Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!

[Mashie]

Hi - nice to hear from you! My two ducks Bella and Coogie-Boy are still doing well. I lost 8 ducks in 18 months (foxes and mink) before managing to keep these two for 18 months (so far) and they are adorable. I'm allergic to their eggs so they are just pets, but they coexist beautifully with wild mallard and geese on our 1/2 acre pond, and obediently follow me to their coop each night. Bella's eggs are often pinched by crow or rat (in the 15 mins the door opens each morning) but I think I'm happy with this pair. Coogie Boy is a gentleman (aka Bella is in charge) and he doesn't over-do things with Bella.

I can't quite believe it but last night a fox broke into the coop and got our two babies. I'm still in shock. I don't know how we could have made them more safe.

 

[Member 482121]

Hello, Everybody!

Still alive, though not too muck kicking nowadays. At 75 if you try kicking you may fall on your butt!

I am almost done with my chickening. I have 6 chickens left: 4 Australorp roosters, one Australorp hen and a 10-year-old green- egger hen. All the Australorps are about 6 or 7 years old and were hatched here. They are now officially retired. No eggs from the the two hens. The two hens and one rooster roam free during the day and we put them up for the night in the garage, where they sleep safely in three cages, where nocturnal predators cannot kill them. They have learned the routine, and every night they wait by the garage's man door and when we open it each of them goes to its respective cage. The rooster is lame. Something happened to one of his toes, and we are treating it with Thrush Buster, a horse medicine. The other three roosters are in a predator-proof enclosure and sleep in a chicken house within the enclosure. They are all pet chickens and it never entered our minds to butcher them. My wife a few months ago did shoot another rooster that was part of the same hatch as the other Australorps. She had gone into another enclosure/chicken house we used to have to close the door for the night, and the rooster attacked her, inflicting several punctures and scratches on her arms and chest. She was carrying her 9mm automatic and after shaking the bird off her, she let him have it. He had been a threat all along. After all these remaining birds will have died from natural causes or other causes, no more chickens for us. They are nice to have, but we are old folks and it takes too much work to take proper care of chickens. It was a fun experience of which we have fond memories (Few things are more satisfactory than going to the chicken house and collecting a dozen or more eggs or finding just-hatched chicks and placing them in a nice, safe cage under a heat lamp in the garage and then watch them grow...).

Happy chickening to y'all

Giovanni

 

[Damae]

I haven’t been able to start with chickens yet . We’ve had a few house issues that have cost but I am still hopeful for the future! Thanks for checking in.

 

[Deborah Huss]

We have such a vibrant community here at BYC... tons of active friendly members. Of course, life gets busy, so I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread welcoming some of our peeps we haven't heard from in a while.

If that's you, come say hello and let us know what you've been up to.

(if that's not you, feel free to invite peeps you haven't seen in a while and say hi to those that post here)

Hello, I don't know why but I stopped getting emails from you. So glad you are reaching out because I really enjoy all the information on this site. I have lost two chickens this past winter. Both were Golden Commets and I think they had sour crop. I tried to treat it but I wasn't successful. I have 5 hens now and am enjoying the warmer weather. I get 2-3 eggs daily from 4 year old hens. Love my girls!

 

[Vlamontagne]

We have such a vibrant community here at BYC... tons of active friendly members. Of course, life gets busy, so I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread welcoming some of our peeps we haven't heard from in a while.

If that's you, come say hello and let us know what you've been up to.

(if that's not you, feel free to invite peeps you haven't seen in a while and say hi to those that post here)

Been doing good and busy like every other feather brained farmer. We have ducks now and some of our older girls have gotten quite broody and determined to hatch out some of their own eggs. Luckily we have plenty of other girls laying daily and glad to share in the eggstra eggs.

 

[VirginiaLowe]

thanks for contacting me. I know I've been very quiet, though i have belonged to, and read the correspondence for about 30 years (how long has the site existed?).
I do have a question as it happens. Does a wrinkled shell mean the hen is getting old? I've had a couple of very odd ones, then found one of our two hens dead in the pen yesterday morning. I don't know how old she was. Given to me with nine others by someone living next door to my cleaning person.
You might be amused by this little poem. It did actually happen. Virginia.

Encounter

They met at the back door
He was going out
she was coming in
Bemused enchanted
They stood face to face
eye to eye
She was charmed by
his long fluttering eyelashes
So she took a peck

Only eight months old
though already walking
Who was he to stand
between a chook and her beloved
cat food?

This was my grandson, who did walk at eight months, so was eye to eye with the Isa Brown who was always escaping the pen. We are vegetarians, so the cat kibble is very popular. This hen was often at the door, waiting to sneak in.
This has been published in The Myopic's Vision: a poetic memoir (Ginninderra Press, 2023). It has one poem for each year of my quite long life - several on the chooks who have accompanied it for forty years or so.

 

[CeeJayP]

I may not come here visibly, but I am always using the resources and advice from posts. My sister in another province also joined because of how much I raved about the community.

We have a happy family of 18 Muskovy ducks to complement our crazy hen house of 21 and counting. Newbies came in a few weeks ago and it was a flawless integration. Some really fun personalities this time around. More to come next month and then again in the summer. I decided to go with some fancy gals this time around, so I'm excited about that.

So when I'm not fielding management complaints from "Karen" (below), or not carrying rescued kittens around in my bra, I enjoy "spilling the tea" with my roo, Steve Martin, when he comes in for his spa days. (Counting down the days until my mudroom is finished so that animal procedures are no longer performed in my kitchen sink!)

 

[Betty Draper]

We have such a vibrant community here at BYC... tons of active friendly members. Of course, life gets busy, so I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread welcoming some of our peeps we haven't heard from in a while.

If that's you, come say hello and let us know what you've been up to.

(if that's not you, feel free to invite peeps you haven't seen in a while and say hi to those that post here)

Awesome idea, most of us “quiet ones” are probably just plugging away in life. I get on BYC frequently to get my questions answered. I don’t have to post any questions or concerns b/c somebody already asked and others on BYC have answered!! Recently looked up what to do about a broody girl.

 

[Chicken Lady 09]

Since you asked! Things have been a little rough here. I'm feeling like a mediocre chicken tender at the moment. My flock of mostly production reds and EE's close to or over 3 yrs old is dwindling. I had a lice infestation that took out one of my girls.
Last year I had about 30 chickens and lots of eggs! I'm down to about 20 now and collecting maybe 7 eggs a day, 10 on a good day.
My production hens have really slowed down. I get more colored eggs than brown these days.
I do however have 9 chicks, 6 reds and 3 cuckoo marans, who will be ready to go off heat in a couple weeks. I am looking forward to getting them outside!
Lastly, my hens have been ruthlessly pecking the feet of my Buff Brahma girls to the point where I have had to remove the beautiful brahmas from the rest of the flock. I am considering re-homing them at this point.
I hope ya'll are having a better time at it!

 

[Canuckcountrygirl]

We have such a vibrant community here at BYC... tons of active friendly members. Of course, life gets busy, so I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread welcoming some of our peeps we haven't heard from in a while.

If that's you, come say hello and let us know what you've been up to.

(if that's not you, feel free to invite peeps you haven't seen in a while and say hi to those that post here)

Hey y’all, well it’s been super busy on my farm. Between pigs farrowing, getting honey hives ready for spring, starting seeds for the garden, splitting wood for next burning season, trying to get out for a spring turkey hunt, hatching chicks and poults and getting ready for meat birds and holiday turkeys there hasn’t been much time for socializing
Hope everyone had a great start to spring