Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Hinotori]

Well, after 4-5 years of owning chickens, and 1 year having them at my new house I had my first raccoon attack. One of my young roosters, nicknamed Ron Weasley died defending his hens, we caught the attack very early, within 1 minute or so but by then it was already too late. The other two pullets in the same pen seem OK right now, no blood or indication of injury but were in a bit of shock understandably. Time to go raccoon hunting.

Here is a picture I took of him today, I was trying to socialize him by bribing him with treats. I wish the raccoon had the decency to kill the other rooster who didn't have a name and crows a lot louder!

I'm sorry. He died being a very good rooster. Now get that raccoon and feed it to the chickens!

 

[Manningjw]

I'm sorry. He died being a very good rooster. Now get that raccoon and feed it to the chickens!

That is the plan!
How long do you think I need to cook raccoon before I feed it to them...? Not rhetorical I fully intend to gut and cook that little

over an open fire... or should I boil the meat?

 

[Manningjw]

Wow, sad about the attack, but you got lucky! RIP Ron Weasley, you died protecting your flock. I hope you get that Raccoon, so you can rest comfortably.

I have been very lucky to not have an attack yet, even in this attack I was lucky that the rooster was killed before the pullets that were in the same coop and that I heard the commotion to go outside and chase him off. I had a clean shot on the little guy after I treed him but I didn't want to take it being that I am in the city. Time for a live trap and subsonic 22LR rounds I think.

 

[Hinotori]

You clean well, make sure you get the scent glands. Then boil it. After that you can prepare however you want. Even you could eat it then if you wanted.

 

[ochochicas]

Sorry to hear about the roo. Our died this summer defending against a coyote. Do you think the chickens would like it better barbecued? Maybe slowly roasted over an open fire?

We had a raccoon infestation at our place when we moved in. Former owners were feeding them from the back door. One night there were about 7 of them in the yard. We took one shot at them and they have not come back in five years. I think I've seen one stray raccoon in all those years. Now if only the coyotes were that easy to get rid of...

 

[chickyseattle]

Thanks ochochicas for suggesting I post this here.

Our kids adopted three sexed chicks in May, however our favorite one turned out to be a rooster. We live in Seattle, so Rhodie the rooster, a handsome Rhode Island Red, is in need of a new home immediately. Please reply ASAP if you can adopt Rhodie! He is a total sweetheart.

Thank you!

 

[Rainier]

I wanted to post some of my observations after sending the last set of four roos to freezer camp.

This morning I went out and the change is really amazing. The hens are no longer huddled under the large bush/tree in their run. They are actually out and eating with the roos. I didn't realize until this morning just how stressed our hens were, which makes sense because of all the roos we had. We kept three roos. The BR and two banty roos. The BR calls the hens to treats, calls them to water when I bring it out fresh in the morning, (and we have seen him mate with the hens) but the banty roos are the protective ones.

A couple of minutes ago I went out because I heard a commotion in the run. The BR roo had all the hens (7 of them) under the large bush/tree and the two banty roos where just outside the protection of bush/tree, looking up at the sky and making their danger call. I didn't see anything but did hear a crow.

I feel really stupid for not realizing just how stressed the hens where. Had I realized we would have sent the 9 roos to freezer camp much earlier!

This morning we had two eggs Pretty sure they are coming from the Australorps and the production reds are practicing for laying. They lay in the nesting boxes but so far no eggs.

Our flock of 20 is down to 10 and they seem much happier!

 

[ochochicas]

I wanted to post some of my observations after sending the last set of four roos to freezer camp.

This morning I went out and the change is really amazing. The hens are no longer huddled under the large bush/tree in their run. They are actually out and eating with the roos. I didn't realize until this morning just how stressed our hens were, which makes sense because of all the roos we had. We kept three roos. The BR and two banty roos. The BR calls the hens to treats, calls them to water when I bring it out fresh in the morning, (and we have seen him mate with the hens) but the banty roos are the protective ones.

A couple of minutes ago I went out because I heard a commotion in the run. The BR roo had all the hens (7 of them) under the large bush/tree and the two banty roos where just outside the protection of bush/tree, looking up at the sky and making their danger call. I didn't see anything but did hear a crow.

I feel really stupid for not realizing just how stressed the hens where. Had I realized we would have sent the 9 roos to freezer camp much earlier!

This morning we had two eggs Pretty sure they are coming from the Australorps and the production reds are practicing for laying. They lay in the nesting boxes but so far no eggs.

Our flock of 20 is down to 10 and they seem much happier!

How old were your roos? I think I ended up with 4 more cockerels. I'll keep one, but the rest will be culled as soon as they are big enough to cause problems. I'm hoping to make it to Christmas time, but the'll probably be fighting by then.

 

[LovemyBabies]

We had hatched a couple chicks with broody hens - when I went in to check on chicks yesterday I noticed the famous red comb appearing on 1 chick "sniffle" - In all honesty it's hard to decide what to do at this point - our boy already had produced 3 Roos to 1 hen in a batch and we still have to get rid of them - now another one- I'm starting to believe it may be easier to cull them as chicks rather than allow them to mature and then have to figure out where to place them then find a home - I personally can't cull a chick as I tried once and I couldn't see through the tears- most say "it's just a chicken, and it's what comes with farm life". But as much as I've told myself that it doesn't matter it's still a life and a baby at that- my fiancée has no problem doing the deed - but I was wondering if I was the only one who just doesn't have the heart to do the deed even tho it needs to be done

 

[Rainier]

How old were your roos? I think I ended up with 4 more cockerels. I'll keep one, but the rest will be culled as soon as they are big enough to cause problems. I'm hoping to make it to Christmas time, but the'll probably be fighting by then.

They were 4 1/2 months old. We never saw the roos fighting each other. Some were aggressive towards us and those ones where sent to freezer camp at 3 1/2 months old. The rest we waited and watched to see who we wanted to keep. The one we kept was never aggressive towards us and seemed to be the most gentle when trying to mate with the hens. We kept the two banty roos because they are not aggressive and they also are our most predator aware.

Out of all the roos the only one that actually attacked us (left bruises and broke the skin a few times) was a Production Red we got from a feed store. The hens that we got are all sweet though. The other one that would try to was an OEGB banty roo. He and the red were in the first batch to go to freezer camp.

The ages of the roos I am guessing on due to we don't know exact hatch dates.