Is This A Dude!!

[atkinson40]

The middle of April I decided to do the BY chicken thing. I turned a shed into a coup and added an enclosure on the outside. We have hawks and I wanted to protect them. The coup is 8X10 and the attached enclosure is 6X8. I think the interwebs say I'll have to make the outside enclosure bigger??




On May 3, I bought 10 Rohde Island Reds and 10 Barred Rock chickies. The feed store said they were 2 days old, making them hatched on May 1.



This is the inside of the coup.



I feed them mash now. We have 100 fruit trees in our backyard. Every morning I go out and pick up about half a bucket of fruit off the ground and give it to them. At first they turned up their beaks at it. Now they mack down and finish it all. I hope this is OK. They all seem to be OK still.

They also want something green so I pull weeds and trim trees and put it in there. They seem to like this even more than the fruit.

How can I keep giving them greens, and is there anything that is bad for them? I'm going to run out of weeds. I can't turn them loose in the yard. Mr. Hawk is out there watching, waiting for a chance.

I think this one might be a DUDE!! Can anybody tell me?




Thanks Kevin

 

[Mehjr10]

I would say a pullet.

 

[atkinson40]

Thanks. They're 6 weeks old now. Her red things on her head seem bigger and brighter than the rest.

Is the nectarines, peaches and plums OK for them?

When do I get eggs? Interwebs say 5 months. Is this accurate?


Thanks kevin

 

[NosiphoChooks]

Hi Kevin,

Plums, nectarines and peaches are fine for them.

Below is a list of flowers/plants which are unsafe for chickens so dont give them any of these:

ARUM LILY
AMARYLLIS
ARALIA
ARROWHEAD VINE
AUTUMN CROCUS
AUSTRALIAN FLAMETREE
AUSTRALIAN UMBRELLA TREE
AVOCADO
AZALEA
BANEBERRY
BEANS: (CASTOR, HORSE, FAVA, BROAD, GLORY, SCARLET RUNNER,
MESCAL, NAVY, PREGATORY)
BIRD OF PARADISE
BISHOP'S WEED
BLACK LAUREL
BLACK LOCUST
BLEEDING HEART OR DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES
BLOODROOT
BLUEBONNET
BLUEGREEN ALGAE
BOXWOOD
BRACKEN FERN
BUCKTHORN
BULB FLOWERS: (AMARYLLIS, DAFFODIL, NARCISSUS, HYACINTH & IRIS)
BURDOCK
BUTTERCUP
CACAO
CAMEL BUSH
CASTOR BEAN
CALADIUM
CANA LILY
CARDINAL FLOWER
CHALICE (TRUMPET VINE)
CHERRY TREE
CHINA BERRY TREE
CHRISTMAS CANDLE
CLEMATIS (VIRGINIA BOWER)
CLIVIA
COCKLEBUR
COFFEE (SENNA)
COFFEE BEAN (RATTLEBUSH, RATTLE BOX & COFFEEWEED)
CORAL PLANT
CORIANDER
CORNCOCKLE
COYOTILLO
COWSLIP
CUTLEAF PHILODENDRON
DAFFODIL
DAPHNE
DATURA STRAMONIUM (ANGEL'S TRUMPET)
DEATH CAMUS
DELPHINIUM
DEVIL'S IVY
DIEFFENBACHIA (DUMB CANE)
ELDERBERRY
ELEPHANT EAR (TARO)
ENGLISH IVY
ERGOT
EUCALYPTUS (DRIED, DYED OR TREATED IN FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS)
EUONYMUS (SPINDLE TREE)
EUPHORBIA CACTUS
FALSE HELLEBORE
FLAME TREE
FELT PLANT (MATERNITY, AIR & PANDA PLANTS)
FIG (WEEPING)
FIRE THORN
FLAMINGO FLOWER
FOUR O'CLOCK
FOXGLOVE
GLOTTIDIUM
GOLDEN CHAIN
GRASS: (JOHNSON, SORGHUM, SUDAN & BROOM CORN)
GROUND CHERRY
HEATHS: (KALMIA, LEUCOTHO, PEIRES, RHODODENDRON, MTN. LAUREL,
BLACK LAUREL, ANDROMEDA & AZALEA)
HELIOTROPE
HEMLOCK: (POISON & WATER)
HENBANE
HOLLY
HONEYSUCKLE
HORSE CHESTNUT
HORSE TAIL
HOYA
HYACINTH
HYDRANGEA
IRIS IVY: (ENGLISH & OTHERS)
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT
JASMINE (JESSAMINE)
JERUSALEM CHERRY
JIMSONWEED
JUNIPER
KY. COFFEE TREE
LANTANA (RED SAGE)
LARKSPUR
LILY OF THE VALLEY
LILY, ARUM
LOBELIA
LOCOWEED (MILK VETCH)
LOCUSTS, BLACK / HONEY
LORDS & LADIES (CUCKOOPINT)
LUPINE
MALANGA
MARIJUANA (HEMP)
MAYAPPLE (MANDRAKE)
MEXICAN BREADFRUIT
MEXICAN POPPY
MILKWEED, COTTON BUSH
MISTLETOE
MOCK ORANGE
MONKSHOOD
MOONSEED
MORNING GLORY
MTN. LAUREL
MUSHROOMS, AMANITA
MYRTLE
NARCISSUS
NETTLES
NIGHTSHADES: (DEADLY, BLACK, GARDEN, WOODY, BITTERSWEET,
EGGPLANT, JERUSALEM CHERRY)
OAK
OLEANDER
OXALIS
PARSLEY
PEACE LILY
PERIWINKLE
PHILODENDRONS: (SPLIT LEAF, SWISS CHEESE, HEART-LEAF)
PIGWEED
POINCIANA
POINSETTIA
POISON IVY
POISON HEMLOCK
POISON OAK: (WESTERN & EASTERN)
POKEWEED
POTATO SHOOTS
POTHOS
PRIVET
PYRACANTHA
RAIN TREE
RANUNCULUS, BUTTERCUP
RAPE
RATTLEBOX, CROTALARIA
RED MAPLE
RED SAGE (LANTANA)
RHUBARB LEAVES
RHODODENDRONS
ROSARY PEA SEEDS
SAND BOX TREE
SKUNK CABBAGE
SORREL (DOCK)
SNOW DROP
SPURGES: (PENCIL TREE, SNOW-ON-MTN, CANDELABRA, CROWN OF THORNS)
STAR OF BETHLEHEM
SWEET PEA
SWISS CHEESE PLANT (MONSTERA)
TANSY RAGWORT
TOBACCO
UMBRELLA PLANT
VETCH: HAIRY/COMMON
VIRGINIA CREEPER
WATTLE
WEEPING FIG
WHITE CEDAR, CHINA BERRY
WISTERIA
YEWS
YELLOW JASMINE

These foods are poisonous also:

​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]1. [/COLOR]Raw potatoes and potato sprouts.[COLOR=#00000] Raw potatoes are hard for chickens to digetst while the green parts of potatoes and the sprouts are toxic.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]2.[/COLOR] Rotten food.[COLOR=#00000] If the food is moldy, stinky, and gross, don't feed it to your chickens![/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]3. [/COLOR]Raw peanuts and dried beans[COLOR=#00000]. (Dried beans are safe if they're cooked first.)[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]4. [/COLOR]Chocolate[COLOR=#00000]. Seems like MANY animals should stay away from chocolate...which is okay with me. I don't want to share my chocolate with them anyway![/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]5. [/COLOR]Junk food.[COLOR=#00000] Yes, your chickens can eat it but it's not the most healthy. Will it kill them? Probably not. They might love it, but is it good for them? No more than it is for us.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]6. [/COLOR]Some garden plant leaves[COLOR=#00000] such as eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes (usually chickens tend to stay away from these plants on their own).[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]7. [/COLOR]Tobacco and Alcohol[COLOR=#00000]. No partying out on the town with your birds! They can't take it. And nicotine is poisonous.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]8. [/COLOR]Avocados[COLOR=#00000]. These can be fatal for your chickens.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]9. [/COLOR]Some types of flower seeds[COLOR=#00000] such as sweet peas, morning glories and angel's trumpet.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]10. [/COLOR]Raw meat.[COLOR=#00000] Chickens can eat meat (even chicken), but don't feed it to them raw because of risk of disease[/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#00000]BTW I think your barred rock is a girl[/COLOR][/FONT]​

 

[BantamFan4Life]

I would say a pullet.

x2

 

[atkinson40]

Yesterday I heard a noise out my window that sounded like something was chocking one of my chickens. I went over to the window ready to scold them for fighting. I saw this "guy" stand up real tall, flap "his" wings and let out the same awful attempt at a crow.

If she ain't no dude, she's trying to be.

 

[roostersandhens]

The one you think is a rooster could be a rooster after seeing him/her compared to the others. He's a rooster if he's crowning If he's a he he'll make great hawk protection. This is the fruit chickens cant eat (luckily they don't like this) Chickens cant eat citrus.