- May 9, 2014
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Hailing from the wilds of the U.P. of MI and have been raising chickens for about 6 years now after a long hiatus(ummm-25ish yrs when I was a kid). I have had a lot of experience with various predators of the canine variety and one very large wildcat as well as having trained 5 dogs not to play with chickens nor chicks. I have had as many as 47 laying hens at one time(inherited 30 from a friend when he moved to Montana) though I gave a few away, sold a few, as well as lost a few to the predators and old age. Hatched a load of nearly all roosters when I decided I needed to reload the coop a couple years ago and luckily got one rooster incubated out of my half dozen chanteclers progeny along with saving one hen from the foxes. I now have 9 hens (couple australorps, barred rock, silver laced wyandotte, production red, mixed Orloff/australorp and partridge chantecler) and one partridge chantecler rooster. Main reason I joined was to get some contacts with the heritage breeders on here. Learn a bit(actually quite a bit) about incubating/hatching, sexing and breeding for pure strains. I have been very successful at raising purchased chicks having lost none except to predators(and a black lab) after 4 months of age when allowed to free range. Hopefully I can contribute a little to predator control methods and having learned the tricks a pair of foxes use, how to recognize warning signs of said predators(your rooster will let you know often enough...learned to listen to/for his danger calls). Glad to be here btw - Lon
and Welcome To BYC!
