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LizardCat said:
Not sure.  We've had them skip into the neighbor's yard before, but they've always managed to come back by dusk.

This morning Simba was raising a fit from inside the coop; she could hear her sisters but not see them.  That's what clued me in to the survivors.  I covered the coop window and listened carefully for the response crowing, and that's when I found Scarlet and Tootsie on the other side of the fence, along with the corpses of Sleepy and Spot. 

According to my wife, Clover and Nicky are still missing at the moment.  Given the number of feathers I saw over there (that I need to clean up this afternoon) I'm not hopeful. :-(

And after all that stress, Simba and Pelly still laid eggs this morning.

I'm fencing off the back half of the lot when I get home from work.  The girls shouldn't have to worry about getting lost or eaten.  They deserve better than that!
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Were they eaten or just torn apart? When a raccoon got to our chickens their heads and feet were torn off but nothing was missing. I wonder if they wondered too far away and by the time they were headed home the predators were on the hunt for the night. :( so sad.
 
The egg under my silkie that was tossed out of the nest with all the craziness yesterday finally hatched. I had to assist. It pipped yesterday and by 11 today was still just a pip and the membranes seemed really dry and tough. Our hen was sitting on it but would get up to be with the chicks. I chipped away at the shell but left the membranes. That seemed to do the trick bc the baby was out within 15 minutes. The mama hen seems to be taking care of all 3. The one with the bloody head seems ok and the other ones wing seems much better. Still bloody but not as swollen.
 
stake said:
A couple of thoughts and a question:

1. I have just moved my 2 baby marans(15weeks) in with the big girls.....but the they really are not mixing....they stay apart....whats confusing is that two of my more dominant hens are afraid of the babies(go figure) and move away from them while the other four girls...chase the babies and the babies run....even treats can't get them to hang together...the babies even run from the roo....and the babies are still going back to the grow out pen in the evening....any thoughts? The only thing I can think to do is to keep them penned up together and not let then free range....

2. is it possible to use wood chips as bedding in coop? Is there a down side? I think I could get a tree guy to dump a load for free....I am currently using pine shaving as they are about the same cost as straw or hay....

3. For LC, if you can get a recording of a roo crowing, you might play that through your stereo loud with the speakers pointed out the window....if your two missing ones hear it, they might respond to it...I dunno, that might be a really stupid idea......
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I had got 5 chicks to start out. I added 3 later. I got my 5 at the end of March as day old chicks and my new girls were around 10-12 weeks when i got them in June. I put my new hens in an old dog crate outside and put some scratch around them and so everyone could check out each other with out being able to corner them or hurt them....i did this for about 4 or 5 days. Then one night I threw then up on the roost with everyone else. They still did the same thing you are talking about. The roosters would pick on them and they stayed to their own group. Treats or even being out in the yard they didnt mix. About 3 weeks ago I got rid of my roosters and one of my older hens now hangs out with the other 3 and my other hen is a Sultan and aloner. I got two more hens about a week ago and have been letting them out during the day in the dog crate and puttting scratch around them. No one makes any crazy sounds anymore or tries to peck at them but they are still small I am still going to do this for another week or so.


As for wood chips I use them in my coop and if you get a cat litter scoop you can skim off the top poo layer and fluff it. I have had my babies out side since May and I have only cleaned cleaned my coop once this summer. I use the scope about once a week to clean out the top poo layer and when i need to I add some more shavings to the coop. Just say away from Cedar as it can cause breathing problems. I use stray and hay in my nesting boxes.
 
My peeps said:
Were they eaten or just torn apart? When a raccoon got to our chickens their heads and feet were torn off but nothing was missing. I wonder if they wondered too far away and by the time they were headed home the predators were on the hunt for the night.
sad.png
so sad.
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They got the heads and crops but left the rest pretty intact. Kinda why I was guessing raccoons.
 
My peeps said:
The egg under my silkie that was tossed out of the nest with all the craziness yesterday finally hatched. I had to assist. It pipped yesterday and by 11 today was still just a pip and the membranes seemed really dry and tough. Our hen was sitting on it but would get up to be with the chicks. I chipped away at the shell but left the membranes. That seemed to do the trick bc the baby was out within 15 minutes. The mama hen seems to be taking care of all 3. The one with the bloody head seems ok and the other ones wing seems much better. Still bloody but not as swollen.
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That's great that they're doing so well.
 
Brittany7 said:
PAchickenlover said:
Oh, i forgot, the farm is close to Freysville in Red Lion
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Thanks...I live in Gardners but  York County is one of my counties for work. So i am down that way alot. I have probably passed it  a ton of time and never realized it...
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That's fine, if you are ever going to be in my neck of the woods (after i start there) let me know and i will see what i can do to get you on a horse. They breed Arabs but they have some TB's there a QH and a Mustang. She said she was going to put me on the Mustang first and see how i did on him. I am so excited for that moment i am almost giddy. Lol
Before i had our kids (15 years ago) i rode and helped train horses at the farm that i took lessons at when i was alot younger. not looking forward to the sore muscles but at least it will mean i am getting back in shape. I don't know what your experience is with horses or what style you ride, English or western? The farm where i am hopefully going to be working at is primarily English. Most of the riding i did was English, fox hunting, jumping, dressage etc.

I hope the missing birds find their way back home! Hope everyone else has had a good day. Mine started out with canning which resulted in my hand getting slightly scalded . Doesn't hurt much at all now so it should be fine. Been burned worse when my one coop caught on fire. But that is another story. Sorry to give such a long post..
 
stake said:
A couple of thoughts and a question:

1. I have just moved my 2 baby marans(15weeks) in with the big girls.....but the they really are not mixing....they stay apart....whats confusing is that two of my more dominant hens are afraid of the babies(go figure) and move away from them while the other four girls...chase the babies and the babies run....even treats can't get them to hang together...the babies even run from the roo....and the babies are still going back to the grow out pen in the evening....any thoughts? The only thing I can think to do is to keep them penned up together and not let then free range....

2. is it possible to use wood chips as bedding in coop? Is there a down side? I think I could get a tree guy to dump a load for free....I am currently using pine shaving as they are about the same cost as straw or hay....

3. For LC,  if you can get a recording of a roo crowing, you might play that through your stereo loud with the speakers pointed out the window....if your two missing ones hear it, they might respond to it...I dunno, that might be a really stupid idea......
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My chickens are a bunch of racists! I currently have 28 birds that are somewhere around 9 different breeds. Though my dominate roo will mate with just about anyone who is currently laying, they all pretty much stick to their own breed. It's kind of funny actually. Even the ones that were hatched together have separated into friendships with their own breed and don't hang out with their other hatch mates. I honestly couldn't care less who hangs out with who until it is time to breed pure. Then I will lock specific breeds together to make sure there is no cross breeding hanky panky going on.

I was using sand in my coops but I just switched back to pine shavings. It was so wet this year, I couldn't keep it properly dried. I actually found little patches of mushrooms growing on the floor of the coop! I loved the sand at first but with all the moisture, it just wasn't working out.
 
hey stake-----I have one big hen and 3 younger and when they were in the coop together the 3 stayed together and the one big one stayed separate ............this was for a few days and then they eventually started sleeping in the same roost area..................they gradually became more comfortable with each other in the run..............and then one night I put the little ones in the upper roost, without realizing the big hen was already there..............and they all managed with this arrangement since then.........

I know my situation and number of girls is different................just thought I would share..........................


I am sorry to hear about the loss of chickens in the previous posts...................that is so sad..........................2 are home I understand and 2 still un-accounted for..............I hope they return safe and sound.............................I would be heart broken...........
 
Well, I just added 6 more hens to the flock! I'm very excited! I finally got my last two breeds on my wish list!!! 1 Silkie and 2 Ameracaunas plus some RIR's and so forth. I am seriously excited about this. They a re a little older than I would prefer but less than 2 years old so they should still lay for a while longer. They are also prone to go broody which is great for me because I couldn't get any of mine to go broody to save my life. They all look healthy and have no lice or bugs of any kind. The lady I bought them from is awesome so I am like a kid on Christmas morning right now. Woo hoo!!!
 

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