for some context, I had a Russian Orloff/Speckled Orpington go broody on me. So I got her two chicks, since that’s all I had the room for and this is her first time. I kept her with the rest of the hens, one like her, a Barred, and three red stars so all gentle hens. She was a great mama...
I did that with a field mouse I found in my garden... I almost felt bad for the thing. I should have killed it before tossing it in. I also tried feeding them a copperhead snake I found and chopped it’s head off, but the girls where too young to break through the scales.
I’ve perfected my grasshopper catching skills. Trick is to grab BOTH the hind legs, if you only grab one they’ll rip off that leg with the other. It’s gruesome.
Went to lay some fresh hay in the coop and I found one of my hens in the corner dead. I’m pretty sure she somehow broke her neck, but now I’m down to just the seven. Going to watch them closely for a few days, but Cheeky was always the flightiest hen.
I give them mainly veggie scraps and right now done cabbage family crops. I have a metal campfire hot dog stick that I’ve attached to the underside of the coop. And I spear big stuff like the the plants to it. I’ve also fed them some COOKED beef trimmings, they’ll take your fingers off if you’re...
I live in Texas, they have 8 acres of grass, clover, wild dewberries, leftover grain from the horse’s feed, grasshoppers, June beetles, and cicadas to enjoy. Along with daily treats from the garden. So I don’t feel the need to grow special. Yet.
After 5 months I got my first egg last Friday, and I now have two laying so I’m close to a dozen eggs. Which is good, they were starting to become freeloaders lol. It’s been a while since I posted, classes have taken up all my time. Plus I just got two established bee hives, so onto the next...
We will see because after suspecting she was egg bound, due to her symptoms of watery clear fluids, not eating/drinking, standing/sitting and I could have sworn I felt an egg. I proceeded to water bathe and blow dry and then check for a stuck egg. I didn’t feel anything internally, but she’s...
So I have a pair of small prefab coops, a large 150sqf run, and a few 18 week pulleys. Last week I found an accident egg with a soft shell, that the flies found before me. Today I have a pullet hanging out inside the coop where I found that egg. Is she the layer? She’s been in there/laying down...