What did you do with your flock today?

[Smokerbill]

I just got up my bravery and let my 8 week olds leave the run today for their first free range experience. It went a lot different than I imagined.

I figured that once the door was open I'd have to chase them down, and they'd lose themselves in the woods, 30 yards away. Quite the opposite.

They were pretty much afraid to stray far from their known surroundings. I think the furthest any of them got away from the run was about 6 feet. They seemed hyper-cautious, and sure didn't want to range very far.

They did some things I didn't agree with, like eating a bunch of young sword fern leaves, and long blades of grass. But they have plenty of grit so I hope it won't be a problem. If they get sick, then maybe they'll be more discriminating about what they eat. LOL

A funny thing. I tossed an empty beer can into the wheelbarrow and they all went into "freeze" mode from the sound. They didn't move for quite a while. But when I said "It's ok. You can move now.", they started milling around again. I guess they trust my voice. LOL

They finally started heading toward the run door, so I shooed the rest of them in and figured that was enough free ranging experience for the first day. It was probably 30-45 minutes in all.

And of the 8 chickens, all but one left the run. One of them didn't have the bravery to jump out through the door. She will eventually, I think.

Anyway, it was a fun experience. I didn't know how they'd react to freedom, but they did pretty good and didn't get out of control.

I'll give them some free time tommorow, too.

Chickens are fun!

 

[TropicalBabies]

I just got up my bravery and let my 8 week olds leave the run today for their first free range experience. It went a lot different than I imagined.

I figured that once the door was open I'd have to chase them down, and they'd lose themselves in the woods, 30 yards away. Quite the opposite.

They were pretty much afraid to stray far from their known surroundings. I think the furthest any of them got away from the run was about 6 feet. They seemed hyper-cautious, and sure didn't want to range very far.

They did some things I didn't agree with, like eating a bunch of young sword fern leaves, and long blades of grass. But they have plenty of grit so I hope it won't be a problem. If they get sick, then maybe they'll be more discriminating about what they eat. LOL

A funny thing. I tossed an empty beer can into the wheelbarrow and they all went into "freeze" mode from the sound. They didn't move for quite a while. But when I said "It's ok. You can move now.", they started milling around again. I guess they trust my voice. LOL

They finally started heading toward the run door, so I shooed the rest of them in and figured that was enough free ranging experience for the first day. It was probably 30-45 minutes in all.

And of the 8 chickens, all but one left the run. One of them didn't have the bravery to jump out through the door. She will eventually, I think.

Anyway, it was a fun experience. I didn't know how they'd react to freedom, but they did pretty good and didn't get out of control.

I'll give them some free time tommorow, too.

Chickens are fun!

Look at all those yummy flowers and blades of grass to chew on. Great first day.

 

[Mr Spot]

Hi everyone, just thought I would share the luck I've had these last three days with my chickens. My buff orpington started going broody a couple of weeks ago, I really wasn't ready for that to happen but it did. I tried the cold water bath a couple of times and it didn't work, put her in "chicken jail" for a few days and that didn't work either. None of my hens were laying fertile eggs because my bantam rooster couldn't do them any good. I knew of a guy that had a bunch of games so I went to his house to see about a few eggs. Come to find out after talking to him a while I knew where his stock came from since I had known the previous owner for at least 45 years. An extremely good strain that had made him lots of money over the years. I made a deal with the new owner if he would give me a few eggs I would give him back all the roosters from what hatched. So I got the eggs home, marked them and put them under my hen. He gave me eight total. Yes I was as proud as could be. The next day I was gathering eggs from mine and checked under the he to see if any of mine laid in that box too. I eased her up to look and six of the eight eggs were gone. No shell pieces, no liquid egg in the nest, nothing. Needless to say I wasn't happy about that. the next morning (yesterday) I went out to feed and water and when I checked under her the last two was gone. That's eight eggs in two days just disappeared. I went and talked to the guy I got the eggs from and he wasn't just real happy either. I looked around in the coop to see if I could find anything where something may have got in, nothing. This morning I go out to check on them and the hen was dead on the nest. Now I'm Pissed Off !! I got her out and she had a good size hole in her right side. I started moving nest boxes around and under one I could barely see a big chicken snake, I got my .22 pistol with shot shells in it, moved that box and shot that big you know what three times !! I drug him out and could see egg lumps in him. He was just a little over six feet long. I've seen small snakes here before but nothing near that size. So over the past three days I lost an outstanding hen and eight high dollar game eggs. What a day : (

 

[PopoMyers]

Good morning gang and Happy Aloha Friday!
Wednesday got the new TV installed and the cabin near perfect. Dude comes today.
Rained pretty good yesterday. Lucky me that it was only just starting up when I did the 3am colony feed, then at a drizzle when doing chicken chores. By the time i finished basic chores all my creatures were hunkered down as the rain started to come down pretty steadily.
Our friend @PopoMyers texted me and had some time to meet and was even willing to come my way on a pretty wet day (3+" of rain). DH and I had a great time visiting with Popo and her awesome DH. Insta friends just incase any of you may wonder what it is like meeting people on this thread. I hope to see @Popo b4 she heads out. She is absolutely awesome♡♡♡!!! We sat on a big Lani with a nice view, eventually a cup of joe, and chatted nonstop as the rain came down. The rest of you were there in spirit ♡♡♡
This early morning it is raining hard again. Near torrential. Think chooks may sleep in this morning. Home is back to kitty soup with a cat on every cushion. Time to make some coffee, i have another 30 minutes till chores.

Just so you know, @TropicalBabies is a wonderful, awesome friend to have met in person. We had a lovely visit, even saw one of the cats she and DH feeds on those early morning runs. The color variations of the feral chickens here are too numerous to try and list.

 

[PopoMyers]

Yes, they are in a safe place now, it's just the fact that I'm away from them and I'm not personally taking care of them, especially the ones that aren't that healthy. I mean, one of them is underweight, I was treating her for parasites when I had to leave... And another one is chronically ill with a chicken version of asthma, plus a tendency to reproductive issues, and the person they're with has never given oral medication to a bird, much less a shot... I gave her an intensive course on how to take care of my chickens but it's just not the same.

Today I was able to visit them for a few minutes, and they all ran to me when they saw me... I thought they were hungry but their feeders were full. Were they looking for treats or do you think they miss their owners or just perceive that something's wrong? I wish I could explain to them that I'm not abandoning them.

They know your voice and who you are to them. Caretaker and friend. Thankful that you have someone to care for them. Please be safe, and take care of yourself. May justice prevail.

 

[PopoMyers]

Me too!!! ♡♡♡

Me three!

 

[Shetland lover]

I just got up my bravery and let my 8 week olds leave the run today for their first free range experience. It went a lot different than I imagined.

I figured that once the door was open I'd have to chase them down, and they'd lose themselves in the woods, 30 yards away. Quite the opposite.

They were pretty much afraid to stray far from their known surroundings. I think the furthest any of them got away from the run was about 6 feet. They seemed hyper-cautious, and sure didn't want to range very far.

They did some things I didn't agree with, like eating a bunch of young sword fern leaves, and long blades of grass. But they have plenty of grit so I hope it won't be a problem. If they get sick, then maybe they'll be more discriminating about what they eat. LOL

A funny thing. I tossed an empty beer can into the wheelbarrow and they all went into "freeze" mode from the sound. They didn't move for quite a while. But when I said "It's ok. You can move now.", they started milling around again. I guess they trust my voice. LOL

They finally started heading toward the run door, so I shooed the rest of them in and figured that was enough free ranging experience for the first day. It was probably 30-45 minutes in all.

And of the 8 chickens, all but one left the run. One of them didn't have the bravery to jump out through the door. She will eventually, I think.

Anyway, it was a fun experience. I didn't know how they'd react to freedom, but they did pretty good and didn't get out of control.

I'll give them some free time tommorow, too.

Chickens are fun!

How lovely. Good first experience overall!
Mine eat ferns ALL the time. They definitely didn't get the memo that they're supposed to be toxic - or if they did they just laughed! They've certainly never suffered any ill-effects from them.

 

[Maddcatter]

I just got up my bravery and let my 8 week olds leave the run today for their first free range experience. It went a lot different than I imagined.

I figured that once the door was open I'd have to chase them down, and they'd lose themselves in the woods, 30 yards away. Quite the opposite.

They were pretty much afraid to stray far from their known surroundings. I think the furthest any of them got away from the run was about 6 feet. They seemed hyper-cautious, and sure didn't want to range very far.

This is normal. They'll work up to being further and further away. They'll normally go home at night though.

My 8 week olds are currently hanging out pretty close to the coop too.... And I have adult chickens that free range. The 2 month olds are learning. Lol

They did some things I didn't agree with, like eating a bunch of young sword fern leaves, and long blades of grass. But they have plenty of grit so I hope it won't be a problem. If they get sick, then maybe they'll be more discriminating about what they eat. LOL

They'll be fine. Turns out that the amount of grass it takes to be toxic is an amount chickens basically can't eat.

I will say that if I don't want my chooks to eat something, I fence it off. Otherwise it gets eaten.

A funny thing. I tossed an empty beer can into the wheelbarrow and they all went into "freeze" mode from the sound. They didn't move for quite a while. But when I said "It's ok. You can move now.", they started milling around again. I guess they trust my voice. LOL

That's pretty common. They know you feed them, and look after them. If you seem calm, they will probably think it's ok to be calm.

Your coop and run look awesome! Congrats!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Terrific job @ChicksnMore ♡♡♡ Beautiful boy. I am so glad he was (obviously) waiting for you, knowing you had room in your vehicle and a kind heart
I hope the vet check goes well.
Do you also have room in your home also for this beautiful boy? Depending on him and if he likes chickens... and ducks and peacocks and goat and horse and cats and sparrows??!!
I'm looking forward to watching his story.

Hows the ducks? I want to be bitten by Rowen ♡ I love him

I'm not sure on keeping him but I'll definitely get him some vet care which he needs badly. I'll look for owners but I'm not expecting anyone will claim him.

I have three dogs of my own already and each kid has a dog. I used to say you shouldn't have more dogs then hands to pet them, and I end up having to use my feet to pet dogs all the time. If ones getting loved on, they all want loved on

If I'm right on him being dumped, he'll be here for a bit til his neck/heads better though. He's extra cute because of that goofy head thing, sad as that is.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I really hope so! I'm definitely overdue a dog...

Awwww...I think everyone should own a dog Pity you're not closer. Any puppy would be so lucky to have you for a mom and bet this guy would love you!