INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Jntnrmn]

@jchny2000
Regarding the neighbors dog. ..most of our neighbors are relatives of the mister and the one neighbor across the road is a county deputy, he told us we have the right to shoot the dogs..I prefer to just shoot into the vicinity as I'm terrified of leaving an animal injured. I am new to living in the country and I truly do believe folks around here seem to be responsible BUT there are a couple places that have renters and I believe it's those renters that don't respect their neighbors. The dogs had been an issue because I would go out there with the gun and shoot and holler but they wouldn't even run off. I had to lock the chickens in alot, which made them holler and grumble more than ANY of my pessimistic teens did YI YI YI! And I have a senior chihuahua that I was too afraid to let out to potty..the dogs mysteriously quit coming around after a few months and I never learned what happened to them, I was kind of afraid to ask because I didn't want anything bad to happen, I just didn't want them terrorizing my birds.

 

[Jntnrmn]

@MikeTodd
How are your newbies doing? We're you able to get them to behave better toward one another? I loved the advice you were given, I plan to use that with any new chick's we may bring home in the future

 

[MikeTodd]

@MikeTodd
How are your newbies doing? We're you able to get them to behave better toward one another? I loved the advice you were given, I plan to use that with any new chick's we may bring home in the future

Yes! We hung up old CDS on the outside of the brooders to keep them interested. It is so funny how they stop and stare at them! We also have been feeding more scraps (canteloupe, sweet potatoes and cucumbers) to keep them from getting bored.

 

[Leahs Mom]

The first season we had chickens I trapped 15 raccoons and 3 raccoon kiddos within a 4-6 week period. Got a couple of opossums too.

Reminds me I should set the trap again to "test the waters".

 

[ellymayRans]

I will be back but been on vaca and dealing with SHINGLES!!! But trying to enjoy a little shade and my Tom decided he needed to be In My Face!! Shhheeesh!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

If I remember right...weren't your birds sold as pullets when you got them? 


I have one that was crowing young too.  3 roos in that batch and now 2 are crowing regularly but it's pretty pitiful

Nope, Donnie was ordered intentionally as a boy. I've seen first hand the value of having boys around this year and decided to try out a Dorking boy to see how he'd do. He sounded pretty sad, like someone was strangling him or something, poor kiddo. They always seem so proud of themselves, though, with those first crows.

[COLOR=8B4513]My last chicks were hatched, so Bonbon was always with her chicks and the rest of the flock. I've felt okay as long as I had been observing that the chicks were accepted members of a flock with older members. Their unsupervised free range area is the fenced-in part of our backyard. I think that the most important protection against arial predators is having lots of foliage and other places my chickens can quickly duck into. Bushes, ornamental grasses, clusters of day lilies, as well as lawn furniture, a wheelbarrow, etc. My chickens' "clubhouse" is under a part of the deck by a large bush that is overgrown on purpose. lol I've put open umbrellas in or around the bush for shade/extra cover. And don't forget, I have the really attractive used car lot metallic pennant flags waving in the breeze to deter hawks![/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]@pipdzipdnreadytogo  ~ Did you ever order pennants?[/COLOR]

Oh, I forgot entirely about that until I saw your post! I believe I was waiting for the next payday (at the time) to get them, and by then it had entirely slipped my mind!

I agree entirely with your post, though. I only ever have problems with hawks in the wintertime, when all of the bushes and plants that my girls would normally be able to hide away under have died down for the season. I'll have to write down about the pennants so I can actually remember to get them before then!

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
Ohhhh your Don is handsome.my d'uncles began crowing at 11 weeks and it was so adorable. I'm sure they didn't appreciate me calling hem cute and giggling at them though.

Haha, yeah, they are awfully cute when they're giving it their all! One bantam Cochin boy I had started crowing at 7-ish weeks and sounded like someone stepped on a squeaky dog toy.

 

[Jntnrmn]

Yes! We hung up old CDS on the outside of the brooders to keep them interested. It is so funny how they stop and stare at them! We also have been feeding more scraps (canteloupe, sweet potatoes and cucumbers) to keep them from getting bored.

That's wonderful

 

[DancingGoatFarm]

I've killed 2 coons and at least 2 possums this year. Hadn't had any in a couple of years. Also there is a fox in the neighborhood. I saw it grab 2 chickens one day. I hadn't seen it around or lost any chickens in a couple weeks, I thought it was gone. Saw it in the field across the road yesterday.

 

[Jntnrmn]

I've killed 2 coons and at least 2 possums this year. Hadn't had any in a couple of years. Also there is a fox in the neighborhood. I saw it grab 2 chickens one day. I hadn't seen it around or lost any chickens in a couple weeks, I thought it was gone. Saw it in the field across the road yesterday.

We recently have had fox activity as well..no chicken losses but I feel certain that a fox got a male turkey not too long ago. We hadn't seen hide nor hair of fox in 5-6 years and had recently talked about missing them....then almost right away we see them...we are rethinking how we feel about them :/

 

[DancingGoatFarm]

We recently have had fox activity as well..no chicken losses but I feel certain that a fox got a male turkey not too long ago. We hadn't seen hide nor hair of fox in 5-6 years and had recently talked about missing them....then almost right away we see them...we are rethinking how we feel about them :/

In healthcare we'd say you conjured them. Lol