Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Wishing4Wings]

Sneaky Chimi is no more...our dog broke his chain and killed her...kids came home to see him eating her. That's 3rd strike...Dozer will be no more.

So sorry about Sneaky Chimi.

Hope the kids weren't too traumatized. What kind of dog is/was Dozer? He must be very strong to break the chain.

I have one dog that is not trustworthy around the chickens at all.
Bad chicken dog Belle!



Scooter leaves them alone, but I always supervise.

He even got attacked by my broody and ran away. Probably would have been a different story if I hadn't been standing right there.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

By barredbeans7
Posted 1 day, 3 hours ago · 203 Views · 0 Comments
Pros: They lay nice brown eggs and are very nice. Have beautiful plummage and are extremely smart.
Cons: can be aggressive to smaller birds such as silkies and other bantams.
I have 6 BR's and they just wonderful birds that are full of energy. The only problem I had was that they attacked my other chicken, Jessie, and now she has a large bald spot on her back and one on her neck. She is still alive and well, but some of her plumage is missing.



Another BR review posted by a BYC member. Basically it says this:

Pros: They are very nice

Cons: They attacked my other chicken Jessie and ripped her feathers out until she was bald in places but stopped short of killing her because they were smart enough to know when to quit.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Sneaky Chimi is no more...our dog broke his chain and killed her...kids came home to see him eating her. That's 3rd strike...Dozer will be no more.

Sorry about the loss. I'm sure you are upset. Dogs will be dogs. They don't always understand our reasoning. Excitement makes them react. Sometimes they react in a way we consider good and other times their reaction disappoints us. If he broke his chain and ripped apart a fox in your yard he would be a hero. I feel bad for Dozer too.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Ugh I hear that! I fully agree with you, I couldn't stand keeping chickens penned so I make sure they get plenty of time everyday. My australorps and Lavender orps are ranged separately while I am hatching. The only confined birds are my oeg, silkies and my polish. The oeg would be fine, they fly very well, but I hate chasing them down!

Quote: Now its 25 weeks. And they are EE.
Aww, my Bunny, EE didn't lay regular till nearly a year old! Now she is almost daily (unless she is broody

)

Quote:
So true, I had seen 3 birds taken by a fox this year. the other 2 my oldest DD saw. My guinea harass and dive bomb the thing if it shows up now. I have yet to get a clean shot, but I will!

 

[MalMom]

Sneaky Chimi is no more...our dog broke his chain and killed her...kids came home to see him eating her. That's 3rd strike...Dozer will be no more.

Have you worked with a professional dog trainer to train the dog appropriate behavior around chickens? Any dog can be trained. You just have to put effort into it.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Thanks cheeka. Yeah, she's not doing the penguin thing yet. She runs around and eats like a pig, goes into the nest box, but no egg (she's my only cream colored layer). From what I've read, this problem is more common in hatchery birds, as is fatty liver disease. Ugh. When she gets to the point that she looks uncomfortable, I guess I will have to man up and put her down. Or maybe it's something else entirely, but I don't know what it could be. She seems healthy and normal otherwise.

Am so sorry W4W, maybe her body is just not producing eggs any more? I know a member with a JG thats never laid. She even sings the egg song!

Sneaky Chimi is no more...our dog broke his chain and killed her...kids came home to see him eating her. That's 3rd strike...Dozer will be no more.

I am so sorry. Hard choice, but its why I no longer have my boxer, Max. Birds were here first!

 

[SullyD]

RR-Bummer about your girl. I hope your kids are ok. That must have been a bit upsetting!

Thank you everyone for your insight on the free ranging stuff. Today I let them FR while I was doing chores and most of them were in the run by the time I was done! I only had to wrangle a few. They must know when I don't have time to chase them around!
Only 1 egg today, but it is pretty dark compared to the others I have been getting. At least it was in the nest box! I am putting some nest boxes in the run too. Sometimes I find them in there.
SBMom-Those are some nice dark eggs! You will have a beautiful assortment of eggs in your basket!

W4W-Good luck with your girl. I am learning so much about chickens from all of you!

Here are the photos that wouldn't load last nite!



Three eggs from yesterday. Same darker one today too.


Run with a few chickens actually in it.



Preferred hangout in the trees behind the run.



Distance from run to coop (still unpainted with door open)



I think W4W asked about my horses a while back. Here they are!



The two mini's with a not-so-mini.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Waiting for eggs.... again! My quail are all at 8 weeks so should be getting eggs any day. I have around 60 quail now, and will be processing some of the scrappy boys in a few weeks. Doing a "practice" hatch for a BYC member in Indiana. We went thru all the steps, including the shipping! He plans to sell/ship quail eggs, and sent me 56 eggs yesterday. arrived today! Not a single crack, and will be checking air cells later tonight. Fun stuff, and I get to keep the chicks too!

My girls are still not laying, 3 eggs again today. Very odd. Using Purina flock raiser on all the birds and free choice oyster shell. Still fermenting also. Rebel went to rooster jail for the week (more, really angry with him!) he is getting too aggressive with my hens. He is pecking them after he "does his job" and doesn't let them stand up! Just stands on them, pinned down. He actually had one of the BAs head bloody by time I ran and grabbed him away

This made the 3rd time. So he gets jail and will meet the freezer if he does it again! Will be a shame because he is very people friendly.
My baby doeling, Sophie is doing great, happy little energetic baby. Sugar is an excellent Mom and frets, fusses and will not let her out of her sight. Sophie has started to eat pellets a little so I plan to start milking once a day very soon. Bo is insanely jealous, and is really becoming an ornery billy. He gets to go out to the fence line with me every day, But he has started to butt a lot. Hind legs standing up, full on! His back goes all spiked up, so I see it before it happens. When he does his "attack", I catch him midair by the horns and pin him to the ground. If he keeps at it, he gets his water bucket dumped on his head, and locked up in the livestock trailer. He will be pastured with the cows once I get the fencing done. I almost think it would have been easier to run new fence, taking forever to replace the bad posts, fix the fencing etc, then run the wire for electric fence (top, middle and bottom). DH is driving me crazy wanting to get cows like yesterday, last year even

told him he needs to help with the fence first, otherwise not happening till its done. They are too big to "make do" and am not dealing with an escaped cow. The poor guy last month that had his bull get out told me its a nightmare to deal with. I don't know if he ever found the bull.

 

[cheeka]

RR, I'm sorry too, poor Sneaky Chimi.... but Dozer was just being a dog... it's unfortunate, but OK's right... if he was eating a fox, we'd all be cheering... I would try a training program before making any hurried decisions... Chester is pretty good around the chickens, and he's always leashed, my wish is that he stop peeing in the house... he peed on the new floor tonight... I could cry. I walk him and walk him, he will only take one pee towards the end of the walk. I've never known a male dog that didn't pee 28 times around every block... pee on each rock, tree trunk...

Sully, you have such a nice setup... I'm getting great ideas for what to build when I move!

I wanted to go back to the fair this afternoon, but Mylee was so grouchy and I swear her ears are made of cloth sometimes! so we both took a nice long nap and went to the fair at 6 pm. She got her face painted like a rainbow kitty - so pretty! and we went on so many rides, over and over - it was great, but we didn't get home until 11 ! She got a pony ride, and to feed carrots to a fabulous giraffe, she fed the goats again and totally fell in love with the Percheron horses - the people who own them were terrific, really sweet to Mylee and gave her a special tattoo of a horse named Ice. Mylee is so gracious (when she wants to be...) big thank you's to all the ride operators and the concession people - the guy who runs the small roller coaster that she loves actually stopped the ride so she could get on, then instead of 2 trips around, he let it run for 4! she made so many friends on the lines, then they would ride together, and I would have to sit by myself... lol... I overheard people say how adorable she is when we were waiting to get in the fun house... cuz we were dancing, and she got so into it... I'll post some pics tomorrow. I want to go back again tomorrow, but she actually wants to go climb "Vrooman's Nose" - a really nice small mountain that looks ... like a nose. and we'll have a picnic up top of hard boiled eggs, peaches, cheese and crackers and juice. Maybe she'll change her mind. the fair is gone by the weekend, and Vrooman's Nose is there forever...

9 Eggs today

 

[okallthis4eggs]

SIX

SIX.....Thursday We Laid SIX Eggs......No BR Eggs Today......One Is Broody And One Is .........................................Roger