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Just an update, my ladies are doing well and free range in the yard all day. We only have one that hops the fence. :) We will be clipping her wings soon to see if that discourages her.

Question for the pros, do chickens change their pecking order as they grow? I could have sworn my leghorn was the queen of the coop, but it seems like now my BR is the friendliest and the first to eat. Just curious!
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Just an update, my ladies are doing well and free range in the yard all day. We only have one that hops the fence.
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We will be clipping her wings soon to see if that discourages her.

Question for the pros, do chickens change their pecking order as they grow? I could have sworn my leghorn was the queen of the coop, but it seems like now my BR is the friendliest and the first to eat. Just curious!
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Not only does pecking order change as they grow it can change on a day to day basis sometimes!! Though there eventually gets to be a 'normal' is can take a long time to get there and even small things can cause a total reshuffle... adding or removing even one bird, changing roost set up, adding or changing feeder locations, changing nest boxes, etc. Birds in the 'lower' level of the pecking order are almost always striving to improve at least one spot, so you will most often see the conflicts arise between members who are at about the same level. You will also see the 'upper level' birds reminding the rest of the flock just who is really boss...
I like to see 'higher level' birds who enforce their position with a simple peck or a stance to make lower birds give ground but not pursue or beat them up. If a higher level bird starts becoming a bully I will keep a close eye to see if intervention is needed. It very rarely is, but sometimes hens or roosters can develop a mean streak that just causes a constant upset within the flock. Those birds I will remove if interventions don't improve things... I don't like to interfere much, but I won't have one aggressive bully keeping the whole flock upset either. In nature an animal like that would probably be run out of a flock to fend for themselves, or the flock would split between followers of the bully and a second group who chose to not put up with it... but in our back yards we remove that option, so I can only do what I hope is best for the group as a whole.
Flock dynamics are ever changing.... I think they do it just to keep us silly humans guessing!
 
Hi! we hail from Media, PA just outside Philadelphia. We are new to chickens but just bought a feed and seed store with a great amount of people interested in starting up! We had our first "chicken chat" at the store - Tobin's Feed and Seed, also in Media last week.

We are looking forward to starting a group and offering more chats fairly often. Anyone in PA close enough to may want to come over and add your expertise?

Thanks so much! Cathy Norrbom
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
It might be worthwhile to ask on Craigslist for free cartons, cut them in half and put a custom label on top. Good luck!
We are nuts!

Someone had posted about Pokeweed, please be careful. I have a book that says that children have died from eating the berries. I believe you can eat the young shoots if you boil them into changes of water, but please don't rely on one opinion.
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My yard is covered in the young pokeweed. My chickens ate some and last night (2 days after eating it) I found one of my breeder GLW dead. She was fine that morning, sitting in the corner sunning her self. I don't know if the pokeweed killed her or what. I am so upset. My kids are older, teenagers, and don't go around picking berries and eating them. I don't know what to do with all the pokeweed :(


Tobinschickench said:
Hi! we hail from Media, PA just outside Philadelphia. We are new to chickens but just bought a feed and seed store with a great amount of people interested in starting up! We had our first "chicken chat" at the store - Tobin's Feed and Seed, also in Media last week.

We are looking forward to starting a group and offering more chats fairly often. Anyone in PA close enough to may want to come over and add your expertise?

Thanks so much! Cathy Norrbom
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Hi and welcome from the Poconos! Good luck with your new store and chicken chat!
 
Tobinschickench said:
Hi! we hail from Media, PA just outside Philadelphia. We are new to chickens but just bought a feed and seed store with a great amount of people interested in starting up! We had our first "chicken chat" at the store - Tobin's Feed and Seed, also in Media last week.

We are looking forward to starting a group and offering more chats fairly often. Anyone in PA close enough to may want to come over and add your expertise?

Thanks so much! Cathy Norrbom
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Hi tobinschickench !
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and
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Oh that sound so interesting. Maybe check the Judges Directory at the APA website and see if there is a Judge in your area.
Another idea might be someone in a Poultry Science Dept. at your local University or College. Or someone who lives in your
area and has an "Educator" tag by their name on BYC. That tag cannot be earned or won by public nomination. It is given out
to select members the admin deems experts in their fields. If I have a really sticky question, I go looking for one of them on BYC.
You could ask one of the Moderators if they have an Educator in your area. I think your chicken chats are a great idea!
Maybe you could get the Chicken Whisperer to do a radio program from,on your place. I am not familiar with him or know
the area his show covers, but he is very popular!
Best Success,
Karen
 
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fisherlady said:
1" is fine if you are dealing with adult birds, but I prefer the half inch for at least the lowest level around a run to prevent small chicks from squeezing through and also to help prevent raccoon paws and small rodents from getting in as easy. It only needs to be about a foot high though. you could accomplish it by cutting 1' tall strips of the 1" mesh and wrapping it around the bottom of the run as a second layer, just offset by 1/2 inch to reduce the size openings, or buy another roll of 1/2" mesh and use that as your lowest level wrap.
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Amen to that one....I have 2"x4" and the first few times the broody take the chick out it doesn't know to climb the ramp back into the coop...I end up chasing it and it always runs though the fence to the other side....(repeat about 100 times)
 
Tobinschickench said:
Hi! we hail from Media, PA just outside Philadelphia. We are new to chickens but just bought a feed and seed store with a great amount of people interested in starting up! We had our first "chicken chat" at the store - Tobin's Feed and Seed, also in Media last week.

We are looking forward to starting a group and offering more chats fairly often. Anyone in PA close enough to may want to come over and add your expertise?

Thanks so much! Cathy Norrbom
Click to expand...

Hi Tobin:

Been to your place a few times....Chester County welcome to BYC....there's quite a few of us folk pretty close to you....Cathy, would you be the young lady with all the tatoos?
 

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