- Feb 22, 2010
- 3
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Hello All.
New here, though I have been reading this site for the last few months. Learning. My husband and I bought 6 chicks already feathered-out around Thanksgiving. We had really no idea what we were doing, but we've learned a lot since then. You can't read everything! Sometimes you just have to do something and figure it out as you go. Unfortunately, our inexperience has cost 3 hens their lives. Two were snatched by wild dogs, even though my husband was nearby. One was snatched from the pen by a raccoon. Horrible. We are determined to keep the remaining 3 alive! One BO, one Maran and one Gold-laced Wyandotte. Up until recently the BO was the top hen. Now the Maran is and the Wyandotte is picking on the BO. Anyway, we have built two houses for them. First we built a very solid, fully enclosed house that we set up on a monster cart. We tried to keep them in an electric fence, but they refused to stay, so we just let them free-range by default. Until the dogs. Then we built a 4 by 8 Salatin-style pen so they could have pasture and still be secure. This we surrounded by an electric fence. Then the weather was horrible, very wet and cold. So one day I was looking for the tarp to put over their cage. I noticed it was dry and grassy under this A-frame we had laying around from our goat adventure. Don't ask. So I moved them into there for a while. But we were going into town that afternoon, so I tried to get them to go into their secure house on wheels. None of that! Not in the early afternoon. So I left them in the A-frame. When we came home at 11 pm, there were feathers outside it. Coon tracks all over. And my Welsummer was gone. Totally my fault. Poor thing. Four days later something had tried to dig under the Salatin pen during the night. Evidently the fence failed. So now they go into the secure house every night. The vents have a double layer of 1/2 inch hardware cloth secured on both sides with wood strips. The door is wired shut and pushed against the side of the cart. And I am on a crusade to kill that coon!! So far I've only succeeded in feeding it.
This spring we will be loading up the three hens along with 12 new Austalorps we plan to get and heading to Montana. Our twice yearly migration from Texas and back. There we have a huge organic garden, lots of grass and worms, and all the same predator problems. We are allowed to have up to 15 hens in the city since we got the law changed last fall. But we have two parcels, so we're hoping to get two permits and raise 15 broilers, too. Anyone know a good breed for that, not Cornish cross? I've heard Orrpingtons...
I do not have children and won't. And I never understood the attachment people feel to their pets. Not until I got these birds. Now I know a little about that. My chickens are part of me. I speak to them, I trust them. I can't figure them out sometimes, but they are pure creatures. It is really hard to explain the feeling I get when I'm with them. But I'm sure the people here understand. They are endlessly fascinating. And mine aren't even all that friendly. I think since they were a bit older when we got them they didn't bond with us as well. But it gets better every day. And the Australorps we'll get as chicks.
Glad to be part of the chicken community.
Rachel Weaver
New here, though I have been reading this site for the last few months. Learning. My husband and I bought 6 chicks already feathered-out around Thanksgiving. We had really no idea what we were doing, but we've learned a lot since then. You can't read everything! Sometimes you just have to do something and figure it out as you go. Unfortunately, our inexperience has cost 3 hens their lives. Two were snatched by wild dogs, even though my husband was nearby. One was snatched from the pen by a raccoon. Horrible. We are determined to keep the remaining 3 alive! One BO, one Maran and one Gold-laced Wyandotte. Up until recently the BO was the top hen. Now the Maran is and the Wyandotte is picking on the BO. Anyway, we have built two houses for them. First we built a very solid, fully enclosed house that we set up on a monster cart. We tried to keep them in an electric fence, but they refused to stay, so we just let them free-range by default. Until the dogs. Then we built a 4 by 8 Salatin-style pen so they could have pasture and still be secure. This we surrounded by an electric fence. Then the weather was horrible, very wet and cold. So one day I was looking for the tarp to put over their cage. I noticed it was dry and grassy under this A-frame we had laying around from our goat adventure. Don't ask. So I moved them into there for a while. But we were going into town that afternoon, so I tried to get them to go into their secure house on wheels. None of that! Not in the early afternoon. So I left them in the A-frame. When we came home at 11 pm, there were feathers outside it. Coon tracks all over. And my Welsummer was gone. Totally my fault. Poor thing. Four days later something had tried to dig under the Salatin pen during the night. Evidently the fence failed. So now they go into the secure house every night. The vents have a double layer of 1/2 inch hardware cloth secured on both sides with wood strips. The door is wired shut and pushed against the side of the cart. And I am on a crusade to kill that coon!! So far I've only succeeded in feeding it.
This spring we will be loading up the three hens along with 12 new Austalorps we plan to get and heading to Montana. Our twice yearly migration from Texas and back. There we have a huge organic garden, lots of grass and worms, and all the same predator problems. We are allowed to have up to 15 hens in the city since we got the law changed last fall. But we have two parcels, so we're hoping to get two permits and raise 15 broilers, too. Anyone know a good breed for that, not Cornish cross? I've heard Orrpingtons...
I do not have children and won't. And I never understood the attachment people feel to their pets. Not until I got these birds. Now I know a little about that. My chickens are part of me. I speak to them, I trust them. I can't figure them out sometimes, but they are pure creatures. It is really hard to explain the feeling I get when I'm with them. But I'm sure the people here understand. They are endlessly fascinating. And mine aren't even all that friendly. I think since they were a bit older when we got them they didn't bond with us as well. But it gets better every day. And the Australorps we'll get as chicks.
Glad to be part of the chicken community.
Rachel Weaver
