Oregon

[Chicken Tamer]

I honestly have no idea. I put them in their pen at dark last night, their pen is quite tall but has an open top. It isn't much of a pen because the ducks were kind of a surprise and we've been concentrating on keeping up with the housing needs for the Chickens.

I think Nelson checked everyone about 8 PM, maybe a bit later. Everyone was okay at that time. It was early, about sunrise when Nelson went out this morning ... The chickens were making tons of noise, so I was worried something had gotten into their coop, which is pretty secure but you never know. Unfortunately, it was the duck habitat that had been broken into. Again. Poor Nelson.

Considering the state of the duck habitat, I can't say I'm very surprised. But as we are a few days away from building a more proper Duck enclosure, I'm kicking myself. I had just put the four babies in with the adults ... This is probably what has attracted predator attention. But I've been having this feeling of urgency about getting it done. I have ordered materials, and was waiting for someone to have time to bring them here and help me build the thing ... and now they feel super rotten about it, too. We are now down to just two babies ...

Im so sorry. Does it come and get more then 1 in a day?

 

[chickened]

Owls will visit a roost tree or snag right at dark near the previous nights kill. If it is an owl it will return. I have many pictures of them.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It took one the first night, and one two nights later.

 

[Chicken Tamer]

It took one the first night, and one two nights later.

Sounds like either a racoon or owl, but the thing you gotta keep in mind about racoons is they usaully take more then they can eat.

 

[SHRIVERFARMGIRL]

Chicken Tamer. it might not be cats....weasels will do this as well. We had a weasel get in this summer and kill 3 fat cornish while they just sat there. They get around the neck and basically make a small spot and it bleeds them out. They will for sport not for food. So if they didnt look like they had been eaten...it was probably a weasel type critter.

Leslie, I am thinking an owl or raccoon. Both are more clever than we think and eat the chickens like you have described.

Suggestion for all critters. Get a dog. Keep it close to your animals. At the time of the weasel incident, our Border Collie was being tied up on the other side of the coop to protect the little chicks at night. She usually had room to roam the whole area and we had never had any incidents of ay kind even when a fox came by and killed off a bunch of the neighbors hens and he's had hawks and owl problems too. But not us. (secret: Lucy probably wouldnt know what to do if she had defend anything...she is not an aggressive dog, however she will bark and she partols like crazy!)

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Chicken Tamer. it might not be cats....weasels will do this as well. We had a weasel get in this summer and kill 3 fat cornish while they just sat there. They get around the neck and basically make a small spot and it bleeds them out. They will for sport not for food. So if they didnt look like they had been eaten...it was probably a weasel type critter.

Leslie, I am thinking an owl or raccoon. Both are more clever than we think and eat the chickens like you have described.

Suggestion for all critters. Get a dog. Keep it close to your animals. At the time of the weasel incident, our Border Collie was being tied up on the other side of the coop to protect the little chicks at night. She usually had room to roam the whole area and we had never had any incidents of ay kind even when a fox came by and killed off a bunch of the neighbors hens and he's had hawks and owl problems too. But not us. (secret: Lucy probably wouldnt know what to do if she had defend anything...she is not an aggressive dog, however she will bark and she partols like crazy!)

We have an awesome dog.

But he sleeps on my bed with me.

Besides cuddling, his second job is to poop around the perimeter of the chicken coop to keep the coyotes away, and he does a great job with that.

He is a Lab, so not ever going to be a guard dog.

I promise I was looking for Collie/Shepard type rescue mutt when Nelson fell in love with this dogs face based on one Internet photo, and the future was written.

We keep talking about getting another dog, but I'm somewhat worried that then the dogs will "play" together and use the poultry as toys. As they say, trouble begins at home.

I think the best thing for us to do is to build a duck habitat with a closed top -- like our chicken coop has. This will be a bit of a task as I plan to expand the duck population and want all the ducks to have constant access to both indoor and outdoor space ... they like to sleep in their pool, but I want a sheltered area for hatching, etc., and want some distance between those things so the inside space doesn't get too mucky too fast. We have an awesome idea for the enclosed space, but not any great ideas for the outdoor space yet. Cuz we're working on a budget, like most everyone else.

There was definitely a BIG owl commotion in the area last night, though the timing of the kills seems a bit off. It had to happen well after dark. One thing I've noticed this past week is how bright the moon is, so maybe that explains that. Otherwise ... raccoon.

 

[Chicken Tamer]

We dont have weasels tho, the cats take care of the gophers and weasels.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Okay Oregon Chicken Lovers ... someone on another thread suggested contacting a local feed mill to make a custom feed mix for chickens. There are lots of reasons why this might be a good idea, but it was suggested to me that feeding a mix of whole(r) grains is a way to help with the feed waste issue I'm currently having -- my chickens beaked 90 lbs of food onto the coop floor in one day.

For various other reasons I've been thinking of doing this myself, but know feed mills must mix the feed in rather large batches (like 500 lbs at a time), and this would probably be more than is practical for me even though I do have a lot of chickens for a backyard chicken wrangler.

The solution is so simple it is elegant: form a buying co-op to share the batches of feed.

My question is this: Is Anyone Interested? Feed mixed locally, from as many local, non-GMO, perhaps also organic, ingredients as is practical, with the rest of the nutrients shipped in.

Here is the recipe(s) for the feed that the BYC member pointed me toward. http://marystilwell.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/marys-whole-grain-chicken-feed-recipe/ This is just a starting-point recipe and we could tweak it according to our resources and needs.

 

[nwredrooster]

I'm intrigued. I currently only have seven girls, but intend to grow to (a still relatively small) 10 this spring. But I am intrigued and living in Aloha.

 

[Zanna]

Okay Oregon Chicken Lovers ... someone on another thread suggested contacting a local feed mill to make a custom feed mix for chickens. There are lots of reasons why this might be a good idea, but it was suggested to me that feeding a mix of whole(r) grains is a way to help with the feed waste issue I'm currently having -- my chickens beaked 90 lbs of food onto the coop floor in one day.

For various other reasons I've been thinking of doing this myself, but know feed mills must mix the feed in rather large batches (like 500 lbs at a time), and this would probably be more than is practical for me even though I do have a lot of chickens for a backyard chicken wrangler.

The solution is so simple it is elegant: form a buying co-op to share the batches of feed.

My question is this: Is Anyone Interested? Feed mixed locally, from as many local, non-GMO, perhaps also organic, ingredients as is practical, with the rest of the nutrients shipped in.

Here is the recipe(s) for the feed that the BYC member pointed me toward. http://marystilwell.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/marys-whole-grain-chicken-feed-recipe/ This is just a starting-point recipe and we could tweak it according to our resources and needs.

I feed a mix of grains along side a pelleted feed. My mix is dried peas, soft wheat and corn. We buy the peas and wheat from Farmers directly out of the field and the corn from a mill. It goes from the combine directly into the back of our pick-up and we shovel it out into barrels. My chickens beak out the grains trying to get to what they consider is their "favorite" I suppose. They do not beak out the pellets, in fact they eat very little of the pellets. I just don't give them more feed until they have cleaned up the ground under the feeders. I have considered putting chicken wire or something like that over the feeders so they can not beak it out......... I think your feed idea is great, but it may not solve the problem of the beaking out............

I would like to find a local feed that has meat protein in it rather than veg. proteins. Anyone know of one??

Also looking for some pure Ameraucana's for a friend. Need only be pet quality but must lay blue eggs. POL or just started would be great, let me know what you have.