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Blarneyeggs said:
We are up to 5 raccoons. I no longer free range several of my coops.


It's the merging of new or different aged chooks together that can be the hard part.
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I don't free range coops. I keep them right where they are, and let the chickens, ducks and turkeys free range.

I am very lucky with integration. So far, no problems. The babies have been going out between one and three weeks this year. They have a hole in the fence to come and go after a week. Not one was bullied by an adult.
 
I have been free ranging for two years and raising chickens for two years and I have not had anything kill or injure any of my birds or even try to get in. I have found that with the fox they have been coming over to our place by the chickens but everytime you see the fox it's going over to the neighbors because it knows they don't have a pad lock on every door. I may go over board but we have a lot of predators and I don't plan on loosing one bird to this kind of stuff.
 
We had a fire on Saturday evening with some family over and around 11, we started hearing some fox yipping in the woods. They weren't far away at all and seemed to move closer. We haven't lost any or had any break-ins to the coop yet. We've either been very lucky or our coop is very secure. I know there are a lot of predators around here but I think they've had plenty of food. Hopefully, we continue to be lucky.

Miss Queenie is on the road to recovery. She was the turkey that was hanging from her leg in the coop last week. She's still in the house, whining about not being with her flock. The swelling in her ankle looks like it's finally starting to go down a little and she's been walking around on it. A couple more days and she should be able to go back out. I just want to be show that she won't hurt it again.
 
Dheltzel, thanks for making all of these "luxury" chicken breeds available! We all appreciate your hard work!

Aurora, glad to hear the turkey is doing well! Complaining about not being outside to play with her friends is a great sign! I bet she will make a full recovery. :)


TillyPeeps said:
dheltzel said:
I love the stories about your chicks, it reminds me of daytime soap opera, maybe with less overall drama.

I really hope you can keep your flock, you have invest so much time in them.
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I'm waiting for the final decision of my last chance to stay here. I do hope that we can stay. If not, I'll try to see if I can find a place for rent allowing chickens. Chance is small though. Everyone in my family enjoys the chickens so much and no one wants to give up yet.

There's another major benefit of having bielefelder in a small flock: because they're so calm but big and powerful, they'll help to keep peace between girls. I saw Bear broke girls from fighting from time to time. She also protect weaker chickens from being bullied. That's why my flock is so peaceful and happy today. I think there is increasing interesting in Bielefelders now, so you should keep them at least for a while.
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That does make it easier, knowing that your girls will be well cared for. It has made the transition easier knowing I will get my girls back and that they will only be gone for a few months, Lord willing. :D
 
I have a problem with one of my girls. Cate is my marans hen. On the 12th and today, laid 2 soft shelled eggs. At the same time, or one right after the other. But both eggs are soft and broken. What causes this? She has the same diet as all the other birds. Is this an internal issue with her and what can we do about it? Or is this a culling situation?
 
LadyBehir said:
I have a problem with one of my girls. Cate is my marans hen. On the 12th and today, laid 2 soft shelled eggs. At the same time, or one right after the other. But both eggs are soft and broken. What causes this? She has the same diet as all the other birds. Is this an internal issue with her and what can we do about it? Or is this a culling situation?
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Is she a new or young layer. It could just be her body getting in to it. I did have a hen in the past that would tend to lay shell-less eggs but never had any issues.
 

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