FoodKiller's chicken journal!

[Thatchickenguy]

no lol u said in a few other posts that ur hens would kill or injure your roo. i doubt that will happen

 

[FoodKillah]

Yes as he was growing up the top hen was pecking him and his comb was bleeding several times but he survived

he never fights back "The Dinosaur" is still the top hen

 

[FoodKillah]

Dear journal.

One day like today will be the last one for my rooster. When he sees me holding my daughter, he attacks me. Even if i am not going where he is, he still charges my leg. I take this as an offense and therefor i defend, me and my daughter. Until today he was lucky when he was doing this, because my hands were full and i did not want to harm him so i didnt use my feet as secret weapons.

But today... i nearly heard a crowd screaming "GOOOOAAAAAL" when i kicked him back with a strong kick in the lungs, as he was making his third attack in a row. He took off 5 feet seriously. That son of a chicken really thought twice after attacking me again, i left, but the damage was done, i was very angry at him. After taking my daughter to a safe place (in the house) i went out again.....no more silly stuff to try to make this rooster behave, this time its the true terror.

I grabbed him by the feathers as he was trying to escape in the weeds, i pulled him back, i gave him few good slaps in the face, i picked him up and kept him high in the air, then i shacked him fast, then more slaps, then back on his feet on a wall and kept him down with force while pulling his comb back like he does to the chickens when he mates (the comb was bleeding already, after HIS attacks).

I officially have lost my patience for this rooster, i will not try any other methods of calming a rooster, they all failed! I believe i know most of the ways that roosters are supposed to calm down after reading so many here, but not my rooster.

He will propably calm down on 200 degrees and i believe he will still look beatyful until my stomach makes him look like crap.

I will propably try more times to calm him in the future but as i am writing this i am still a little upset of "our fight".

I feel ashamed of the contents of this post, i failed, i could not calm him down and i started fighting him back like a brainless mad man that i obviously am.

End of story dear journal.

 

[FoodKillah]

Dear journal.

Since i started keeping chickens i also keep an eye on other peoples coops and how "they do it". I am reconsidering many things about my chickens. I wanted them for eggs, then i thought that i might keep some chickens for meat too. I thought i could just throw them all in a coop and let them be there and everything is ok, but its not.

Main flock: 4 hens (layers) 1 rooster
"Other" flock: 2 meatbirds and 1 layer

I cant keep them together for sure because the main flock attacks the chicks, also my main flock is UGLY and their personality sucks too, nothing compared to my loyal and social hen "Afterpee" that died somewhere near last December.

I still LOVE the chicken keeping idea and i have to put some things together, for example, that freaking "new" coop is waiting to be built since last September. I have to finish this coop. I think in this coop i will be keeping my main flock for eggs, but not all the hens i keep now. I mean, who wants to hear another "Dinosaur's" pecking story? Nobody. That hen looks uglier than any other hen on this planet, she has missing feathers that dont grow back, her skin has become red like blood, her eggs are always bigger but funny. The "good one" and the "woose" have no personalities at all, the "baker" is funny, but as she grew up she is not as cute, they are not even the "lovely couple" they used to be with the rooster. The rooster, uh why do i keep a rooster? Reproduce? No!? Eggs have nothing to do with him, all he is good at, is attacking me!

I have to re-arrange my flock and see what chicken goes in the coop and what in the BBQ. Then i will buy more hens but this time i will be cautious where i buy them from! I dont want missing feather dinosaurs, killer roosters, or gigantic meatbirds that are sold as egg layers.

Thats it for now journal, see you soon!

 

[FoodKillah]

Hello journal

One of the stray cats that invade my yard has gave birth to 4 more stray cats, in the yard of my sisters house which is pretty much the same yard with no fence boundaries, only the 2 yards perimeter is fenced together, which gave a safe spot for the cat to give birth. I have no problem with that as long as the kitties get out of the yards as soon as possible, but i am not that cruel to throw them out to random dogs that pass by right now that they are defend-less.

The thing is that the cat choose the wrong time to do it, because it was the third day that i didnt feed my chickens in purpose to make them eat the weeds again because they had given up the weeds, that said, one day the cat and the kitties disappeared just like that. Just in case, i started looking between the weeds of my yard to check out if they are there because if they were, they would get eaten. I didnt found them and i was happy to know my flock will not get in any trouble with that broody cat.

After 2 days i saw the broody cat running in some weeds in my yard and i just yelled "%#% #@$@$ $@"$ @$@" and with the help of my rooster we made that broody cat run for her life (i just love my rooster sometimes, more about him later). I looked around for her kitties again, no luck, the flock helped me too this time, nothing. Next morning i saw the cat walking away from the same weeds, but since she has always been a regular visitor (toilet) i didnt pay any attention other than scare her away and make her run at least because i thought she was too comfortable just walking in my yard.

Everything was normal, except the fact that the presence of some greenish-blueish flies was there and it made me wonder if its the coops poop that attracts them or not, to tell you the truth i havent seen any of those flies near the coop, only some black ones but you never know i thought.

Yesterday, that is 5 days after the kitties disappeared i heard something scratching under a piece of cardboard box that lays around between the weeds, i took a closer look and i saw nothing, however i thought it was about time to collect some crap that lay around and i started with the cardboard piece. Before i even pick it up i got 3 surprises in the same time.

The smell of something dead was the first thing to notice then a cloud of those freaking flies exploded and left me in a sight of a dead kitty full of worms with its head burst open and clean of the brain, LOL what a sight...... dammmmmm!!! There lays a kitty that was for sure killed and partly eaten by my hens, how cool is that haha.

The other 3 kitties were hidden under the cardboard piece and so was their mom at the time. I tried to grab the mom but she escaped and then i took the 3 kitties and placed them in that pet travel box that i have and moved it to the spot where their mom gave birth, away from my flock. Then i wore few plastic gloves and with the help of a stick and a plastic bag i got rid of the half eaten kitty. EWeewwewww............

Now their mother has come back and milks them under some pallets where she gave birth. I wonder if she will dare to visit my cruel yard again, that patrols of evil birds dont give a second chance to anything alive, when they are hungry. At the time the dinosaur was starting to cannibalize against the rest of the chickens and finally i had to feed them and they relaxed. Now i started feeding them again but they have return to their habbit of eating weeds which is exactly what i wanted, less feed wasted, less weeds, healthier hens and eggs (their poop is green of weeds, even now that i feed them some corn)

End of kitty slaughtering story.

The rooster has finally realized i am the number 1 in the yard. He hasnt attack me for quite a long time and he behaves when i am around. The last punishment he had to go through was the isolation overnight in a dark cardboard box. After that he never attacked me again, i pick him up everyday and i pull his comb near his back everyday, like he does to his hens. I also put him in the pen with the small hens and he does not attack them anymore, even when the bigger chick PECKS HIM!!! HAHA, i was very happy to see this. Imagine a meatbird chick (huge) pecking my rooster because he dares to eat from their food. He didnt peck back, that was the funny thing actually.

My rooster is now a part of MY team again. He helps me gather the hens in the coop and everything he used to, but doesnt attack me and if i see him acting weird with his hens i always pick him up.

Thats all for today!

 

[off-grid hen]

Any updates? I miss your posts. How are things going?

 

[FoodKillah]

Thanks for asking off-grid hen. Here is an update.

Hello to everyone, i hope you are all doing good, it has been awhile! First, me and my family are fine. My gardening skills are better this year and we all enjoy it, especially the chickens!!!

I have built that coop i used to talk about and its almost complete (no nest boxes, big deal) i keep the "young chickens" in there to live in peace. I will try to post some photos tomorrow, its not the coop of my dreams with bricks and cement, but i like how it looks in my yard, at least it does not look like junk (like my other coop). There is not much to say about that 3 "little" chickens, the one i hatched looks like a pure white leghorn even tho its mom was a production red, its just a little peaceful chicken friendly and happy that can fly 6 feet high, 40 feet away and chases all kinds of birds away (when she free range, thats rare) the other 2 little huge beasts are so fat... they walk around with their wings spread and mouths open because of the extreme heat, i call them "quadruped** chickens" (**=google translate) because they are so heavy, they help themselves walk around with their wings, isnt that funny?

Now my main flock...very long story. They are all alive. The "dinosaur" has become almost featherless for some reason.Now, if you remember i had an issue with that rooster, i was trying to show him i am the man of the yard, but he always attacks me 1 week after i show him why he should respect me. This is going on all spring till today. However i should have get rid of him months ago.. my flock saw me battling with their rooster so many times, that they now hate me, they are scared of me

the chickens that once ate from my hand, the chickens i feed and take care of for the last year, sing the alarm call when i walk in the yard and run away from me while they buff up their feathers to show how dangerous i look to them. This flock is a disaster, they still free range all day, because i still feel bad if they are locked in that small run, they eat my tomatoes of the tomato plants, they take dust baths on my seedlings, they chew of the leaves of my vegetables, when i try to get them out of the partly fenced vegetable garden, they make sure they run through all the plants first and get under and into the veggy bushes to break all the stems off. The rooster cant fight it, he feels he is the man of the yard, hey the last time he attacked me was.... TODAY. He is the reason i now have chickens that are afraid of me. I remember long ago, when i was still posting here, i could enjoy a walk in my yard between my chickens and watch them roam around, that was relaxing me so much... i miss this. Now i walk in my yard and i feel like bin laden, sometimes they make me feel like a stranger and that i dont belong there at all. Silly flock, i AM whatever YOU say i am, i hate those chickens now as well, i make plans on how i will slaughter them all one day and keep only the young hens that love me. I cant feed someone that treats me like the enemy, right? Do you feel me? Those freaks will never enjoy the new coop because they dont deserve it

i have become very emotional havent i? WELL.......

At least i still have good moments, you should see the first eggs of the young hens some days ago! The first was tiny, the second was tiny again but with double yolk. I am glad i have them to remind me how cool chickens are. Those hens are the future

and especially the chick i hatched has a little corner in my heart

this is why they have the huge coop and run all for themselves.

Thats all i think..

 

[FoodKillah]

Hello dear journal... it has been a long time since i last posted and... i am not bringing good news. I am at work right now (nightshift, like last summer) and my wife called me to tell me what have happent in the basement. So i start my post.

I have no idea why the best chicken has to die of some random reason. Why? What is going on with this? How the h**l the huge meatbirds managed to survive all the heat waves that past and....

MY BELOVED LITTLE CUTE SHY CHICKEN.... DIED!!!!

Before i manage to express how i feel and get very emotional... here is what happent:

Day 1:
JUST yesterday, while the flock free-ranged, i did my regular in and out of the house to throw our left overs. I thought all the flock "took off" and attacked the left overs at full speed. There was alot of food there including spaggeti that got covered with soil and the flock had to search very slow to find it. After some 20 minutes, i go out again just to look at them and then i noticed, my white chicken was missing! (with the minimal experience i have gained, i learned that if you dont see some chicken out of the coop, its dead, so i assumed it was) I go to the yard and as i walked to the coop i was already thinking this freaking question "WHY?" i look in the coop and there it was standing and looking around a little lethargic...i thought of what i have read here in BYC lethargic=sick, so i took my little one inside and setup the old cage of the rabbit, for the chicken. Nothing other than water and food. That chicken was always at the bottom of the pecking order and all the flock was pecking it

i had to split their chicken feed in 3 different places in the coop to make sure that chick gets some... with that said, the chicken started eating and i was so glad there was hope.. i went out and started some gardening crap out there until it got dark and i released the chick in the coop again as it seemed to be ok.

Day2:
The chick was out of the coop, in the run, with her meatbird "friends", eating here, scratching there. Everything looked ok then. Later in the day when i gave them some more left overs i opened the coop number 1 first, then i opened coop number 2. All good. There was no reason for me to pay attention. I left them all free and went in the house. Later, i went outside and made a call again, just to check on them(sometimes they escape to my sisters yard and poop her pavings which is something she doesnt respect) they were all there... exept MY chicken.... i rushed to the coop to look upon a dying chick, completely lethargic, laying down like dead

This is what have happen outside. After that i took it inside again to isolate it.

Day2(inside):
I placed the lethargic chicken in the rabbits cage, with some of our food (peas and some beef) some chicken feed, and for the first time i used the vitamin pack i bought months ago just in case. I diluted it and since the chicken could not drink by itself, i used one of my dauthers toy-spoons (tiny) and fed the chicken, 6 peas and about 5-10 spoons of water, i say 5-10 because at some point while her head was dropping on the floor the water got out. Then i placed a piece of cloth like a pillow for her to lay her head and i went back out for some gardening. Late evening before i start to get ready for work, i checked it and it looked the same, sleeping, lethargic, no poop to examine, peaceful and i thought it might be recovering. Then at some point i left for work.

Day2(at work):
My wife calls,

Wy where have you been i called earlier too
Me:I was busy doing (something random)
W: Oh... ... ... its gone.
Me: NOOO!!!!!!!
W: Only if you listened to it.... poor thing
Me: How? why? what happent? (i cry as i type this)
W: It sounded like if it was a dog in the basement
Me: (again, more) Nos, hows, whys
W: It was probably the sound of (i dont know in english the word for death spasms)
Me: (again, more) Nos, hows, whys
W: Poor thing....
Me: no sound for some time, trying to figure out the answers to the why and how questions
Me: Could you help it? did you see it dying? how it looked like? did it suffer for a long time?
W: No, as soon as i heard it and went right down in the basement it was already dead laying down. You will see it tomorrow
Me: no sound..........tears come up.........
Me: Ok, take care, goodnight

The end of the story.

Some words for the chick, which for me and my wife was the most kind and sweet animal. Our baby daughter (second birthday tomorrow, or today since its 2:00 here) she loved her too. I trusted this chicken so much, i had no problem to let my daughter play with her. My family watched this egg turning from day 1 becoming a little helpless chick that needed some human attention and got plenty. The other 2 eggs incubating hatched but the chicks died and so the white one was all alone. BYC told me how to make it a little intresting in the incubator+brooder box, and i placed a little mirror for company and a fluffy toy for pillow. Everything was great, i loved picking up the little one and petting it, but cold tremors always made me to put the chick back to the brooders lonelyness before i get enough of the petting. After about a month i bought 2 chicks the same size with mine, so she could make friends. I still remember the first moves of my chicken when i placed her 2 new frightened friends in the brooder box, she did not peck at them, she took care of them! She pecked gently cleaning their heads and never bothered them. She learned from their habits and they all played together indoors and outdoors as chicks. Then i completed the second coop and moved them there, because the flock number 1 never liked them (the reason they still live in the nonsense coop) The chicks friends ended up meatbirds and not egg-birds and doubled their size compared to my chick. They started pecking at it, after they learned the pecking habbit from my other flock. My little one could never eat in peace, she was always hunted if she dared to get some, but she did.

I really hope that right now as the soul travels to the unknown or floats around me for the last times, remembers all the words i spoke to her tonight before i leave for work. "its nice where you are going, dont worry my little chick" i talked and petted her as she was laying in the rabbits cage, with closed eyes and weak breath.

Dont worry my dear i told her, dont be afraid, i will see you in the morning.

Tomorrow its my daughters birthday and we have a little private family party. However i dont plan to throw the body of this chicken in the garbage, like i did with the other chickens. This one was brought to life by me and i feel like just "getting rid of it" is not a nice thing to do at all. This one was MY chicken, a part of myself. It meant to me that if you really want to, if you focus, you can easily create life, in my case using a little bit of technology and a big portion of love and dedication, when you execute the recipe and you have success in creating life, you dont just throw that life in the garbage. The body of the chicken represents the life it lived and for me all that life was in a small part of my life and but got a big place in my heart.

We own a tiny piece of land near my house, where my house and yard can be seen from, one option is take the chick there and the other option is take it to another place where the grave of my 14 year old dog is. Those 2 could probably share some company. I will decide where we ll make that "funeral" tomorrow. I am not sure if my wife will agree to come there with my daughter, but whatever. For me i know what is the right thing to do.

Peace to all of you
Goodbye journal, i hate you for being a digital journal, always there for me. I cant loose you, i cant tear you apart and throw you away, i can just type in my experiences and log them here in BYC FOREVER, no matter what goes right or wrong.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

So sorry, foodkillah

 

[Miyashi]

I'm so sorry!
At least you loved her. That's all we can really give someone...that's the best gift of all.