NY chicken lover!!!!

[BusyBearMama]

I don't have any chicks. I have 3 10 week sizzles, but that it is for young ones...And my duckling but it isn't for sale right now.

Aw duckling :-D aw yea it dawned on me today it was this late in the year and I haven't gotten the chicks yet :-/ I found a few that will equal a 3 hour drive, the only thing I'm looking for outside of a few specific chicks is a couple light colored keets let me know if anyone has anything around these parts I'm seeing them pop up here and there but nothing is closer than 3 hours lol and I'm picky right now we are doing coop construction and setting up the brooder just in case we wind up with a few, so we are ready.

 

[boskelli1571]

You may wonder why I am up at this time of night...

Well, the original SS hen, who my husband named Featherbutt, has been on my front porch for the last 30 minutes. She keeps flying up at the glass window of the screen door and flapping into it. I went out and she let me pet her for the first time ever and had no interest in food. She acted like I wasn't there and kept trying to fly past me into the door! The other three are still asleep in the tree. Any ideas?

Oh and the neighbor hasn't come so the plan is still on for my friend to come get them.

Light probably equals safety/warmth to her?? who knows what goes on in a chicken brain..........at least they are becoming more 'catchable' - perhaps you can borrow a dog crate from someone here, at least try for a couple of nights to see if they will go in

 

[PoPo76]

Can your dog be trained ? Im trying to remember if they can be trained after attacking ..

I am thankful that my dogs are cool with the chickens. When I first brought them home of course the dogs were curious. But after some time and patience it seems now that they just ignore each other. I wouldn't leave the dogs alone with the chickens right now but at least I don't have to worry that they will devour them on the spot.

I started letting the dogs into the chickens area at first on a leash. Then I weened them off of that.

My dogs for whatever reason seem to catch on quickly. Years ago when the kids got Guinea pigs they would let them run around their rooms and at first the dogs didn't like them but once they realized that we were holding them and petting them the dogs became affectionate towards them. The dogs would even "herd" them so that they would stay out from under the bed of go in a closet. It was pretty cool.

Anyway, I'm hoping I can get them to act the same way with the chickens.

I am proud to say that all three of the dogs I'm speaking about are of the most vicious, man eating Pitbull breed.

 

[wny egger]

Well I finally set up my lighting in the coops today. I bought a timer from Walmart but not sure I'm using it correctly. So I set it to be on now and turn off around 5pm to see if when I get there at 6 it is indeed off. If it's not then it's not working the way I want it to or I just have no idea what I'm doing. I want it to turn on at 4pm and stay on until 9pm. When I set it today it was just automatically on, wouldn't shut off regardless of how I set it. So we'll see.

Hope all is well with everyone!!!

Gramma - I see I'm already doing it wrong! Light in the morning, not the evening! Guess I'll have to reset my timer. At least today I'll know if it's working or not.

you dont want it going off in the evening before they roost ..lights should come on in the morn and off way before they get ready to roost..if its on at 9pm then they wont get on the roost till it goes off and chickens dont see very well and if it goes off all of a sudden they may not find their way to the perch..
my lite comes on at 4 am and off around noon..and what ever you do dont turn the lite on after dark or they will all jump down and think its time to start the day ..i found this out the hard way ..lol..



i have a question ..i changed the perches in the coop ..i used to have the perches all over the place andf was finding trouble with it that way, so i took them all down and built a new set of perches all in a diffrent area of the coop ..the chickens are not using it ..i go out at night to find them stuffed in nesting boxes and some just walking around ..a couple are not heading in to the coop from the run and are squaking up a storm ..i have had to move some and put on the perch my self ..i thought maybe the perch might not be big enough so i added more rungs to it so there was plenty of room ..they still wouldnt use it ..i cant figure out why or how to get them to go roost without me having to handle each bird at night and place them on it by hand ..

any ideas welcome ..and thank you ..

 

[AQHAchick22]

Between the weasel we had and my dog I am down to 10 chickens. I am not happy. I am looking to rehome our dog. I think it's best if I am keeping chickens.

Is there no way to fence the dog off away from the chickens? I don't think it's fair to rehome the dog...just my .02 cents.

You may wonder why I am up at this time of night...

Well, the original SS hen, who my husband named Featherbutt, has been on my front porch for the last 30 minutes. She keeps flying up at the glass window of the screen door and flapping into it. I went out and she let me pet her for the first time ever and had no interest in food. She acted like I wasn't there and kept trying to fly past me into the door! The other three are still asleep in the tree. Any ideas?

Oh and the neighbor hasn't come so the plan is still on for my friend to come get them.

Ugh your neighbor obviously doesn't care about the chickens...I would be shocked if he even told his wife that he knew where they were. I agree with everyone else that she probably liked the light/saw her reflection. Good luck catching them! The offer still stands if you need some help!

 

[AQHAchick22]

So last night I found my leghorn hen laying under the coop

she was alert and looking around but not moving. She let me easily grab her and hold her which is very strange for her. I put her down and she was able to stand but didn't want to move much. I put her in a dog crate in the house overnight since I didn't want to leave her in the coop to be picked on.

Anyway, this morning she will stand briefly if I help but seems to collapse. I gave her some scrambled egg with extra calcium (she laid an egg yesterday) and some vitamins this morning. I'm thinking it's a leg injury from a heavy overly excitable rooster. I looked her over for visible injury and didn't see anything and her legs can still move....what do you think the chances of her recovering after just resting for a bit are?

 

[Pyxis]

Morning all! I have had some additions and some losses. I started with a new breed, and had 21 of 24 shipped eggs hatch last week. I also hatched a little splash silkie this morning! They are due on Halloween but the rest are all pipped so I bet I'll be seeing them today. Sadly, I also lost two of my muscovy ducks, the dark ripple and one lavender. They tore down the chicken wire over their pen and I couldn't find them. I clipped the drake and last duck's wings so they couldn't get out and went looking for them but couldn't find them Yesterday I asked the neighbor if they had seen them. They had - there's a small, pretty much single lane dirt road that two car can JUST barely squeeze past each other on if they meet going opposite ways between our property and theirs. Someone came barreling up it way too fast and hit my ducks as they were crossing the road to get a mud puddle in the neighbor's driveway. Apparently someone also hit and injured their dog a little while ago, probably the same person. They never even stopped, just kept on going.

I also get to do a bumblefoot surgery later today on my hen Lemon. Not looking forward to it, but it's gotta be done. It's a big bumble too - she wasn't walking funny so I only just noticed it because it's trying to come through the top of her foot now.

 

[demp4]

Is there no way to fence the dog off away from the chickens? I don't think it's fair to rehome the dog...just my .02 cents.

They are fenced in. She keeps finding a way out. Digging holes, pushing gates open that are latched, almost jumping (I give it another month before she can clear the 4ft fence. We have tried many different avenues, and its not an easy decision that we came too. It saddens all of us but its the right one for our family.

 

[demp4]

So that one little weasel caused all the trouble ?
My husband thinks 24 is too many at our house ...Im sure he would give you some ....LOL
We have 2 younger Roos & some potential ones ...
Can your dog be trained ? Im trying to remember if they can be trained after attacking ..

Yes it seems the one weasel caused all that trouble. I haven't caught any more nor have we had any more attacks.

From what I read, once they kill a chicken they won't stop. I have tried taking her to the chicken area on a leash, it makes her try anxious and hyper, and want them even more. Her brother (whom we also own) could care less about the chickens. He just follows her around but if we take just him out he is fine.They are bird dogs (labs) so its instinctive.

 

[AQHAchick22]

They are fenced in. She keeps finding a way out. Digging holes, pushing gates open that are latched, almost jumping (I give it another month before she can clear the 4ft fence. We have tried many different avenues, and its not an easy decision that we came too. It saddens all of us but its the right one for our family.

Fair enough, sorry for making assumptions

. There are just too many people who will get rid of a dog without trying other options first and it's a huge pet peeve of mine.