Texas

[hensfortherapy]

One thing regarding predators - chicken snakes - their eyes are bigger than their stomachs. They will strangle your adult chicken and attempt to eat it, only to spit it out when they realize it's too big.

A rat snake killed my 3 month old pullet. I got it out of the coop, but it got away. Next day I caught it in the coop with an egg it had just swallowed, so it was a little slower and I was able to grab him and cut his little head off.

 

[hungnguyen]

A rat snake killed ... I was able to grab him and cut his little head off.

Ways to go Hens !

 

[hungnguyen]

A little damp outside this morning.

It looks like we lost an Australorp yesterday.

Lisa

Lisa Dear ...Sorry to hear about your loss. Glad that all yards will be multiple-laying by next month. Hope everything fine with the pre-op

Enjoy the last day of summer (70/82F for today Austin forecast)

 

[Nomibear]

A rat snake killed my 3 month old pullet. I got it out of the coop, but it got away. Next day I caught it in the coop with an egg it had just swallowed, so it was a little slower and I was able to grab him and cut his little head off.

Good for you!

Enjoy the last day of summer (70/82F for today Austin forecast)

In November! What a shame

 

[TexasLisa]

Thanks for the well-wishes! I walked the fields and looked in every nook and cranny I could think of. No Angie (Australorp). There is no sign of a fight, feathers, or anything. I watched the rest of the flock this morning and they weren't nervous or anything. My neighbor down the road told me that he went out to the barn to get hay for his cows and there was a bobcat on top of the bales. What do you guys know about bobcats? Are they out in the daytime?

Lisa

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Speaking of predation, our biggest problem is neighborhood dogs. We've been having an interesting drama play out in that department. A couple of dogs escaped their electric pen the other day, and ran over to our yard. They managed to catch Fancy Nancy, the 4 1/2 year old Buff Orp rooster. My husband heard the ruckus and chased the dogs away, and poor Nancy went into hiding. The dogs had yanked out a huge bunch of his feathers, and we weren't sure of other damage because we couldn't find him. Turns out he went back to his own yard (next door) and hid in the brush til his family came home. My neighbor, who just finished a PhD at the vet school, reported that there was a little blood, but she thought he would recover fine.

The next day we were surprised to find him in our garage where he had been resting. Without any tail feathers, he was but a shadow of his former self. But he went into the backyard and made his little noises to invite the girls over for some food, and then he mounted one before taking another rest. Yesterday, our almost 6-month-old cockerel, tried out his rooster voice for the first time. He was tentative about it, and repeated himself several times, with very clear cockadoodledoos.

Fancy Nancy must have known that he needed to stay visible and active in order to protect his dominion over the flock. Anyhow, he is still convalescing, but he's doing it in our yard where he can keep his remaining eye on things. We haven't heard any more noise out of the young man.

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Lisa Dear ...Sorry to hear about your loss. Glad that all yards will be multiple-laying by next month. Hope everything fine with the pre-op

Enjoy the last day of summer (70/82F for today Austin forecast)

Lisa, I'm sorry about your Australorp. It's warm here too. Already over 70 degrees, and a we had over an inch of rain last night.

 

[TammyTX]

Thanks for the well-wishes!  I walked the fields and looked in every nook and cranny I could think of.  No Angie (Australorp).  There is no sign of a fight, feathers, or anything.  I watched the rest of the flock this morning and they weren't nervous or anything.  My neighbor down the road told me that he went out to the barn to get hay for his cows and there was a bobcat on top of the bales.  What do you guys know about bobcats?  Are they out in the daytime? 

Lisa

They are out in the day but usually hide. I saw a small one in a park and a newly dead one on the road, both during the day.

Cats like to be up high yo watch for prey.

 

[erikk]

A rat snake killed my 3 month old pullet. I got it out of the coop, but it got away. Next day I caught it in the coop with an egg it had just swallowed, so it was a little slower and I was able to grab him and cut his little head off.

Question for group. I haven't seen anything but little rattlesnakes at my house (so far all under 2' length). If/when you kill a snake would/do any of you leave the lifeless carcass in the run or where your flock forages? I wonder if it would be good to let them peck at it and possibly get a taste for snake. Then next time a snake comes to visit the chickens may attack it as food. Same question about little rodents like field mice that I see around my beehives sometimes. Toss any carcasses into the run?

Just a thought, interested in ideas/experiences.

 

[erikk]

Woohoo! Page 1999. Time to party like it's 1999 everyone!

I remember being sad when 1999 came around and the party poopers had to scare everyone into buying generators and stockpiling food because the Y2K computer problems were supposed to end modern life. Sigh, retailers always seem to use FUD to sell stuff. I guess there were probably a lot of chickens sold too! ;-)