Michigan

[Olive Hill]

I didn't think I'd been gone that long but...

... ya'll have been chatty! LOL!

Taprock - I'm glad you're all okay. Tell your son the roo isn't necessarily a goner. We have several chickens who don't use the coop and just roost in the trees instead. The hardest thing for the roo will be food in the winter, but they can be pretty hardy. He may make it. For a while anyway.

Nova - That's definitely a roo.

HH - I agree with those that have suggested a rat. A possum is another possibility. Both like the easiest meal possible. Both are also capable of killing adult chickens if an easier meal isn't available though, so it'd be a good idea to double check any possible entrances and seal them up. Rats do drag off their food. Usually whatever they don't eat they will bury nearby. Whatever it is, if it comes back and takes a chicken you'll know. Possums tend to ravage their kills, while rats are a little more pointed in their approach. They leave behind a lot of the same signs as weasels and minks -- attacking the neck and head most often.

 

[chicken grandma]

Wow!
I am a little dizzy from looking at the photo of Taprock's car and reading about a peeping egg that was eaten by a rat.

Chicken keeping is not for Sissies!

Taprock, I am so sorry about your accident. You may have a bit of healing ahead for you and your family. A nice fire in the fireplace and warm cocoa and gently talking about the accident and at the same time reminding your son of how God was with you in those moments is healing. The fire is a form of E.M.D.R. which is a treatment for Post Traumatic Stress. (the flickering light is soothing to the brain)
The idea of gently remembering the accident in the context of never being out of control or out of God's hands is another part of the healing.

Also, I would go after the rooster if you all find the strength. It could be part of your son's healing.

I am so glad you are all well. That is a miracle and I am so happy about that!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

well, this is my sample saddle i finished making. i made friends with my sewing machine tonight! I am getting better with each try. I was proud of this one! No models yet, but mabie tomorrow weather permitting. Thank you hillbilly hen for the suggestions! I gotta do something to offset the cost of all this feed! you'd think i had 50 instead of 7....!

 

[NovaAman]

Mornin...
Well that's what I pretty much figured when Miss Isa decided to start mounting. That's when I noticed really that something was not right! Lol. Just needed to be certain so who better to confirm than all ya'll? So, now what to do with him. I guess aside from the name change... I was thinking maybe rocky Rhode.... Like the roo from chicken run. That's one funny movie,even if it was Mel Gibson. Lol.

Anyway, thanks for the confirmations.

Any one need a rir? Hey, never hurts to ask. hehehe. He isn't crowing, but I can hardly wait to hear if he does! Oscar isn't crowing yet either.

 

[Mom 2em All]

NovaAman,

Perhaps we could offer a 'twofer' special...

your roo and mine.

Here's my beautiful "sexed at a day-old" Turken pullet:

My broody silkies are sitting on fertile eggs- and he crows his heart out daily. Attacked me once, I carried him around upside down and humiliated him in front of all the ladies, put him down, went to scoop feed and he attacked me a second time. However, he hasnt tried it again. I suppose he didnt appreciate being nailed by the big red scoop.
He has to go- cant have him here when the neighbors start opening their windows. They hear him- my nextdoor neighbors arent complaining but they will come Spring. AND- yesterday, it sounded like he was in my kitchen! I went to look, and he was staring in the kitchen window- standing on the deck rail, crowing. Probably saying, "come on out, you big chicken!" lol. Nobody on Craigslist wants him. If he attacks my husband, he will be stew.

Rain rain rain- I cant handle any more rain. This was my yard last week. I just know Henry and Penelope and Libby would have loved it:

Its raining now, again. My yard is mud. My silkies are snug though, on Chicken island. They have haybales, and pine chips, and a roof to keep them dry. I even hung Christmas lights for them.

Taprock, I am very glad that you and your son are okay! That must have been so scary!

 

[Opa]

It is not uncommon for a broody hen to suddenly decide that eating eggs is better than sitting on them. I had a hen in a separate cage and after about a week eggs started disappearing. There was absolutely no signs of the missing eggs until I finally caught her in the act. Ultimately she hatched one chick from the dozen eggs she started with.

 

[KrisRose]

Quote:
The goosers would have been in heaven!! Mine are now since by backyard is also flooded.

 

[RBahmer]

Good morning everyone. I have a sad story to tell that turned out good. My friend works at an animal auction every Saturday and when it was over and she was cleaning up she kept hearing this sound. So she decided to investigate it. She heard a noise coming from a garbage can and looked in and there was a chicken!!! Somebody threw a hen in the garbage and left it!! She called me and was madder than a wet hen. She was soooo ticked that someone would do that. So she called me and said I have a chicken for you. Not that I needed another one but hey, what is one more. So she took it home and it will be on it's way to my house. Why in the world would someone be so cruel as to throw a live animal in the garbage? Makes me sick but thank God she found it.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Quote:

What yard??? I carried a broom for the breaking in of mine... oh what the neighbors must've thought! Crazy chicken lady waving a broom all around and running after rooster... I adore roos (No i have my hands full already) but they are stubborn little buggers!

 

[fifelakelooper]

Someone dumping a live chicken in a trash conatainer is just plain rotten. You have to wonder about the cruelty some people display.

I have GREAT news here!! My girlfriend got the "ok" from her hubby to babysit my chickens this winter! This means they will NOT be near any other chickens. Plus....I think I will be hatching eggs for her this summer (if she enjoys it) and she will do chickens too! This would be great...then her chickens would all come from MY place and it would basically be a "closed" flock!! I'm pretty darn excited! The person who was going to watch them had his own flock and I would have worried while in Florida. This way.....it is ALMOST

worry-free.

Have a nice day Michigan...we had rain all night and ongoing still. However ...today is Fife Lake's "Victorian Tea" and we usually have a snow storm going....rain is easier.