birds in my yard since the street behind me was developed. Only cardinals and occasional wrens, despite throwing scraps outside for my local opossum.

 

[LocalYokel]

Dern starlings...

 

[arghyla]

I have Silkies because of their reputation as "incubators disguised as feather dusters."   Unless you plan to hatch chicks, or change your name to St. George the Dragon-Slayer, probably best to leave Silkie hens be.  I just had another go broody today.  I went out to gather eggs, saw her set firmly on a golf ball, and asked, "Are you going broody too?" (There are four others in the cubby boxes brooding.)  Her response was a loud squawk and a peck at my hand - good thing her aim is not as good as two others!  When I checked eggs for the marks on the end, I noticed one of the marked ones has pipped already, and the chick started peeping, which of course gets the hens riled up more.

It's easier to get the Arken Stone from Smaug than get eggs from seriously broody Silkie hens (and I love it).  Last year, I declared I wanted broodies so determined that we'd need bomb squad gear to collect eggs.  I sure got'em!    As determined as those girls are, I would not be surprised if the golf balls hatch, too.

Omg I'm laughing so hard right now. I want them for cuteness and lovability but I am torn bc more eggs would be AWESOME

 

[Sweet Coastal]

Anyone selling a used GFQ sportsman or other nice incubator they no longer need? Looking to upgrade.

 

[cmom]

Anyone selling a used GFQ sportsman or other nice incubator they no longer need? Looking to upgrade.

I see you are a relatively new member. If I haven't would like to say

A friend of mine has been looking also. I came across this
http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/grd/5393690068.html

 

[Seatrout00]

OK my peeps - here is the start of my coop - and I should say that I met the fellow working on the coop with me ON Backyard Chickens dot com ... its insane but its true - without you all, I wouldn't have a coop in the works - I'd be purchasing some horrible kit that would fall apart within a year, wasting precious coin.

Thus far we only have the frame up.

 

[luvmychis]

FLORIDA WINTER - WHAT TO DO, IF ANYTHING, FOR OUR CHICKENS

I'm in NE FL and this is our first winter with the hens. I think I'm on the right track for them to have a comfortable winter, but I want to make sure, get any suggestions, etc. Since we had a 9 hour hard freeze last night, I figured it's almost past time for this discussion. I guess it's better late than never for us newcomers.

From reading past forum posts, this is what I've come up with. I'd greatly appreciate discussion with more experienced chicken keepers to let me know if I'm doing this right.

Where they live - My coop is basically 6 feet tall, with a slanted aluminum roof, by 6 feet deep. The back wall is solid, aluminum, and 4 feet of both side walls are solid, giving them protection on three sides. The rest is hardware cloth, with a solid deck flooring. There's 4 nesting boxes on the deck and 4 across the back at about 4 feet. They have a roosting ladder from deck to boxes and a roosting bar (made from 2"x2"s) that go across just inside of the solid side walls, so 3 1/2 feet out and 5 feet off the deck. Their "run" or chicken yard, as I call it, is 23' x 23' square. They have plenty of shade trees and also a "cabana" (previous owners left an old dog house, so we took the sides off all around, cut down the legs, leaving the deck floor and tin roof. Now the chickens have a place to get off the ground and under cover in case of rain or too much sun.)

Preparing for winter - I've added more waterers, as I read chickens drink more water in cold weather. I've changed over to Nature's Way Feather Fixer pellets, as that has higher protein than the layer pellets. Plus, they are all just getting over molting anyway. I've added about 4 inches of nesting materials (pine and cedar shavings mixture) across the bottom of the coop. I posted a solar powered LED security light across from the coop to give them light, not heat, for an additional 4 hours. They are free fed but now I've added an evening "snack" so they have food in their belly when they go to roost. This is a mixture of Poultry Conditioner pellets, black sunflower seeds, and scratch.

I think I've covered what they need: more water, food in belly as they processing helps keep them warm, and materials on the floor to help contain the heat they generate when roosting together. It's my understanding that they don't need a heat source other than each other. My husband family kept chickens in the mountains and never gave heat, and they were fine, even with snow. With that in mind, I know they can survive the freezes but I want to do what I can to make them comfortable, not just surviving.

What do you all do?

Thanks,
Lisa