MJ's little flock

[Ribh]

Just look at your lovely Patricia! She's a picture of how genetics aren't always expressed the same way.

Patricia sorta proves my point. Patricia is a genuine mutation ~ one mutation out of hundreds of normal barrings. What happened with the foxes was bizarre. Lots of different breeding pairs but they all mutated, though not all in the same ways. I don't think that happens a lot ~ but it's not my area @ all. This was just a study I happened on by chance which I found fascinating.

 

[Ribh]

The British were just as bad, but they didn't do it the vast scale the USA does it now. Also, the back yard tinkerers are not so common in the UK because there isn't the same Backyard Chicken craze coverage.

Exactly. Here that sort of thing would just be backyard bitzas from random backyard matings. I don't know any tinkerers @ all apart from my Campine breeder who was working on a cream something or other last time I saw her ~ but that was a colour divergence of an established breed & there were a number of different breeders involved. Not sure that makes it better but they @ least probably had some idea of what they were doing.

 

[Scrambles83]

If you want them to roost in their coop, you need to teach them that it home. Keep putting them there at night and they will learn. I'm sorry but I'm not remembering what your flock looks like. How many chickens do you have? I'm sensing 1 established hen and two young ones. Is that correct?

Yes, exactly what my flock is
I thought that’s what I did with our original 2 to get them to roost but it’s been a while since I’ve had to do it. Thanks!

 

[Ribh]

Not feeling well, I'm going to let this slide today.

I could have worded this better. I had grandies underfoot is my excuse for not writing out my complete thought which was to do with all the posts I've come across on BYC of Backyard tinkerers who don't seem to have a clue what they're doing & are meddling just because they can. It just doesn't feel right to me. Unfortunately all the ones I've seen have been Americans, hence the sweeping generalisation. I've had to walk away. My thoughts on what they are doing are not repeatable in polite company.

 

[BY Bob]

If you are confident that the run is secure.
You often don't know you've got predators until they've got your chickens.
A sleep/roost out run needs to be as secure as the coop, probably more so because the predators can see the chickens.

I second this. That is how I lost Maleficent a year ago. The run simply is not as secure as the coop. One night a weasel happens by and you lose your dearest hen. Be very sure that it is secure. I found many small issues with mine afterwards which were deadly to my girl.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, exactly what my flock is
I thought that’s what I did with our original 2 to get them to roost but it’s been a while since I’ve had to do it. Thanks!

I find that lighting the inside of the coop at nightfall draws them all the way in to roost. I have a Ryobi lantern that came with power tools that I use. I put it in before nightfall and then tuck them in after dark and turn the lantern off.

3 is a great size for a flock. Enjoy them.

 

[BY Bob]

I could have worded this better. I had grandies underfoot is my excuse for not writing out my complete thought which was to do with all the posts I've come across on BYC of Backyard tinkerers who don't seem to have a clue what they're doing & are meddling just because they can. It just doesn't feel right to me. Unfortunately all the ones I've seen have been Americans, hence the sweeping generalisation. I've had to walk away. My thoughts on what they are doing are not repeatable in polite company.

I could have lived a long time happily without ever pondering little amateur geneticists experimenting with their backyard flocks, be they Americans or Pelicans for that matter. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Scrambles83]

I second this. That is how I lost Maleficent a year ago. The run simply is not as secure as the coop. One night a weasel happens by and you lose your dearest hen. Be very sure that it is secure. I found many small issues with mine afterwards which were deadly to my girl.

I’ll start shutting them in at night based on the sound advice on here
Thankfully here we don’t have as wide a variety of wild predators in Aus as you guys have. Here in the ‘burbs it’s mainly cats and perhaps foxes (which I know can jump fences no matter how high) with the occasional kites circling high during the day.
Thanks again everyone for the input, I’ll make sure to keep my girls more secure from here on out ☺

 

[BY Bob]

I’ll start shutting them in at night based on the sound advice on here
Thankfully here we don’t have as wide a variety of wild predators in Aus as you guys have. Here in the ‘burbs it’s mainly cats and perhaps foxes (which I know can jump fences no matter how high) with the occasional kites circling high during the day.
Thanks again everyone for the input, I’ll make sure to keep my girls more secure from here on out ☺

I'm really not trying to scare you. It's just easier than blaming yourself afterwards.

Of course, I thought everything in Australia was deadly. All I hear is how everything there is designed to kill humans, I figure it includes chickens too.

 

[MaryJanet]

If you are confident that the run is secure.
You often don't know you've got predators until they've got your chickens.
A sleep/roost out run needs to be as secure as the coop, probably more so because the predators can see the chickens.

I didn't know there were foxes in my neighbourhood until they took Dora, Nigella, and Alice.