Michigan

[ChicwannaB]

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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 is right, tho I haven't lost a chicken yet to fox, coyote, hawk, owl, weasel, mink, etc I DID lose 5 out of 6 baby pullets to my own darn Jack Russell. You HAVE TO remember any chicken that gets even one day to free range and live as a normal animal is WAY better off that a production chicken owned by some big company, who lives out it's short life shoulder to shoulder with thousands of others and never sees the blue sky or a real blade of green grass.
Im sure it's tough tho, you're a woman and you'll blame yourself for not making someone elses life perfect. God Bless You. My Sympathies.

 

[ChicwannaB]

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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!)

I am looking for a good home for a FREE Buff Chantecler rooster, he's 16 weeks old now, crowing, I just don't have room or need for 2 of them. Pics of them on myPage.

 

[RaZ]

Just read the "shoulder to shoulder" comment. My 5 have a 16" wide, 7 foot long roosting shelf and how do they settle in for the night? Yup, shoulder to shoulder.
At least that tells me that they are getting along with each other.

 

[chickendales]

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.

silkies some time take for ever to start laying

 

[babigyrl22]

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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.

silkies some time take for ever to start laying

so I've read. I've contacted the breeder and she thought that maybe my coop/run was comprimised by a preditor but my older girls will sometimes lay in the lower floor-level nestingboxes without incident. So....it's just really weird that they are "supposedly" older than my now starting to lay pullets and they haven't given me not one egg. not even a rubber egg to give me hope.

...yes, I am pretty sure they aren't roosters Opa.

 

[Chickmate]

So what's the deal with "rubber" eggs? My girls who have just started laying have been dropping about one shell-less egg a day. Not sure who is doing it, but why do they do it? Do they need more calcium? They have access to oyster shell on a free feed basis. Is it something they do when they start laying? Something I should be doing?

 

[chikkaboomboom]

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From what I have read it's just a pullets system getting kicked in, like a short egg making cycle, there bodies are maturing and for some reason they throw out the rubber ones once in a while, it's supposed to stop I think as they get older.

 

[keyt1969]

Quote:
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!)

I have a gorgeous Black Sex Link!! I posted pics a few pages back. He's a good boy and I'd love to keep him but I just can't. I also have a RIR. Want some ducks too?? LOL

This is the BSL

I don't have recent pics of the RIR

 

[fifelakelooper]

Yesterday was a good day!! First of all...as we drove out our driveway in the morning...their was a 2 foot tall wood rooster whirligig stuck in the ground!! To make it even better...it was painted a white washed "blue"!!! I absolutely LOVE IT and haven't a clue to left it for me?. I called our friends from Florida who had just left...they didn't leave it. No note...no calls to say who was the sweetie that was so generous.

We finished !!! the Mobile coop...the RV we transformed into a coop on wheels. I will try to get a picture today.

Someone bought my English Orpington Blue/splash rooster!!

Was that a great day or what??! Chick wannab and Olive...I thank you for your input on my lack of being able to take pics. I have used something like "photobucket" before and it worked once. Here on BYC i have NO access to all my uploaded photos...I don't know why. I HATE computer tech stuff and just give up rather than "tinker" for hours with it. I'll stick with "one" picture until my daughter comes someday to visit from Florida) Just impatient with computers.

Anyway...it was 49 degrees here this morning. A definite "nip" in the air! You know what is around the corner??......That's right.

 

[Opa]

While it is 10 degrees warmer here, summer is coming to an end. Each year it seems to be much shorter than the previous one and winters seem to get longer. I once had an old farmer friend who said he always hated to see wheat being harvested because that meant that summer was more than half over. I know that there is still quite a few projects that I need to accomplish before winter gets here and the time is passing much too quickly.

The storm that blew through here Saturday was quite intense and we didn't sustain much damage other than a lot more windfall apples to pick up. After watch the tragedy that occurred at the Indiana State Fair there is no way I could even start to complain. My heart goes out to all those so sadly affected by it.