INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

Trouble finally let her chicks go. (Chicks are age 7.5 weeks) She laid her 1st egg yesterday & her 2nd egg this morning.
Is it just me or does it look like he's jumping for joy to be on his own?

Below is Trouble's 3rd chick - Marshmallow.


Cookie's chicks are about 10 days old. She's a frequent broody, but she doesn't mother them past 5 weeks. I believe most of that is due to their giant size in comparison to the bantam mama.


Forgot to mention that Princess just went broody.

Chick overload!

 

[slutter]

I had my first broody hen hatch today! 8/9 and thinking 9 will be tomorrow! Any advice is much appreciated! Lol

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Hubby took him to release this morning. Last time we did it together but he thought he could do it on his own. Done without incident

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Well, I see I'm not the only one with predator problems. Over the last month or so I've lost 5 or 6 adult hens and one turkey hen to coons. They tore/dug through a couple weak spots in my coop. They got a couple free ranging in the late evening too.

Then last weekend was my big hit. I'm assuming more than one coon got into my mini barn brooders. Killed 26 of my juveniles I was growing out. Lavender and black orps, Polish, silkies of all colors. I had around 40 in three different pens, now I think I have 12 of those left. Over 30 birds killed in a few weeks. This has been pretty devastating for my future breeding plans. Really put me back a ways. Not to mention the incredible waste of time and money. Most of these were from my own eggs or purchased from breeders. I have been hatching more or less non-stop since Feb, selling off extras and these were supposed to be helping me grow my flocks. This has just been a huge hit to the wallet, and my sanity.

I've caught/disposed of 6 coons so far. 2 adults and 4 younger ones. I had one large coon Thurs night that was caught and then bent up and escaped from my cage.

I'm sorry but I don't feel bad for a second when I head out with the .22 to dispatch them. It's a shame raccoons are so destructive to chicken flocks, they are interesting creatures, and really smart, but they are not getting a second chance from me. Since I've been have these issues I've payed more attention to the local roadkill. It seems like there are hundreds of coons dead on the road. The mild winter last year must have lead to an overabundance of the things this year.

I am so sorry for your losses. How painful! And I know how it feels. Raccoon are at record numbers, we had a hard hit last night too. Also becoming trap smart here and making it worse. I have hired a neighbor for night watch, otherwise my flocks will be wiped out.
I love animals, all of them. But I also see raccoon headed towards a disease outbreak due to population... 1995 the population were severely overtaken by canine distemper. I was working with a vet, and DNR to track cases in 3 cities at the time. My own shift, 571 cases the first summer we did it. I have since seen symptoms of it here and it would not surprise me with the number of road kills. Relocating trapped raccoons means starvation and death for them. Its brutal but honestly the truth.

Quote:
Let me know what works for you, I know I have at least 1 Ameruacana black pullet, and will see what other girls I have. The boys are most welcome back here.

Uggh! I had just stated we don't have too many issues with raccoons getting too close to the pens, they are a real problem all around our property but there haven't been too many problems with them in the pen area around the coops .well....after reviewing last night's video there were FIVE of the boogers INSIDE the pen and trying to dig vents out and persistentry trying to find a way inside our strongest coop. AND there was another one of top of the pen the bantams are in trying to find a way in. The bantams refuse to go inside a coop so it's only a matter of time before a coon figures out how to snatch one. I'm beside myself! The mister is going to buy those dog proof traps mentioned on here the other day. And today is going to be spent REsecuring pens AGAIN.

See above, there is a bumper crop of babies this year!

Well...I guess I "jinxed" myself... Caught a skunk in the trap last night.

How did it go, I can walk you through what to do!

I simply adore my bantams, but between the fact that they won't go in a coop and the fact that they don't interact with us as much as the others, I'm thinking it might be time to find them a new home. I want a rooster that will do all of his rooster duties but not be too much of a concern as far as aggression toward us. My 3 year old grandson LOVES our chickens. Does anyone know if it's going to be an issue bringing in a rooster with an already set up flock of hens. I have 8 out of 10 laying daily now, and the other 2 are real close. My male bantams are almost 5 months old and are not respected at all yet but my females no longer chase them.
...sorry, one more question...if i get a rooster will he go in the coop with the hens or do they stay outside and guard the coop?

Roos normally insist every lady coops before he goes in. He will chase any girl thats not cooped. I love bantams, especially OEGB. They just don't fit into our farm.

Quote: Agreed, most fellas do. If they don't I just escort him to his coop like you did!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

This is Chewy, a Black Cochin. He used to be the guy always getting picked on, but now he's the big daddy. He is around 4 years old and used to be all black, but age and his love of being out in the sun has washed out his feathers, so he's kind of showing his gray!

he perches on this stump every night until I put him inside and I get cussed out. I took this the second night these pullets were put into the big coop. There were two on the other side of him.

@ChickCrazed your old boy is hanging in there!

Aww how awesome for him!

I moved the back electric net up closer to the small woods and the 12-13 week olds are enjoying themselves today while I'm home. Who knows...by Tuesday I might just leave them out when I go to work if they do well over the weekend.

Just outside the barn door.









I have these foot stools out "here and there" on the open spaces for something to run under if they can't get to other cover during aerial attack.



In other news, I will have 2 SFH roosters to sell in the near future if anyone is interested.

Babies are huge, and look great! I love what you have set up for them.

My neighbor across the road just let me know something got all his chickens and duck a few nights ago and he is in search of more Americana but doesn't want babies. He said he just doesn't want to do that again. He said he needs a few days to resecure their pen but would like to get more after that. Is there anyone within maybe an hour distance from the Peru area that has some for sale?

I keep them, but don't have any adult birds or pullets available right now. I am in pendleton so the distance is about right. I can hatch and start for your neighbor but will need to figure in cost per bird to do so. Just send me a PM (personal message) If they want to do that.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

We had a hard predator hit last night on my grow up coop. I just knew after seeing so many active raccoon the last few days, we were going to see problems! I am still reading hatch records to see who is gone, hard, expensive losses last night. Let me tell you, chicken wire is junk.. Please, choose a better option for your coops/runs. We have been budgeting for recovering one coop at a time with hardware cloth. I am feeling pretty well hopeless with keeping poultry here.

2 coops ripped open, lost teen chicks, goslings and a couple guinea keets. Disheartened beyond description. Many of the teenage chicks were just killed with heads gone or less. Found the entry points but it doesn't help those lost. This has put me a year behind where we hoped to be, stayed home and didn't go to our campground. Just saddened over senseless killing to just leave them lay. Raccoon are a very sadistic animal when it comes to a defenseless young bird. I post things like this to help others. I learn, painfully what doesn't work here, for us. Hopefully it will help others to not go through the same mistakes I have made.

 

[Mother2Hens]

I need but help I have a owl going after my girls. I have never seen one during the day. But it just sits there and waits. I have Chaste It off but it keeps coming back all day. My girls are mad because I will not let them out in the yard.

leslie~ Good to see you on the thread again! I felt in one of my moods to research tips and also provide some visuals for flying predator deterrent ideas.


Flying Predator Deterrents
• Spread out Bird Netting over a free range or run area.
• They don’t like anything Reflective~Mirrored~Shiny and Rotating or Spinning
Whirligigs, Pennants on a string, Flags, Ribbons, Aluminum pie pans
Wind Chimes, Recording of an Eagle or other bird in distress
Strobe Lights, Motion-activated sprinklers, Scare Eye or Terror Eye Balloons
• Look at Dollar Stores and Resale Shops for mirrors, flags, beach ball and sharpie markers to make a Scare Eye,
string or yarn for hanging things, pinwheels, after-holiday sales on metallic gift wrap, ribbon, mylar, etc.

Originally Posted by Jntnrmn jntnrmn ~ (and @pipdzipdnreadytogo I'm happy to share! Here's the link: Metallic Pennants I found it online, and it turned out to be an Indy company. I bought a strand 48 silver metallic pennants on a 100' string that I cut in half to make it easier to hang. I rearrange it since predators get used to deterrents and no longer see it as a threat. When there's a breeze, the flags make a flapping sound that seems to also be a deterrent to night predators like raccoons and opossums.
Originally Posted by 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!

@ellymayRans ~ I thought that was a picture of you with shingles on your face! LOL Just teasing.

Humor is good for your health.
I sincerely hope you are doing better because shingles sounds like a terrible illness.

Originally Posted by amwchickin

@ellymayRans - I hope your shingles get better soon, that is absolutely no fun!


Raccoons and Foxes are running rampant right now. I have trapped/shot 6 in the last week (raccoons), the fox I am seeing must be a sly genius. They are coming out in daylight now and that is driving me crazy. I have also noticed my landlord/neighbor's dogs are out and about again. They have been coming around at night, so they can't get to the chickens, and have so far respected the fence. The other night I was around the corner from my driveway and I saw one of the dogs trotting up the road with a 2-3 day old fawn in its mouth. Naturally, it dropped it when it saw me, so I got out and examined it. The dog definitely killed it, there were no injuries except for bites on the neck. I was so livid!!! I texted my landlord, saying that I have noticed the dogs have been out lately and I will be watching for them near my chickens (definitely getting pics on my trail camera) and just FYI, they killed a baby deer. The response I got? "Ok, thanks for letting me know."

I am supposed to be going on vacation at the end of the month and I am terrified to leave for a week. I know I won't come back to what I should have. I've never had to be forced to go on vacation before...
@amwchickin ~ Oh no! Not the landlord's dogs again. I thought they moved the dogs—or maybe his Dad planned to move them. I'm sorry that all that is happening to you again. And the fawn story is heartbreaking!

 

[Greenthumb83]

We had a hard predator hit last night on my grow up coop. I just knew after seeing so many active raccoon the last few days, we were going to see problems! I am still reading hatch records to see who is gone, hard, expensive losses last night. Let me tell you, chicken wire is junk.. Please, choose a better option for your coops/runs. We have been budgeting for recovering one coop at a time with hardware cloth. I am feeling pretty well hopeless with keeping poultry here.

2 coops ripped open, lost teen chicks, goslings and a couple guinea keets. Disheartened beyond description. Many of the teenage chicks were just killed with heads gone or less. Found the entry points but it doesn't help those lost. This has put me a year behind where we hoped to be, stayed home and didn't go to our campground. Just saddened over senseless killing to just leave them lay. Raccoon are a very sadistic animal when it comes to a defenseless young bird. I post things like this to help others. I learn, painfully what doesn't work here, for us. Hopefully it will help others to not go through the same mistakes I have made.

I'm so sorry. Seeing these posts break my heart. Such hard losses. I would be beside myself and I fear the day we go through it. I do appreciate you sharing, so we can learn from one another. It's posts like these that helped us learn how to build our coop and run. It also helped me convince my DH to use only hardware cloth. It is really expensive though. It adds up, and we struggled to finish the run. Our local hardware store orders it for us, 3'x100' (1"x1/2") for about $100. It's the best price we could find without having to order. If this is better than what you're finding over there, I could get this for you and meet halfway to get it to ya. I go to Crawfordsville every week. When we put in orders on Monday, we usually had it by Friday. If this might help at all, just let me know. Again, so sorry for your loss.

 

[Jntnrmn]

@jchny2000
Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for all the loss and extra work and the sadness of it all. It's just terrible!
We set 4 of those dog proof traps last night and 2 live traps, we got 3 in the dog proof and one in the live trap. There had been one in the other live trap as well but he bent the open area enough to escape.
I can only imagine the fear and stress my bantams experience by having those coons climb all over their pen. The bantams just sit there on top of their coop.the mister is thankful to whoever posted about the dog proof traps.
Good luck with your coops and again, I'm so sorry for it all, it's just so sad

 

[Jntnrmn]

We had just learned a family member had been releasing their trapped coons less than a mile from us...now I'm wondering how much of our problem used to be their problem! The amount of racoon activity has definitely more than doubled here. I'm kinda mad about it but then I convince myself we were releasing as well, no where near homes but I'm sure we created a problem for someone else too, so that just makes me feel bad.