Sdwd

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Exactly! I have quite a few coops and pens and they are all FULL! WHO am I gonna cut next?

 

[Serrin]

YAY Sarah!!

Way to go lady!! That should show the naysayers and those that generally don't know what they're talking about! Awesome job girl!!!

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Exactly! I have quite a few coops and pens and they are all FULL! WHO am I gonna cut next? http://freeemoticonsandsmileys.com/3D Smileys/3D Emotion Smileys/sad.gif

Now don't get me wrong I love my chickens but I just can't keep a roo for every breed I like. Now Trylin and I have worked out a deal where she'll keep the RIR roo and I can get pullets from her and I'll keep the Del roo and she can get pullets from me. But who am I gonna trade with to get more BR's and Orps if I don't have a roo?

I can get more EE's pullets from Trylin, but I'd like to cross my Lav amer roo with my frizzle hens and see what that brings. Maybe a frizzle that lays blue eggs? I do plan to give her some orp pullets.

She has some nice SLW's so I have to figure something I can trade with to get some of those pullets.

There's lots of folks around here with chickens but who to trade from and how to keep a safe clean flock? Trylin's one of the only ones I trust.

And you are to far away as is Claudia in AL , Cyn in GA and Scott who's in GA and so many others. Oh and can't forget Jody. Not to many keep a mixed flock so that limits things. I'm to weird to have a mono colored yard full of chickens.

Any recommendations on how many hens to keep for each breed?

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Exactly! I have quite a few coops and pens and they are all FULL! WHO am I gonna cut next? http://freeemoticonsandsmileys.com/3D Smileys/3D Emotion Smileys/sad.gif

Now don't get me wrong I love my chickens but I just can't keep a roo for every breed I like. Now Trylin and I have worked out a deal where she'll keep the RIR roo and I can get pullets from her and I'll keep the Del roo and she can get pullets from me. But who am I gonna trade with to get more BR's and Orps if I don't have a roo?

I can get more EE's pullets from Trylin, but I'd like to cross my Lav amer roo with my frizzle hens and see what that brings. Maybe a frizzle that lays blue eggs? I do plan to give her some orp pullets.

She has some nice SLW's so I have to figure something I can trade with to get some of those pullets.

There's lots of folks around here with chickens but who to trade from and how to keep a safe clean flock? Trylin's one of the only ones I trust.

And you are to far away as is Claudia in AL , Cyn in GA and Scott who's in GA and so many others. Oh and can't forget Jody. Not to many keep a mixed flock so that limits things. I'm to weird to have a mono colored yard full of chickens.

Any recommendations on how many hens to keep for each breed?

Well, my goal is to try to keep around 10% of the ones I hatch and grow out. I am hopeful that one in 10 is a keeper. My (inside) pen sizes are minimum of 40 square feet. So I figure I can keep at least 10 birds per pen. The runs are plenty large for each pen. I am thinking 2 males and 8 females per breed. I like having a rooster pen for the extra boys, and I trade them out for the one in the pen with the girls. The problem I am having is grow out pens. My big layers coop is now for grow outs. I try to keep the young ones away from the adults until they are at least 4 - 5 months old.

Currently, I am having another new problem in the new rooster pen. It is huge and has only 3 boys. However, one is just relentless in picking on the other 2. I have put up with this for a week now, and I notice the 2 are still scared of him and hardly eating at all. This has just went on for too long. Today I am just gonna have take Mr. Alpha out and put him in a cage or something.

 

[halo]

Quote:
Serrin, I hate to disagree with you, but you have a problem, and its not a hawk. You can bet a fox or coyote would waste time going over obstacles with hens in their mouths, especially if they have babies, because I have seen a coyote with a rooster in its mouth leap over my 5 foot board and wire fence. Hawks do not drag their prey in a single line, they either fly with them, or eat them right where they killed them. I guarantee you have a problem with some sort of predator that isnt winged.

Im not wanting to argue with you, Im just wanting you to be aware that you have a problem other than the winged variety, Im afraid.

 

[kathyinmo]

I don't know if ALL aerial predators are the same, but I can tell you what I experienced. Last year I had a hawk come down and get a Silkie. This happened twice. It ate the carcass right where it killed it. The second time it came down right into the doorway of the small coop. It immediately attempted to eat it right there.

 

[Cetawin]

Raptors normally eat it where they kill unless they do not feel safe...her dog being outside could cause the raptor to grab it and fly...it would have sought shelter in the trees and thick undergrowth to eat it then.

It could be either.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
This will be my concern since I'm putting the two new hoop coops outside the fenced in yard and surrounded by woods. I plan to keep the whites nearer the house in the fenced in yard as my Dels are.

I thought I might have a better chance with the mixed flock and the BR's since they would be harder to spot from the air.

I do of course lock everyone in at night so no one is in the runs.

I 've had one hawk land in the yard but that was maybe the first year and I scared him/her off. We do live near the railroad tracks so there are lots of pigeons to feast on .

Oh and we've recently had a bear passing through not only couple of miles away. Lord have mercy!

 

[kathyinmo]

Some chick pictures from my grow out pens.

 

[rancher hicks]

I swear BR chicks are the ugliest I've ever seen.

Well after silkies of course.

Rancher