HAHAHAHAHA! Hilarious! And yes, so true. The next adventure you'll surely have is when they learn how to fly into your deer-proof-fenced garden, and tear out all your newly sprouted pole beans, doing their interpretation of Kristi Yamaguchi on ice. Oh you will have hours of laughs, some very...
Hi ~ since you don't know what the mice have been eating, if they have worms, or some other horrible parasite, my vote is NOT to feed the dead to the chickens. Mine hunt and kill their own, play "keep away" and then who knows what happens to the carcasses, but like with deer...never feed it to...
I have kept chickens for many years, and I have employed Chicken Math all these years...telling the Game Warden (as I give him countless boxes of eggs) "since YOUR fox killed 4 of my hens, now I must go buy new chicks ... lots more chicks... in case YOUR fox returns"...and other forms of...
I added on a nursery to my coop ~ a 6x6 room with a chicken wire door and roosts, so my young hens grow up first in a small trough, then running around and then roosting when they can jump/fly up onto the shelf. I do not ever use pole roosts, I raise heavy breeds and they love the wide shelves I...
You may not have the experience to know that sometimes chickens just die. They have heart attacks, they have liver failure, who knows why, they just die. The shock is terrible, and I know how you feel. I walked into my coop a few weeks ago to find one of two 2'tall roosters dead. He'd nestled...
I bought 12 chicks at the feed store. Two were larger and more uppity than the other chicks early on. Then they became more aggressive. One day while hanging out the washing, one crowed. OH NO! A rooster! These things happen...it starts at the hatchery with people who are hired who are...
If your chickens are coming out of a molt their shells will be like tissue paper & rubber sometimes. They need more calcium. I'd take the egg shells away ASAP because you're teaching them "yumm something to eat" so of course, when they see another egg...they'll EAT IT. I feed Nutrena feeds...I...
This is a heart-centered answer, but I would keep it. Her? life has been hell on earth, and often those chickens will regain their strength and perk up, realize they're free and fit right into your coop. If I lived near you (I'm in Colorado) I'd take her in a heartbeat. Poor thing, I'm all for...
Post a notice at the feed store is my best idea, unless you know someone who wants a rooster. Mine is 24 inches tall, white Orpington, and as lovely and sweet as they come. Good Luck!
I know exactly what you are going through...and padlocks are the best thing. Also, engaging the kids...like "help me clean the coop, the drinkers, the run" and "do you have any ideas about how to keep the birds safe from raccoons?" I've found getting kids involved in the safe keeping, feeding...