And Then There Are 3

Having relearned my lesson by only having 2 Polish I decided that only getting one more polish to try and pair with Niamh may not have been wise. Therefore, we now have another polish.

Everyone meet Tilly.

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She is a gold laced Polish who came to us from Texas. There were no polish anywhere near us so I had to have her shipped here overnight.

She arrived mid-morning safe and sound. She is just over 4.5 months old. Tilly is in the rabbit hutch under quarantine.

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It took quite a bit of enhancement but it should work as a suitable place for her to serve her time.

I now have 2 different quarantines going on opposite sides of my yard.

Hopefully, by having seperate quarantines no one will bond before they are all put together in the Cluckle Hut and start learning from Niamh. I surely hope this works. If not, this is the last time I'm going to try something like this.
She is so pretty. I'm praying quarantine goes well. I'm also praying that when the time comes integration goes smoothly and all 3 form their own special little tribe. I hope Niamh realizes just how special a chicken she is. Not many owners would go to the extreme lengths you had to go through to get her not 1, but 2 friends of her own kind after the loss of her sister.
 
This evening I've had the little black polish pullet on my mind. I have not had a update on her since Saturday when I found out they had started on antibiotics. I'm praying right now no news is good news. I do think I'm going to reach out tomorrow and see how she is doing. I've been going back and forth in my mind if I should get her if she recovers. I keep coming to the conclusion that if she recovers I think I really do want her.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention that as of Sunday evening I 100% now know what predator I have been dealing with. Mom was sitting out the back door just watching Dirt eat his dinner. To her shock a coyote just hopped off the hill and ran straight up to the silkie coop. By the time she ran in and got the shot gun it had already went back on the hill and she never saw it anymore that night. The chickens are once again on total lockdown and we are back on coyote watch.
 
Grrrrrr darn rat….

Rat meet trap
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No don’t go that way!
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Truly is driving me nuts
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Between my RLS and these beasts…..

This is what I want to be doing
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Luck birds!
 
Oh, I forgot to mention that as of Sunday evening I 100% now know what predator I have been dealing with. Mom was sitting out the back door just watching Dirt eat his dinner. To her shock a coyote just hopped off the hill and ran straight up to the silkie coop. By the time she ran in and got the shot gun it had already went back on the hill and she never saw it anymore that night. The chickens are once again on total lockdown and we are back on coyote watch.

Whoa Nelly! Bold beast 😡

I saw a youngster all alone in a field of n Sunday. I guess it was
Kicked out of the group.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention that as of Sunday evening I 100% now know what predator I have been dealing with. Mom was sitting out the back door just watching Dirt eat his dinner. To her shock a coyote just hopped off the hill and ran straight up to the silkie coop. By the time she ran in and got the shot gun it had already went back on the hill and she never saw it anymore that night. The chickens are once again on total lockdown and we are back on coyote watch.
Ugh. I really do not like coyotes.
 
Those are good alternatives... only problem I see w/ a box feeder is that some rats are tenacious to chew thru plastic, wood, plaster, etc.

We thought metal treadle feeders holding 25 lb feed each was a great idea but only one chicken would use the metal as the others were petrified of the noise.

Our 2 big metal treadle feeders $100 each & only one chicken used them. 2015
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So we bought a smaller treadle $75 w/ softer sounding resin parts but not one chicken would use it. Followed all the advice for training but only the wild birds ate from it. 2016 ☹️
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We have a grandpas treadle feeders and all ours use it fine. It’s less noisy if it’s put on a soft ground!
 
Are you in a rural or suburb environment? We live in a city where we don't have spacious property to move things around. Our birds only catch insects during foraging or they catch spider webs in their feathers. They'll eat bigger stuff like locusts or lizards but only if we toss them an already dead one 😉
Yes we are more rural. We use a treadle now so I could update this winter see if the treadle works as we will move it in the coop area sometimes.
 
My neighbourhood friend who has chickens has the same treadle feeder. Her hens didn’t want to use it either unless she put a stone on the step and it opened a little before taking the step to open it further.
At the beginning I had to do the same so they could see the food inside. Mine took a few weeks to learn to open it when it a completely shut but they got it in the end!
 

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