Suddenly have a bird being singled out and are going to try the "chicken prison" technique before th

[Joshua-n-fam]

I hate to waste the skin but yeah, plucking sucks. Cynthia wanted to skin but I wanted the experience of plucking. The chickens we have right now arent really for meat anyway. We had no intention of having to cull her but she left us no choice. The other NH Red is now the loudest bird (but luckily she isn't as mean), so I gotta say that so far the NH Reds are my least favorite, at least for backyard flock-keeping goes.

Now that we have the rabbits, and knowing how fast they grow and recover and can breed again, I definitely would suggest rabbits as a starting point for beginning homesteaders. The only part I don't like is that the best way, for them and for us, the minders, is that it's a pretty clinical setting. Each in a cage and each separated from the others. And you want to at least let them see each other, but then they get each other dirty and ignore the rest of their cage; instead staying near each other but never touching. It's kind of sad. But put them together? And it can be havoc, especially once the females kindle and the males reach maturity.

I'd love to have a rabbit run and coop just like the chickens have, with everyone living together in harmony but we just cant do that here. Maybe once we get a larger place we can do something that simulates nature for them, but for now it's gotta be raised cages, blinders between them so they can't see each other, etc.

 

[Joshua-n-fam]

Ugg, a week later and the easter egger is getting picked on all to heck again. What gives? I understand pecking order but she's petrified to be around them and as a result doesn't really eat or drink as much as she should be. This is equal parts annoying and frustrating.