Thoughts anyone?
We live on the outskirts of town in a pretty busy road - we have 2 acres but house/ coop is built next to it with small chicken only yard out back (the hens can leave/ there is a gap in the fence underneath in some brambles- to free range daily) and the bushes in question are adjoining the back of the chicken yard up to the busy road (it has a fence and a thick bramble bush all along the fencing and bushes).... I think my 2nd hen has gone back in (she jumped the nest with eggs I moved into it and another broody took over that one yesterday) and egg production has been off for the last 2 days ( I usu get 7-9 eggs daily from 10 hens, but now I have 2 broodies)- down to 2 or 3 daily....Its June 9th say so lets just say gets enough eggs to sit by the 10th ... we go camping July 9th so IF anything hatches and survives out there in the bushes those chicks will be at least a week to 10 days old by then...
We haven't had any predator losses I think d/t our large dogs that roam the property and have been killing rodents and bunnies etc... the cats do too....I have seen a large raccoon out on the road at night as well as a dead possum, and the dogs got skunked last fall... so we have all of those things out and about....
SO also am a bit nervous about taking them away with us to go camping (my elderly parents will be here to open and shut the coop door and mind the cats)....
Anyways that is the scenario ....
We live on the outskirts of town in a pretty busy road - we have 2 acres but house/ coop is built next to it with small chicken only yard out back (the hens can leave/ there is a gap in the fence underneath in some brambles- to free range daily) and the bushes in question are adjoining the back of the chicken yard up to the busy road (it has a fence and a thick bramble bush all along the fencing and bushes).... I think my 2nd hen has gone back in (she jumped the nest with eggs I moved into it and another broody took over that one yesterday) and egg production has been off for the last 2 days ( I usu get 7-9 eggs daily from 10 hens, but now I have 2 broodies)- down to 2 or 3 daily....Its June 9th say so lets just say gets enough eggs to sit by the 10th ... we go camping July 9th so IF anything hatches and survives out there in the bushes those chicks will be at least a week to 10 days old by then...
We haven't had any predator losses I think d/t our large dogs that roam the property and have been killing rodents and bunnies etc... the cats do too....I have seen a large raccoon out on the road at night as well as a dead possum, and the dogs got skunked last fall... so we have all of those things out and about....
SO also am a bit nervous about taking them away with us to go camping (my elderly parents will be here to open and shut the coop door and mind the cats)....
Anyways that is the scenario ....
