How did your flock annoy you today?

[EmmaDonovan]

Our alpha hen bit me, again. She wasn't even near me, she pushed her long neck through several other hens that were standing around me and gave my forearm such a hard bite she left a scratch and a bruise the size of a quarter.

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

Now I have a flock of soaking wet bedraggled, complaining hens.

Mine are exactly like that! They are completely covered but on a slope with a trench to redirect water away on the higher side. They WILL figure out how to get completely soaked anyways. I have been in there while it's raining, I still have no clue how they do it

 

[BDutch]

Congratulations! And in a month, you’ll probably be posting to ask what on earth you can do with all these eggs.

The chickens egg laying systems of my middle aged hens go into a winter sleep every autumn. They probably start to lay again in march. To stop a few months is good for their health and longevity.

My two 1½ yo bantam Amrocks stopped too this autumn when they started to moult. I expect the Amrocks to come back on track earlier. Maybe in January if we have a few sunny days.
Mine never started to lay again before the New year.

 

[BDutch]

I was fine with that and let them free range, supervised, for like half an hour in the tallest messiest buggiest part of my lawn. I train them to come when called with mealworms, their favorite food in my hand. They (almost) ALWAYS run over and follow me into the run when they hear "CHICKIES!!!". This time was different. 4 of my hens followed me at first, then ran outside when I was about to close the run door.

Mine won’t obey either if they are free ranging just ½ hour. I never let them out if they have less than 1½ hours to free range. I lure them in with food too.

Standard lure food is scratch (organic mixed grains with seeds). Sometimes they get leftovers like spaghetti, rice or small pieces of cheese crust. The mealworms are a little extra on top of that, if they had little time to free range or just to spoil them.
The mixed grains cost just a little more than their regular feed.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Our alpha hen bit me, again. She wasn't even near me, she pushed her long neck through several other hens that were standing around me and gave my forearm such a hard bite she left a scratch and a bruise the size of a quarter.

She must REALLY want to play tag

 

[ella2025]

Mine won’t obey either if they are free ranging just ½ hour. I never let them out if they have less than 1½ hours to free range. I lure them in with food too.

Standard lure food is scratch (organic mixed grains with seeds). Sometimes they get leftovers like spaghetti, rice or small pieces of cheese crust. The mealworms are a little extra on top of that, if they had little time to free range or just to spoil them.
The mixed grains cost just a little more than their regular feed.

I would let them out for longer if not for the enormous amount of predators pressure we have here. At the time I posted that message, we haven't had any predators ever, but I had seen many hawks, coyotes, raccoons, etc. Yesterday when my chicks were in their little rabbit hutch outside for the second day ever, a huge Red Tail swooped from the sky and was clawing and flapping at the cage trying to open it, while the chicks were screaming in terror. My paranoid self probably won't allow myself to free range the chickens in another month, maybe 5, after this incident, lol. It was terrifying and our second (unsuccessful because chickens were in runs/caged) hawk attack from 2 different hawks.

 

[ella2025]

Both these hawk attacks were in the past 2 weeks or so. About a month earlier a bunch of voles randomly spawned in my yard and started breaking havoc making holes everywhere. Maybe that attracted the Hawks here.

 

[BDutch]

I would let them out for longer if not for the enormous amount of predators pressure we have here.

We all have different predators /predator loads. I am luckier than lots of people in the US. We don’t have that many predators in the Netherlands. I free range several hours between 9 am and sunset when I am at home. Not supervising most of the time. Some sh*t happened though. 4 hens disappeared and 1 fox-kill I am sure of in 11 years time. But I barely had health issues all this time.

Follow your heart or your guts if the threats are a reality you have to deal with.

 

[ella2025]

We all have different predators /predator loads. I am luckier than lots of people in the US. We don’t have that many predators in the Netherlands. I free range several hours between 9 am and sunset when I am at home. Not supervising most of the time. Some sh*t happened though. 4 hens disappeared and 1 fox-kill I am sure of in 11 years time. But I barely had health issues all this time.

Follow your heart or your guts if the threats are a reality you have to deal with.

Sorry for your loss. I have yet to have a raccoon or coyote attack, and I'm being super cautious especially now during the winter so that they don't notice the easy chicken dinner. Hopefully I will never have to deal with foxes and weasels and monks, those will be BAD.

 

[BDutch]

Sorry for your loss.

Thanks. I’m not grieving anymore. 2+ years passed since the last loss.

Hopefully I will never have to deal with foxes and weasels and monks, those will be BAD.

Yes, foxes and weasels are bad. Minks too.
But monks not so much.