INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Greenthumb83]

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'm so sorry to hear of your losses. That is really a hard hit. I can't imagine. I hope you can get back to where you were with your breeding plan.

I have been watching the road kill also. When the chicks were still in the house, I was seeing raccoons on the highway near us. Now they are here. We caught them in our trash a few nights ago. We've also had coyotes almost every night. They are always an issue out here, but they are coming up in the yard more now that we have chickens. They have even come right up to our patio in the past few weeks. DH went out for a cigarette late at night and didn't turn on the flood light...saw one scurry off down the driveway. It was right next to my truck. Much too close for comfort. I fear for our chickens, but I also fear for our kids. They want to camp out in the yard in their new tent, but I am afraid to let them. We are about to the point of paying someone to hunt them. I do care for all animals and their place in this world. But when it comes to protecting your family, livestock, pets, I would not feel bad. Just a personal opinion.

 

[tmctlt]

Hello all, just throwing this out there in the event I'm right about my hunch. I was outside our smaller outdoor run where the little ones from @jchny2000 are and there were many out @ the time...when not one but three (2) of the little black Americauna's and the one Choc. Orp.( really hoping I'm wrong on this one ) all made a juvenile attempt @ crowing

Long story short we already have one rooster ( a Leghorn from @racinchickens ) and he's reasonably well behaved and not looking for trouble so we will be trying to re-home in the event they are indeed roosters. Will post again when I'm more certain....but I thinks they are,

Oh my! If thats the case please let me know. I made the effort to make sure you got pullets, and we can swap. Wait til theres no doubt, at least 12 weeks.


Well....it appears we were right, we have @ least (2) Americauna's that are crowing and feathering in like roosters and since we're not going to start breeding ANY time soon....we're looking to re-home them. They are both going to be beautiful birds and quite different from one another. We took a couple videos of them but I'm not sure how to post them here.

 

[Jntnrmn]

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.

 

[Leahs Mom]

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

 

[Jntnrmn]

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?

 

[Jntnrmn]

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

Yikes..good luck

 

[amwchickin]

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?

I have one rooster that is the patriarch and he has always been an outside guy. I have to physically pick him up every night at around 9:30, just after the auto door closes and put him inside. He gets so mad at me, but he's gentle, so he just fusses. If I didn't have the predator problem, I would let him stay out, but the other night I was late getting home and he wasn't in his usual spot so I knew I wasn't going to like what I saw. Well, whatever had him had just grabbed his neck and ran off. He was a little dazed, but another two minutes I would have lost him. Other than him, any other rooster I have had has hone inside with the girls.

 

[amwchickin]

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!

 

[Leahs Mom]

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.

 

[Jntnrmn]

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?