Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

OK now ya got me confused. Are they going to Holland or Michigan? To help figure shipping. How many might ya want. Maybe ya could "split a hatchery order" with someone to help with the cost. lol

Maybe it is Holland, MI ? There is a city called Holland in MI, I think...............

 

[KMoran]

I lost my 2 1/2 month sex-link chick some time during the night. Yesturday when I got home from work I found her hiding under one of the nest boxes and acting very lathargic so I brought her in side and got some water and food down her. then put her back. I put the heater on in the coop. But this morning I found her under the nest box dead.

She was able to get out of the pen and roam around.

I'm sorry

 

[KMoran]

Hope everyone has a wonderful day. I know everyone is a busy bee getting ready for the monroe show.... I am bummed I wont be able to make it. I am gonna try to make it to Stevenson... Might only get to make it on that sunday tho. Anyway I wish you all luck with your birds but most of all have fun and enjoy each other company.

Oh just an update. My cornish hen that got pecked in the head yesterday is doing good. Eatting and drinking well... Her feathers are all stained red but she is gonna be in the freezer next weekend anyways.

 

[Breshcandra]

Chickielady - I have 2 silkies that like to go broody. I have the eggs from the other hen in my makeshift incubator and are crossing my fingers to see if any hatch.

 

[SadieSue]

So I have a brand new problem. Last week I found 3 of my chickens in the yard of the neighbors behind us. They have a new 4 month old black lab puppy. I was relieved to see the lab wasn't anywhere around but of course just as I reached the fence to open the wire and let the girls back in, the puppy showed up. The girls started running and so did the puppy! He grabbed Juju in his mouth and since I wasn't anywhere near the opening all I could do was reach through the wire, grab him by the scruff of the neck and give him a firm "NO!". He dropped Juju and I ran to open the fence and get the girls back to safety. Every time he made the slightest move to run after them I gave him a sharp verbal correction. All 3 chickens were put safely to bed.

The next day I confined them to the run while I was at work. I let them out for an hour and sure enough, looked out the window to see 4 of them in the neighbors' yard again. I ran to let them back into my yard, they came running to me and again I put them back into the run behind a closed door.

They've been confined for the past 5 days. Just now I went outside after my dogs were making a commotion to find out the neighbors have a new rescue pitbull/dalmation mix puppy.
APPLESAUCE!!!

This wouldn't aggravate me if these folks were ever home. But they work full time, none of the dogs are being trained, or put into classes, they know NO commands and they have full run of the yard all day long without supervision. AND, they are free to go out into the yard as they please since there's a dog door on the house. Wild dogs, no supervision.

Three issues going on here.
A. I think I need to clip the wings of my girls. It appears they were flying over the fence.
B. The wire fence is not tall enough. It's only 4 feet tall, which was enough for the past year, but apparently no longer. The neighbors have a lush green, overgrown yard which is apparently just too tempting since everything green in our yard has been eaten down to the nub.
C. Freakin' new wild dogs that are not trained to leave my chickens alone.

I can take care of 2 of these issues. I can clip wings. I can get an expanse of 6 ft. wire fence to run across the back of 2 neighbors' lots. There are other neighbors who have 2 small pomeranians. If the girls are going to jump into one yard, sure enough it's only a matter of time before they decide to jump into the other.

I'm aggravated and frustrated. *I* can control the situation when I'm home, but DH is like a hyperactive 3 year old asking me daily, "when are you going to let your chickens back out into the yard?" And I'm afraid he's going to let them out one day when I'm not home.

The run is 10X12 so they're okay, but this is really not fitting into my plan. I was going to landscape the yard this spring/summer to put in gravel paths and plant areas specifically for the chickens to forage in. I was going to reseed the lawn in other sections and fence it off so it was chicken proof.

My questions are - will clipping a wing keep them from flying over the back fence? And, how high does the fence need to be? I have all LF and I would have thought they were too fat to get over it. Apparently they are more athletic than I gave them credit for. Will I ever be able to let them out to free range again?

In the meantime, now there is the constant threat of untrained, unsupervised dogs with freedom to come and go as they please... GRRRR.

 

[ultasol]

FYI ~~~~~~~~~~ One of the white hens you gave me has great carunkles !! She is just a love too.....also FYI::: TODAY is the last day POSTMARKED entries, period unless you call & confirm!!

If you sent them in Mon or Tues please email a copy of your entry in as well,.. there was a mistake made and they should have had the deadline sooner. PLEASE email them with what birds you are bringing and what, if any, sale cages you need so they can plan accordingly and get coop cards made!

 

[ultasol]

Hmm she must have changed her mind then, I spoke to her a few weeks ago and she wasn't going?? Good! It will be good to see her!!!

I wasn't going to go,.. but then Spring Break hit and I wasn't feeling quite as overwhelmed. Soooooooo.... I am coming but not bringing many birds (9 birds in the show,.. some sale birds)

 

[mikeyb]

The dogs are in their yard, right?
If so why are you upset? I understand the danger to your chickens I just don't understand your anger. It really is on you to keep your chckens on your property. Now if the dogs were coming onto your property that would be a whole different scene.

 

[mikeyb]

Check out "Raising Chickens for Dummies" page 196. Clipping wings can keep some birds from flying, but there are exceptions.

 

[hallerlake]

So I have a brand new problem. Last week I found 3 of my chickens in the yard of the neighbors behind us. They have a new 4 month old black lab puppy. I was relieved to see the lab wasn't anywhere around but of course just as I reached the fence to open the wire and let the girls back in, the puppy showed up. The girls started running and so did the puppy! He grabbed Juju in his mouth and since I wasn't anywhere near the opening all I could do was reach through the wire, grab him by the scruff of the neck and give him a firm "NO!". He dropped Juju and I ran to open the fence and get the girls back to safety. Every time he made the slightest move to run after them I gave him a sharp verbal correction. All 3 chickens were put safely to bed.

The next day I confined them to the run while I was at work. I let them out for an hour and sure enough, looked out the window to see 4 of them in the neighbors' yard again. I ran to let them back into my yard, they came running to me and again I put them back into the run behind a closed door.

They've been confined for the past 5 days. Just now I went outside after my dogs were making a commotion to find out the neighbors have a new rescue pitbull/dalmation mix puppy.
APPLESAUCE!!!

This wouldn't aggravate me if these folks were ever home. But they work full time, none of the dogs are being trained, or put into classes, they know NO commands and they have full run of the yard all day long without supervision. AND, they are free to go out into the yard as they please since there's a dog door on the house. Wild dogs, no supervision.

Three issues going on here.
A. I think I need to clip the wings of my girls. It appears they were flying over the fence.
B. The wire fence is not tall enough. It's only 4 feet tall, which was enough for the past year, but apparently no longer. The neighbors have a lush green, overgrown yard which is apparently just too tempting since everything green in our yard has been eaten down to the nub.
C. Freakin' new wild dogs that are not trained to leave my chickens alone.

I can take care of 2 of these issues. I can clip wings. I can get an expanse of 6 ft. wire fence to run across the back of 2 neighbors' lots. There are other neighbors who have 2 small pomeranians. If the girls are going to jump into one yard, sure enough it's only a matter of time before they decide to jump into the other.

I'm aggravated and frustrated. *I* can control the situation when I'm home, but DH is like a hyperactive 3 year old asking me daily, "when are you going to let your chickens back out into the yard?" And I'm afraid he's going to let them out one day when I'm not home.

The run is 10X12 so they're okay, but this is really not fitting into my plan. I was going to landscape the yard this spring/summer to put in gravel paths and plant areas specifically for the chickens to forage in. I was going to reseed the lawn in other sections and fence it off so it was chicken proof.

My questions are - will clipping a wing keep them from flying over the back fence? And, how high does the fence need to be? I have all LF and I would have thought they were too fat to get over it. Apparently they are more athletic than I gave them credit for. Will I ever be able to let them out to free range again?

In the meantime, now there is the constant threat of untrained, unsupervised dogs with freedom to come and go as they please... GRRRR.

If you clip the wings, six feet should be enough. If DH is so hyper, put him in charge of putting up the wire.