Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[stake]

Lol. Honestly that problem is pretty the lowest of my flock issues. Something killed one of my leghorn pullets so I started closing the coop up at night. Well someone....my dad...didn't close the door like I asked when he went up one night and the next day there were two more leghorns MIA and feathers from all the young pullets and my rooster everywhere. Now the surviving youngsters won't go in the coop and roost in trees. Every night I get them down and put them in the coop. They should start laying soon as they are 16 weeks and I'm concerned that I can't get them to feel safe in the coop enough to lay on there since they have to be coerced in at night now. I'm really cranky about the whole thing. There is a family of raccoons that has a short life span in their future. They drug my poor babies up the tree and pieces have been coming down

for my two cents....

lots of critter will attack chooks... almost all eat on the spot of the kill and leave the rest....my guess is that there's a fox and they drag the kill back to the den.....my two cents...

 

[dheltzel]

Lol. Honestly that problem is pretty the lowest of my flock issues. Something killed one of my leghorn pullets so I started closing the coop up at night. Well someone....my dad...didn't close the door like I asked when he went up one night and the next day there were two more leghorns MIA and feathers from all the young pullets and my rooster everywhere. Now the surviving youngsters won't go in the coop and roost in trees. Every night I get them down and put them in the coop. They should start laying soon as they are 16 weeks and I'm concerned that I can't get them to feel safe in the coop enough to lay on there since they have to be coerced in at night now. I'm really cranky about the whole thing. There is a family of raccoons that has a short life span in their future. They drug my poor babies up the tree and pieces have been coming down

Uggh !! I've been losing birds to coons also. I want to "live and let live" and for the last few years we have lost almost nothing to coons, but they are on the attack this year for sure. I am retaliating and we have taken out 4 of them so far. I'm not going to be satisfied until I clean out the entire group.

 

[gonehencrazy]

for my two cents....

lots of critter will attack chooks... almost all eat on the spot of the kill and leave the rest....my guess is that there's a fox and they drag the kill back to the den.....my two cents...

There is no evidence of them being dragged under the fence. There is evidence up the side of a 150ft Tulip poplar. Later that day a huge branch crashed down with a chicken wing with it. So they definitely got drug up the tree.

 

[gonehencrazy]

Uggh !! I've been losing birds to coons also. I want to "live and let live" and for the last few years we have lost almost nothing to coons, but they are on the attack this year for sure. I am retaliating and we have taken out 4 of them so far. I'm not going to be satisfied until I clean out the entire group.

Haven't caught any yet. But I intend too!! Need to move the trap inside the fence. And set the second one. My dog is bred to hunt coons but he also kills chickens

Have you tried these night flasher things that I see in chicken magazines? We have a solar powered security light on the coop already but I don't think that has helped.

 

[dheltzel]

@dheltzel
Do you breed and sell chickens? Do you have legbars? I just did some research on them and fell in love!

Oh wow, do I ever have Legbars !! all sizes, gold and cream, some fully crested (looks like they are sporting a mohawk), some only partially crested (look like a teen that used too much gel to get that spiky look). I even have some that lay green eggs (grandmother had a brief affair with the Welsummer next door).

All are at least 1/2 Jill Reese line, some full blooded. The ones that are half Reese are a lot more variable, but some of them look like the Reese lines pullets to my eye.

All but those with the grandfather Welsummer lay bright blue eggs. Every now and then I find one with a bit of a greenish tinge, but generally they are purer blue than my Blue Ameraucanas, and I think they lay better that the ameraucanas, as least in cooler weather. All the birds are laying less now except the California Greys, they continue to astound me. I don't think my flock of 22 has laid less than 16 eggs any day since they started around New Years, from the bitterest cold to the searing heat. They might as well be commercial leghorns for their laying ability (I'm not even sure leghorns would lay in the very cold temps we had last Feb), but I like cuckoo birds better than plain white, and these are easy to sex as chicks, leghorns not until they are at least a month old.

But the Legbars are not bad layers, they just coast as bit when it gets hot, and it's hard to criticize them for that, I don't want to work in the coops these days either.

 

[dheltzel]

Haven't caught any yet. But I intend too!! Need to move the trap inside the fence. And set the second one. My dog is bred to hunt coons but he also kills chickens

Have you tried these night flasher things that I see in chicken magazines? We have a solar powered security light on the coop already but I don't think that has helped.

I have 4 of those "Nite Guard" devices. They flash real pretty, I think the coons ignore them. I'm hopeful they will at least keep the deer out of the sweet corn.

 

[gonehencrazy]

I have 4 of those "Nite Guard" devices. They flash real pretty, I think the coons ignore them. I'm hopeful they will at least keep the deer out of the sweet corn.

Hmm. I don't have deer. My threats are def coon, fox and neighbor has seen an owl. There may have been a bear a few years back. Niece and nephew swear they saw one that they thought was my dog...who was in the house. That evening my dog went ballistic. He's a Plott hound. Coon, bear and boar are his instincts. I called Game commission. They told me there are no bear in Adamstown. I told him he was wrong because my dog said there was!!

 

[CynazarGoldens]

1)Does anyone here have wyandottes--and are they nice pets? (Breeder stock not hatchery.)
My friend with the hawk problem started my whole chicken obsession with her white wyandotte who sashayed around her run with her big bustle looking down her beak at us lesser earthlings. She was so beautiful and had an attitude exactly like the trained turkey in that old SouthPark Thanksgiving episode. I was mesmerized!

I can't say enough about Wyandottes. I ordered BLRWs from McMurray hatchery about six years ago and they were the sweetest, calmest, prettiest birds! I ordered many other breeds including the "rare assortment" - the Wyandottes were my absolute favorites. I sold many of them at the Sussex County fair and I had families calling me back next year for more.
I also got a Silver Laced and a Gold Laced.. the SLW had no interest in being held or socializing with the humans. The GLW was nice, though.
I did eventually try ordering breeder stock BLRWs, but the very expensive eggs did not hatch. I was using one of those Styrofoam incubators that you can order online... I guarantee that was the issue. It was very hard to keep the humidity high enough.

I did a lot of research on breeds and chose that one because they had all the qualities I hoped for in a chicken.
Jenne

 

[CynazarGoldens]

Well, they don't have to be show quality, and I would prefer maybe pullets since we may not have time and space for chicks. Plus, we CANNOT have a rooster, and it would break my heart giving it away. I am leaning towards breeds like brahmas, orpingtons, or silkies. Non-flighty docile breeds.

Have you considered Bielefelders?
They are auto-sexing so you'd be able to tell exactly which ones are the pullets by their colors / patterns as soon as they hatch.
From what I've read about them they seem to be very sweet, calm, gentle, etc. They are nice and big (sort of like Brahmas), beautiful, fluffy, and do wonderfully in the cold weather. The Bielefelders really stand out to me because I've always drooled over that Crele/Cuckoo color pattern! They are also supposed to lay very dark brown eggs. They are on my very short list of "must have.. eventually". The other breeds on my list include Wyandottes (I love Wyandottes, especially Blue Laced Reds), Brahmas (loving Golden Laced and Blue Partridge, I don't like the fact that they have feathered feet, though!), and Barnevelders (they come in Double Laced Blue, totally awesome!). Okay I have to admit I'm also crazy about Rhodebars - I absolutely must get some of those eventually - and Basques. They sound really awesome and different (early maturing, completely unique temperament, etc.), plus I am secretly obsessed with all things Basque in the first place. Can you tell I'm missing having chickens?

I hope I helped!
Jenne

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Hi everybody! Just popping in to say hello. Still house hunting. Put another offer in, we retracted the last one because we didn't get a reply. I hate when people are shady!


I don't have much to do in our house since it is sold and cleaned out. I miss my girls so much! It's been almost two months since I rehomed them. I really miss them running up to me when I stepped into the backyard, and having an audience when I had my lunch outside. Soon....

Anne:

For my two cents, you can place a response time qualifier for any property...as a example, I will offer you one dollar for next three business days....you can also make any conditions (fix the chimney) as a contingency.....you can also set the settlement date...long settlement dates favor the buyer as the seller has the property off the market and unable to accept other offers....its a game of chess....don't be afraid to play!!!! my two cents,,,

Thanks Stake, thankfully our realtor has played a lot of "chess" and is helping us with all of the little nuances that can seal the deal. I can't help being nervous though. Here I am at 3:43 on the chicken forum because this is third night I woke up in the middle of the night. I have prayed about it a lot and given it over to God, but waiting is hard to do...

Lol. Honestly that problem is pretty the lowest of my flock issues. Something killed one of my leghorn pullets so I started closing the coop up at night. Well someone....my dad...didn't close the door like I asked when he went up one night and the next day there were two more leghorns MIA and feathers from all the young pullets and my rooster everywhere. Now the surviving youngsters won't go in the coop and roost in trees. Every night I get them down and put them in the coop. They should start laying soon as they are 16 weeks and I'm concerned that I can't get them to feel safe in the coop enough to lay on there since they have to be coerced in at night now. I'm really cranky about the whole thing. There is a family of raccoons that has a short life span in their future. They drug my poor babies up the tree and pieces have been coming down

Uggh !! I've been losing birds to coons also. I want to "live and let live" and for the last few years we have lost almost nothing to coons, but they are on the attack this year for sure. I am retaliating and we have taken out 4 of them so far. I'm not going to be satisfied until I clean out the entire group.

As I'm reading this, all I can think of is Dennis sporting some new "Davey Crockett" type pelt hats for winter. Haha! If you're going to cull them, you might as well use that beautiful fur!