Michigan

[Chickmate]

Well, I should have known better. I hesitated before I opened the run to let them out thinking it's cooler, the fox may be hunting today. I wasn't worried when it was 90 because I knew it was too hot to hunt. She was out and the dogs chased her off, but not before she got one of my EE hens. I guess she didn't have time to get through the fence with her because I found the hen about a foot from it. She was still alive but I think her neck was broken and she died as I carried her out of the woods. I feel so bad. I let her down by not protecting her. They just are so happy when they're free ranging. I suppose they're also happier when they're alive. Now I'm down to 13 hens.

Fife - I keep all my uploads on BYC and I have loaded more than one per day. Are you sure you're doing it right?

 

[Olive Hill]

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First, you didn't let her down. You provided her with a good life, that's more than most chickens get. Second, no, they're not happier when alive because there is no happiness scale once dead.

Now, pick a day and let the chickens out. While they're ranging put a lawn chair out and sit quietly with a gun and a book. When the fox shows up, kill her. That and set a live trap at night.

 

[Olive Hill]

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Silkies aren't known for being the earliest layers but that is pushing it. Have you had them since they were chicks and they haven't laid at all? Are the penned so you're sure they're not laying elsewhere? What is their diet?

Diet: Layer Feed (from local elevator)
From: I got them from a breeder and I believe she told me they were 8months when I got them. (I have just 2 silkies from the same breeder and they are the same age)
Penned?: Yep. I am positive they are not laying (I have floor level nesting boxes just for them). My only bantam laying right now is Blueberry and she flies up to the top nesting boxes to lay.

Here she is...I noticed that her head feathers were a little punk rock-ish and she is missing quite a few tail and back end feathers.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-.../SDTZzbCGjo8/s640/2011-08-14_12-03-55_271.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-.../qVo1fm2_m68/s640/2011-08-14_12-01-25_168.jpg

I'd give them a few more weeks, I guess. But if they don't start laying soon and you see signs of a true molt I might suspect they are not, in fact, 10 months old.

 

[keyt1969]

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I do. They're very nice birds and cause no problems, my focus is simply on the buffs. I bought them as a whole flock from another BYCer and the blues (and a lav Gander, the Homer we've been talking about) were part of the package. I sold the blues last fall. Unfortunately, though I know better, I was too nice. The guy called on them and wanted them but lived down in Ohio so it was quite a drive. We head south every so often so I said we could just work it out to meet up when we were down near Coldwater and it was no problem. We go that way anyway so could just bring the geese along. I told him I'd hold them until then, thinking it would be within a couple weeks to a month at most. I turned away four other buyers for them at that time, took down the ads, etc, etc. Well, long story short after about 10 attempts to meet up with the guy he just plain stopped returning my calls and emails. I know better than to hold things without a deposit, but because he was from BYC I let the "be nice" side get the best of me. By that time I just plain didn't feel like going through the selling process again and decided we'd just make sausage of them. I haven't been in the mood to pluck goose since so they're still here. I won't overwinter them again, they'll either be sold or in the freezer before snow flies but for now they're fine, they forage all their food during the summer months so for now they're not costing me anything to stay. If you sell your sebbies and still want them just shoot me a message, if they're still here we can work something out.

If you absolutely, positively, want them without a shadow of a doubt and really couldn't bear the thought of me selling or butchering them... I'll hold them... but I'm going to have to require a no-refundable deposit and a time frame.

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Interesting. I played around a bit with the goose genetics calculator and that's not at all the answer I got. I'll have to do some more reading.

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Wait! Wait! I'm pretty sure I win this one. Mine have taken to sleeping on my FRONT WALK AND STEPS this summer and poop all over it in the process. You can't even get to my front door right now with the pile of goose poop on the welcome mat -- and I do mean PILE -- I have people coming and going and they can't get to the darned door without doing a hopscotch/dance on their tiptoes to get through all the poop. We spent the afternoon putting up a nighttime pen because it's gotten so bad.

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Did you just introduce them? If they're penned how much space do they have?

IME you can integrate just about any age as long as they have lots of space. With my free-range flock I literally have day olds with 3 year olds and not a lick of problems. But that stops the second they're confined and gets worse the more confined they are. If you just introduced them I'd give it a little time and see if they calm down. But if they've been together for a bit and it doesn't you may either have to separate them until all are adults or give them more space -- either expand the pen or let them free range a bit. Good Luck!

I definitely would like them. How is their personality? And have they had any babies themselves? For some reason we are not having the best of luck selling our sebbies. We have about 10 that we need to sell and we have only sold one pair so far. The sad thing is we have been trying to sell them for dirt cheap and still no one wants them.
P.S. Where are you located? I read that you are in Mid-Michigan. We are from the Midland area. Just wondering how far away you are located.

I've had stuff for sale dirt cheap lately too and still nothing. I've never had this much trouble selling ducklings and I have two cayuga mixes and a runner. Must be the wrong time of year or something, but I've never run into that problem in all the years I've had ducklings.

 

[Stacykins]

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Wow, sixteen weeks! I can't believe that they were floofy little Chanty babies not too long ago! Time has really flown this summer.

 

[keyt1969]

I love rain and rain storms. I don't even mind a little mud (14 yrs mud bogging will do that lol), but what I do mind is the mess with my chickens and ducks. I tried growing grass in the runs but it quit growing for some reason so it's just mud, mud, mud! The ducks don't mind of course but those ponds we cleaned yesterday...not clean anymore lol. Oh and let's not forget the combination of rain, mud and duck poop in those ponds is an unforgettable smell lol.

BUT, the one thing I love about cooler weather, we can finally use our stove! It's been a good 2 months since we've been able to cook anything in it! Today it's a good day for meatloaf. I told Aric tomorrow we're having chicken cordon bleu. He knew what I meant by that comment LOL

 

[rhodered10]

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what kind of roosters are they? and are they mean or just to each other? we r looking for a nice big roo for our girls hopefully about a year old or so but i guess it doesnt really matter. we just need one all of our girls r confused about what gender they should act ( they r all actualy girls we have had them for over a year now, all layers no boys)we need one to play the rooster roll and protect our girls but not beat them up because we r dealing with a bit of a feather picking problem right now (getting better!)

 

[babigyrl22]

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Diet: Layer Feed (from local elevator)
From: I got them from a breeder and I believe she told me they were 8months when I got them. (I have just 2 silkies from the same breeder and they are the same age)
Penned?: Yep. I am positive they are not laying (I have floor level nesting boxes just for them). My only bantam laying right now is Blueberry and she flies up to the top nesting boxes to lay.

Here she is...I noticed that her head feathers were a little punk rock-ish and she is missing quite a few tail and back end feathers.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-.../SDTZzbCGjo8/s640/2011-08-14_12-03-55_271.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-.../qVo1fm2_m68/s640/2011-08-14_12-01-25_168.jpg

Your bantams are so cute~ Where did you buy the Silkie girls and Blueberry? I would love a Blueberry!

Were these the bantams you just integrated into your standard flock? Could they have lost tail feathers in the scuffle?

I got Blueberry (my chicken who acts like a dog) and 2 other bantam cochins from a fellow BYC'r. I can PM her contact info to you. She is on the other side of the state from us however (not sure if that is an issue). The silkies I got from a lady up in Grant, MI. They are also quite docile and lovely to handle.

No these were not the bantams that I just intergrated into the flock. They've been intergrated since May and that was a piece of cake. I don't think there is any scuffling as of late. The only time there is any brawling is when they are fighting for treats.

 

[babigyrl22]

Quote:
Diet: Layer Feed (from local elevator)
From: I got them from a breeder and I believe she told me they were 8months when I got them. (I have just 2 silkies from the same breeder and they are the same age)
Penned?: Yep. I am positive they are not laying (I have floor level nesting boxes just for them). My only bantam laying right now is Blueberry and she flies up to the top nesting boxes to lay.

Here she is...I noticed that her head feathers were a little punk rock-ish and she is missing quite a few tail and back end feathers.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-.../SDTZzbCGjo8/s640/2011-08-14_12-03-55_271.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-.../qVo1fm2_m68/s640/2011-08-14_12-01-25_168.jpg

I'd give them a few more weeks, I guess. But if they don't start laying soon and you see signs of a true molt I might suspect they are not, in fact, 10 months old.

I've not experienced a true molt yet but I was assured by the lady I bought them from that they were young. However, she had quite a few tubies growing on her tail end which would indicate that she is using her energy making feathers....not eggs. :: sigh ::

 

[Stacykins]

OMG I love my neighbors SOO much. I am pretty new to the area, but they are just awesome. Today one of the gentlemen from down the road came by on his fourwheeler with a huge bucket full of fallen crab apples. He said he has so many not even the deer can eat them all. He knows I feed fruit to my chickens, and also told me when he had chickens as a kid, they loved fallen apples! So my chickens are getting to enjoy apples galore, since I tossed a few handfuls out for them right away! Talk about a feeding frenzy, it was like a pack of wolves descending on a lame deer.


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Send some of that rain here! I'm afraid if we don't get much rain soon, the hay won't grow. It will be tough on people here since second cutting is so important.

Here here, I love being able to use the stove! When it is beastly hot I'd always not cook until late at night. But I just love baking and stuff! About to make some banana bread, actually, since I have a few overripe bananas!