South Carolina

[Avonshire]

Oh, Heidi, I feel your pain!
I lost 2 Guineas from my lavender pen the other night. That was from a raccoon! This tractor has been in this area for 4 years and we always worried that something would figure out it might could squeeze up between the over lapped wire. Finally one did! I hate it! But I went back with a strand of steel wire and wove it closed. Too late for my precious birds.




My Great Pyrenees obviously cares nothing about guarding the birds anymore. Some mornings she is here at home and sometimes she has scaled the fence and gone to lay in the neighbors yard. In the last 6 weeks I have lost 30 free range hens. I finally got fed up and went and got another dog to train.
I am not sure if it is coyotes or foxes but I have seen foxes in the back paddock next to the woods behind my barn. I really do not understand why the hens want to go back there when I have all this better bugging area in front of the barn!
Anyhow, here is Riley, the next LGD. And hopefully he can get some work done. Jolie was great until she decided she could scale the fence. Since then, I can't get her to work anymore. But maybe together these two can protect the birds.

Amy I hate to hear of your losses! That is no fun. I lose one and am so upset--and it is not my livelihood! I hope your new dog works out and is a perfect worker!

 

[Patsy29332]

Oh, Heidi, I feel your pain!
I lost 2 Guineas from my lavender pen the other night. That was from a raccoon! This tractor has been in this area for 4 years and we always worried that something would figure out it might could squeeze up between the over lapped wire. Finally one did! I hate it! But I went back with a strand of steel wire and wove it closed. Too late for my precious birds.




My Great Pyrenees obviously cares nothing about guarding the birds anymore. Some mornings she is here at home and sometimes she has scaled the fence and gone to lay in the neighbors yard. In the last 6 weeks I have lost 30 free range hens. I finally got fed up and went and got another dog to train.
I am not sure if it is coyotes or foxes but I have seen foxes in the back paddock next to the woods behind my barn. I really do not understand why the hens want to go back there when I have all this better bugging area in front of the barn!
Anyhow, here is Riley, the next LGD. And hopefully he can get some work done. Jolie was great until she decided she could scale the fence. Since then, I can't get her to work anymore. But maybe together these two can protect the birds.

Oh AMY! I hate you lost so many! LOVE Riley and can't wait to meet him! Maybe he will keep Jolie home and get her back working...maybe she was just overwhelmed and needed assistance?!? Let's hope they team up and get the farm back under control!!!

 

[Patsy29332]

cute babies!!

I know I'm new, so hello, Ive actually been reading here for about a year (lol) and now have a few hens and a great coop, and have caught OCD from y'all.
Anyhoo, I am in Anderson, and on the way to take the boys to school this morning, I saw an interesting group of chickens by the road in the tall grasses...chickens that I had not seen around here before. Does anyone live on the lake end of Dobbins brdg rd? I know this is sometimes personal on boards, and I respect privacy, so pm is great, but if I have a chicken lover neighbor on my road, I need to know!! driving me nuts!

Hello and a BIG welcome to you!!!

I am in Donalds towards Greenwood from you! This is a great place with lots of great people and glad you found us! So...tell us all about what you have going on...how long have you had chicks/chickens? I started almost 2 years ago and they have quickly taken over here!!! I just love them and I think they love me too!! HAHAHA I just have very small groups or flocks or pairs depending on how you look at things...I just love them all!!!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Well, the good thing is that with the puppy here, Jolie is staying home. I am not sure if she is glad for the company or she just doesn't feel like running off but since Riley has been here, so has she! She also gets very upset when she smells where a bird has been taken but to be safe most of my birds are locked up in tractor pens now.

Thanks for all the kind words. You guys are the greatest!

Now, we need to help Heidi with her coyote dilemma! I think a working dog is in order!

 

[EggieRowe]

Now, we need to help Heidi with her coyote dilemma! I think a working dog is in order!

Either a working dog or a hunting party!

 

[EggieRowe]

cute babies!! 
I know I'm new, so hello, Ive actually been reading here for about a year (lol) and now have a few hens and a great coop, and have caught OCD from y'all. 
Anyhoo, I am in Anderson, and on the way to take the boys to school this morning, I saw an interesting group of chickens by the road in the tall grasses...chickens that I had not seen around here before. Does anyone live on the lake end of Dobbins brdg rd?  I know this is sometimes personal on boards, and I respect privacy, so pm is great, but if I have a chicken lover neighbor on my road, I need to know!! driving me nuts! 

Hi ya! I know how you feel about the neighbor chickens - we had our first flock in 'burbia and we could hear roosters somewhere. I drove all around the neighborhood one weekend trying to find out who else was hiding chickens around the golf course. Kept thinking one day a rooster was going to show up to shack up w/my six hens. LOL

 

[leirob007]

I thought I was immune from chicken math...I started with 18 chicks, an reduced that down to about 14 laying hens. Then got that down to about 10 as I replaced last year's layers with a few new breeds, then whittled it down a bit more until I had the combination I wanted. Then, I decided to add a couple of wh. Am hens to go with my gorgeous wh. Am roo and a beautiful blue wh. Am. roo which I hope to go pick up in the next few days.

But somewhere along the line - madness set in! I have three 4-wk old chicks in a dog crate in my kitchen, 9 2-day old chicks (with three more pipping in the incubator) in a cooler on my kitchen counter, and a lovely 7-8 month old blrw hen in another dog crate in the kitchen....

Is there a cure?

A Bigger coop

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

Good Morning

I am getting ready for chickenstock.

I started sorting buff silkies last night. I will finish sometime today.
Amy...I will let you know how I come out on the buffs. Do you need some guinea eggs for your bator?
A friend found 3 doz. and is shutting her bator down today. She is going to be bear hunting and traveling in Oct. and Nov. so does not want to hatch any more. I have only met a couple of women that bear hunt. She and her DH travel a lot to bear hunt. She is an amazing lady. You would never know she is about my age. Wish I had her energy and stamina.

If you want the eggs, I can probably bring them to chickenstock.

 

[EggieRowe]

Good Morning

I am getting ready for chickenstock.

I started sorting buff silkies last night. I will finish sometime today.
Amy...I will let you know how I come out on the buffs. Do you need some guinea eggs for your bator?
A friend found 3 doz. and is shutting her bator down today. She is going to be bear hunting and traveling in Oct. and Nov. so does not want to hatch any more. I have only met a couple of women that bear hunt. She and her DH travel a lot to bear hunt. She is an amazing lady. You would never know she is about my age. Wish I had her energy and stamina.

If you want the eggs, I can probably bring them to chickenstock.

Are guineas prolific layers like chickens, or is just by the time someone finds a nest its that full?

 

[RedBugPoultry]

Oh, Heidi, I feel your pain!
I lost 2 Guineas from my lavender pen the other night. That was from a raccoon! This tractor has been in this area for 4 years and we always worried that something would figure out it might could squeeze up between the over lapped wire. Finally one did! I hate it! But I went back with a strand of steel wire and wove it closed. Too late for my precious birds.




My Great Pyrenees obviously cares nothing about guarding the birds anymore. Some mornings she is here at home and sometimes she has scaled the fence and gone to lay in the neighbors yard. In the last 6 weeks I have lost 30 free range hens. I finally got fed up and went and got another dog to train.
I am not sure if it is coyotes or foxes but I have seen foxes in the back paddock next to the woods behind my barn. I really do not understand why the hens want to go back there when I have all this better bugging area in front of the barn!
Anyhow, here is Riley, the next LGD. And hopefully he can get some work done. Jolie was great until she decided she could scale the fence. Since then, I can't get her to work anymore. But maybe together these two can protect the birds.

Amy, I am sorry to hear about your birds too. It is so disheartening to loose our birds. I went out this morning to find some of my young guineas running around the outside of their pen and I really do not know how or why they were out. I checked out the pen and could not see where they escaped. They were all in the pen when I last checked and closed things up last night.

What breed is your new LGD? He is really cute! We have been talking about getting a puppy that would get big and become a guard dog but not sure what we would get. DH does not want to fence the property right now and keeping a dog at home is tough without a fence--thus the reason the coyotes can come into the yard.