The Old Folks Home

[pickitfarm]

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote: I feed the 5X4 round bales to our horses, and use a pick-up to move them. My DD and I can pull a bale off the truck and roll it to where we need it with out much problem, then we sit it up on end on a pallet. It's not as hard as it might look, but not easy.

Scott

 

[wolftracks]

For Linda

 

[chickensnewtome]

I need some advice Ya'll! Yesterday I found one of my Japanese Bantams dead in the nest box I thought that maybe it got sick so no problem I will get some antibiotics for my other chickens. Well this morning I open the coop and my Barred Rock is literally dancing on my other Japanese Bantam and killed it. It was cold and lifeless and she was still stomping it. I know that she will be dinner in a couple weeks because I will not have a hen that is a chick killer. But what can I do till then. We only have one coop and we have, now, 5 Bantams and 10 full size hens in it. Any advice or Ideas on how to stop her?

 

[Arielle]

For Linda

Gee, I guess I do have a few "true friends" . . .

 

[Bunnylady]

How old were these bantams, chickensnewtome? Over the years, I've seen lots of nastiness from older birds directed at younger ones. When I had birds free-ranging in my goat pasture, I noticed that they seemed to divide up into family groups, with the younger birds being persecuted by all of the groups of older birds. I learned to release newbies of any age in groups, so that the negative attention could get spread out and hopefully not be too severe before they all got used to each other. Sometimes the younger birds got incorporated into an established group, sometimes they continued to be a group of their own. Being able to get away from the more aggressive birds seemed to be key to their survival, so I learned to let them get fairly large and fast before I moved them out.

Every time I see someone talking about how sweet their birds are, I wonder how I got stuck with such a group of savages. Before I learned to separate my broodies, the first sign I had that chicks were hatching might be finding the badly pecked body of a newly hatched chick that had somehow gotten away from the nest. Even after they got fairly mobile, a young chick that got separated from its mother would be attacked - makes me wonder how anybody has managed to raise chicks in the "typical" free-ranging barnyard setting. I wonder how many chick losses have been blamed on predators, when the other birds in the flock were the actual perps? Since I've had a lot of different breeds, and have seen this behavior from many of them, I suspect it isn't uncommon.

My advice would be to keep young birds separated from the big birds until they are better able to avoid them. Sorry about your loss - I know that sinking feeling all too well.

 

[chickadoodles]

chickennewtome if you have a dog crate you could use that for your bantams till you could do something else. I even saw one lady use a bread box. Some kind of old cage laying around.... I am so sorry for your loss!

 

[chickensnewtome]

My Big hens are 20 wks and my Bantams are 12 wks. I have integrated them slowly over a month. First I brought their brooder (which is a dog crate) Into the coop at night, Then I left them in their brooder all day in the pen, Then I let them out during the day and put them back in the brooder at night in the coop, Then just two or three days ago I let the Bantams start roosting with the rest of them. Instead of roosting they decided to stay in their nest box at night. Yesterday when I found the first one it was still warm and I figured that since I was 15 minutes late letting them out that the other chickens hopped down and accidently crushed it. Then this morning I opened the coop and my Barred rock was doing this on the chicken:

. And here is my Bantam killer:

 

[Arielle]

I need some advice Ya'll! Yesterday I found one of my Japanese Bantams dead in the nest box I thought that maybe it got sick so no problem I will get some antibiotics for my other chickens. Well this morning I open the coop and my Barred Rock is literally dancing on my other Japanese Bantam and killed it. It was cold and lifeless and she was still stomping it. I know that she will be dinner in a couple weeks because I will not have a hen that is a chick killer. But what can I do till then. We only have one coop and we have, now, 5 Bantams and 10 full size hens in it. Any advice or Ideas on how to stop her?

Sorry about the bandams. I don't mix sizes as I have seen deaths when mixed together, even among chicks hatched weeks apart.I would ask, are you sure she is the one that killed it?? Did you actually see her start in on the other bird? I would ask some of the basics in hopes that you might find an answer other than eliminating that hen . . .

1-2 sq feet per bird in coop?
4-10 sq ft in paly area per bird?
Temp appropriate for their age and development?
Feed and water space adequate for all to get enough food and water?
everyone liking the feed?
water with ACV or FF once in a while?
toys of some kind? OBjects to climb on and explore? Treats? Hang a head of lettuce just within reach. . . or free range if possible

I'm just throwing these possibilities out to help you think of perhaps another reason for this unfortunate death. GOod luck. Hope you find an answer. ( A dog crate works.)

 

[chickensnewtome]

Sorry about the bandams. I don't mix sizes as I have seen deaths when mixed together, even among chicks hatched weeks apart.I would ask, are you sure she is the one that killed it?? Did you actually see her start in on the other bird? I would ask some of the basics in hopes that you might find an answer other than eliminating that hen . . .

1-2 sq feet per bird in coop?
4-10 sq ft in paly area per bird?
Temp appropriate for their age and development?
Feed and water space adequate for all to get enough food and water?
everyone liking the feed?
water with ACV or FF once in a while?
toys of some kind? OBjects to climb on and explore? Treats? Hang a head of lettuce just within reach. . . or free range if possible

I'm just throwing these possibilities out to help you think of perhaps another reason for this unfortunate death. GOod luck. Hope you find an answer. ( A dog crate works.)

There is enough room, food, and water, and they free range every evening while I am working in the garden. I have always seen her pecking at them but i figured she was establishing pecking order. I witnessed her actually dancing on top of the dead chick.