South Carolina

[Moonchild]

I have had the most success taking the hen and moving her into a small, secluded pen near evening (I have 2 large rabbit hutches that are about 4 foot off the ground that I use) and, this might sound strange, but walling her up into a nest box overnight and for a short time into the next day. I have three sided box type broody nests so I usually slide a board in front of the open part to prevent her escape. She will most likely be unhappy for a while because she's not with her nest she wants to brood, but will settle down on the eggs overnight because she has nowhere else to go. Having the eggs under her all night and into the next day is usually enough to convince her that this new nest isn't so bad after all. I peek in on her the next day, and if she has turned all zombiefied with broodiness, remove the board and pat yourself on the back, you've relocated a broody! If she is still unhappy and agitated, I remove the board (but keep her in the pen all day) and repeat the walling up process the next night. Note: I've mainly done this for high-strung game hens, and it has worked like a charm. Silkies are usually even more accepting of it. One hen went broody out in their coop, it was really bad weather that week and the chicks were close to hatching so i put her in a dog carrier and brought her and her eggs into the house. She never put up a fight, or even tried to move from the eggs once I put them in their new location. She hatched them inside the house and was a happy girl

Thanks For the Advice...I will try this

 

[buttercup0884]

Fall 2013 Chickenstock
9/14/13


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/809694/fall-2013-carolina-chickenstock

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Fall 2013 Chickenstock
9/14/13


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/809694/fall-2013-carolina-chickenstock

Hope I can make it!

 

[gmendoza]

I'll be there!!!

 

[EggieRowe]

And this time I will be EARLY! I managed to catch Amy, Kris, & Robert - but everyone else was pretty much gone because of the rain.

Fall 2013 Chickenstock
9/14/13


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/809694/fall-2013-carolina-chickenstock

 

[Avonshire]

Silkie X oegb chicks.

My kids lo ve this cross too. I have an oegb roo in with my silkies...I might have to hatch a couple!

 

[gmendoza]

Quote: Never tried this cross. Would be fun.

 

[RockerHen]

Never tried this cross. Would be fun.

I'll try to get some updated pictures of them. The oldest one is partially feathered out now, and has pretty feathers.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

I had an escapee from the pen today. The one little EE/OEGB pullet I have...she is too smart for her own britches. I had went out by the coop to check on something else...and there she stands outside of the big gate. Now, we have bird netting over the whole top of the 30'x32' run....with one little 12" space by the gate to allow the big farm gate to open and us to walk in. I had cought her up on the gate last week.....but she flew back down. Today, she squeezed herself out of the opening. She is tight bodied and fast...and could fly. Darnnit. Then, she went through the old nasty fencline next door, into the deep underbrush. I had to put on my big black wellies to go back in there and chase her back to our side of the fence.
I finally caught her in the portable cage. She has her wing clipped now, and I closed off the little opening in the bird netting with a tiny bungee.


She's the one with the tan front.

 

[RockerHen]

We finally butchered our mean wyandotte rooster! He would have been 3 this fall. He had been people aggressive for a while, and was started being aggressive to the hens as well, since he was no longer at the top of the pecking order (Marans cockerel is now the boss man), which I was not about to tolerate. Plucking a chicken is harder than it seems! We did the whole dunk in hot water thing, but pulling out wing feathers was tough and getting all the pinfeathers was tedious work. He dressed out nicely though, he was pretty nice sized. We're going to let him sit in the refrigerator for several days before even attempting to cook him. Not sure what recipe to use yet. I've read lots about coq au vin, it's apparently the best way to cook old roosters. The recipe is so complicated though...
He was a pretty rooster, but I value attitude over feathers in my layer flock. Our cuckoo marans cockerel who is in there now may not be the prettiest thing yet (he's 8 months, hasn't fully grown in his tail) but he is such a gentle guy, even feeds and looks after 3 orphaned chicks that were left behind after their mother was killed by a predator.

Which reminds me. I've had OVER 10 BIRDS KILLED in the past week in my layer pen. I have about 40 birds in the huge pen and run they have (I kid you not, the run's like a quarter acre) about half of the birds choose to roost in the house, the other half in a tree that is in the middle of the run. I've found claw marks up the tree where the thing has climbed up and snatched birds out of the tree, which makes me think bobcat or maybe gray fox. It then jumps the fence and takes the birds out to a ravine in the pasture next to the run and eats them. That's where I've found feathers and parts. We've set out traps, but nothing yet...For now, our Anatolian shepherd sleeps in the run at night to protect the birds. We had him in a pen right next to the birds, but apparently whatever it is knows that the dog can't get him and ignores his barks. Now that Kota is in the pen with the birds, we haven't had an attack. I still desperately want to catch this fiend.

It's taken several leghorns, a LF cochin, an olive egger cockerel, several game bantams, a leghorn/bantam cross, and the wyandotte cross who was the mother to the chicks. It snatched her off the chicks but didn't bother them. For those of you who haven't seen him, this my Dakota

He's very good with the birds.