Soon to be new chicken Mama

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Chicklette, I wasn't going to but he saw them already. My pot belly pig's pen is near his fence line. No avoiding it since their brooder is in with the pig. He said he will give me some. I just worry about the ones he decides to keep. He still hasn't secured his chicken pen and his other dog has 5 puppies that are close to 6 wks old now. It won't be long and they will be killing/maiming his chickens especially the new chicks when they get old enough to go to his pen. Some people never learn or in his case, doesn't care. I got my husband to make me another extra large brooder for the injured young hen since she has to grow her neck feathers back before she can go home. She is loving it and still doing really well. Neighbor's other two free range hens are laying in the pig pen where I put the laying boxes at. He hasn't asked for the eggs so I am keeping them. I guess you could call it payment for services rendered. LOL

Pineywoods, glad to hear that someone is close to me. What kind of chickens do you have? I have still about 3 wks before my husband and I start on the coup and pen. We are going to enclose the top with fencing. He wants hot wire around the base but I don't. I would love to put fencing on the bottom and cover it with some dirt so they can still scratch and such. Just know that it will be my job to dig the dirt up, get it out of the way and then bring it back in. That will be a job for anyone because our pen is going to be pretty big. I still can't believe he built the other big brooder for me yesterday. Trying not to push my luck with him since it took me 26 yrs to talk him into letting me have chickens. Must be feeling guilty about fussing at me for taking care of neighbor's hurt chicken. He changed his tune when he seen that I had no where to put her that was secure except a dog carrier. I did take her out of it for like 4 hrs a day but she needed to be supervised always because of his free range rooster and the other two hens. They will attack her until neck heals. But eventually she would have had leg problems since she is a pretty big young hen. Now she has plenty of room in the new brooder.

New chicks and momma are doing great. I love to watch her teaching them how to drink and eat. She even lets me touch her and the chicks without pecking me. She does fluff up and clucks to them in that special way that says danger(hide). LOL I am so glad that I moved her before they hatched. Their is a stray cat with 4 kittens that is hanging around in my back yard by the pen. She would have gotten the chicks for sure.
 
You know hot wire wouldn't be a bad idea.... possums and coons can do some major damage! Even with chickens in a coop! My gramps lost a prized roo to a possum! Darn thing ate the head and left the rest! Just remember to turn it off or have a timer on it to turn it on at night. Have you thought about hatching some of those eggs? You could have a whole flock in a month if you do!
Don't worry about whitch chicks he let's you keep.... they know where its safe! They'll find their way back to you in time! Just like mamma did!
 
Oh, I know in the long run it would be best but wouldn't it kill any baby kitties that got near the fence. That is my biggest concern. I don't have an incubator to hatch any of the eggs the others are laying. I have been keeping them and putting them in the fridge. Hubby won't let me get but maybe 12 and I don't like any of his chickens except for the momma sultan bantam. Maybe, the neighbor will sell her to me. I finally told him I had his injured chicken yesterday. He laughed and said he wasn't mad but figured that was where it went. He did say he was going to redo his coup and pen since he has to start going out of town for 2 was at a time. I sure hope it improves their quality of life. Time to get my own chicks. Wonder if I picked all bantams would the hubby let me get more. LOL
 
well not sure but I know most of the lectric fences have a power setting that can be as low or as high as you need.... some animals don't have a pain tolerance... my inlaws bought a shock collar to keep the dog from bolting out the front door set to 5. That worked well fot them... bought the same collar for my merican bulldog.... 5 ain't phase her... not even the highest setting did! She just sat by the door legs and ears twitchin lookin at me like "really???? This don't hurt me one bit!" She never wore that collar again! There went 150 down the drain! Lol but I have seen the preditor protector that's a sponsor here.... that sounds so much better! And A LOT less leathal for pets that may wonder into the area. They start at $99. Y'all may want to go that route due to the kittens.
 
LOL on the shock collar. I fully understand your experience, my sis' dog never was fazed by it either. Such a waste of money. Well, I convinced him tonight just to put wire mess 3 ft up on the sides and lay two feet on the ground(outside). He is wanted to use chain link fence on the rest of the upper part and top. We can stack the wire mesh down or lay patio tiles over it. I have a bunch of those laying around. I saw the predator protector but not sure if I want to invest in that. Plus I will lock them in the coop at night for extra protection. I can tell DH and I have totally different ideas on how we want this done. I will have to compromise on some of the things but safety I won't give in on. I think he will let me have my way on that at least. :D
 
Oh, I forgot to say that I will be asking him if the electric wire has control settings or not. All I remember him saying was that if anything like a snake or small animal got on it that it would die. We will see.
 
Well, we started clearing out a spot for the run and are going to fix an old shed we have for the coop. Going to start the shed first and set the posts for the run on Monday. Then, we will only work on the rest on Sundays since that is the only time DH usually has off. I think I have him convinced not to use the hot wire, unless he is going to try a fast one on me at the last minute. I got some new chicks, see my post in Texas. I will try to get pics up tomorrow. Hope you have a good Memorial Day weekend.

P.S. That is the main reason why I won't use the hot wire. If it can blow a squirrel's fur off, imagine what it will do to a 5 wk old kitten. :(
 

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