The Backyard/Barnyard Chicken Thread

How sweet, you saved a picture of rusty. WOW Did they ever report if he survived?

So true they do all have individual personalities.

We moved to the country a few years back, we purchased a tractor and all of the implements and built a chicken coop.

WE did gardening the first 2 years, but damn, the weeds were unmanageable, so the tractor just sits now.

Back to the chickens, do you know that everything loves chicken.

The snakes love the eggs and the chicks. The opossums and Raccoons love the eggs and the chicks , bonus the coons kill the grown chickens as well.

The Foxes love chicken, the coyote love chicken. The neighbors dog loves chicken. The neighbors cat loves chicken. The Bobcats love chicken, the hawks love chicken. The owls love chicken.

I do declare chicken is the hardest thing to raise. We created a fenced in area that they go into at night, but the snakes get in and eat the eggs. WE allow them to roam free in the daylight hours, but the hawks, cats and dogs nab them.

The fox, raccoon, opossums, bobcats and coyote seem to eventually break thru the chicken wire that is reinforced with 4x4 wire.

It is brutal in the Barnyard I tell you.

Chicken, its whats for dinner.

Vicious brazen predators got all my free range flock this year, all but one.
I am down to one injured bird that I just moved into the house to keep alive for a least a few eggs when I get snowed in for winter.
I can not leave her out in the barn alone in the freezing cold all winter. Too late in the year to start new chicks.
A dust mask makes a great diaper and she is doing well at potty training herself.
She has already decided her favorite spot is on my bed, I keep shooing her off LOL.
The biggest problem is she is molting, amazing how many feathers she can shed in a few hours.
A trail of feathers every where she goes.
She is doing Ok with bath time too, she may learn to like it soon. She likes the blow drying part.
For some reason she likes walking on the computer key board, I keep shooing her off that too.

I never dreamed I would have an indoor chicken and be changing chicken diapers. Yep I have become the crazy chicken lady now LOL

YEP, I could not have stated that better, well said. A constant fight, the weeds and the predators.

The Fowl Keeper Chronicles..

You need to keep us in the loop on your daily experience with Injured Bird.. LOL

Weeds, weather, bugs and predators.

It is a little funny to have a chicken as new house guest. Amazing how clean they are wearing pooper protection. She holds it until she goes back into the fire wood box (temp chicken hospital) and poos on the roost when I remove or slide up the dust mask. A lot easier and cleaner than I thought it would be.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Get er done.

As long as this is a chicken thread, this chicken is adapting fast to the life of luxury.
We went out today to dig bugs / potatoes.
She stayed by my side and ran in and out of the house with me, she did not want to be out alone.

The wood box is outdoors with a door that opens to the living room stove area.
I insulated it and lined it with a white washable plastic covering.
I made an exterior air tight swinging door out of half an old sliding glass door, nice view and lots of light.
The wood box sits about 4ft off the ground with an opening under the porch.
She has a secure ground basement level all insulated also with the glass door opening to under the porch too.
There are a lot more tricked out details to her little comfort palace.
She likes watching the tv and likes sitting next to the heaters.
I wonder if she will ever like going back to being a free range barn bird LOL.

For the last 10 years every day, sun up and sun down I have gone to the barn to tend the birds. Not this week and not this winter. I have empty nest syndrome. So I spoiled this last one.

And gulls eat fish mostly right? I wonder what those eggs taste like?

first thing I pulled up to post

thought I'd check first

and you beat me to it

I hear ya! It's been a battle getting 2 old coops up to par and a 20 x 50 coop yard fenced and completely netted! I have to try to keep them safe from hawks and other predators. I have 5 Easter Eggers I got as babies now-10 weeks old ( I am pretty sure 2 of them are roosters) and 4 BB Phoenix that are almost 4 months old that I just got 3 weeks ago. I'm not letting them free range til spring. I love my chickens!

I hear you. I solved my predator problem by getting an LGD dog. A great pyrenees to be exact. Best dog I ever owned. Very best. And once they are full grown, they don't eat anymore than a lab or german shepard, probably less. My coop wasn't far from the house, so she was always around to watch them and me! They really start doing their job at about 18 months, they are still growing and learning until then, but she was effective against small predators early on. Their barking is their warning system and its effective in keeping predators away. Mine barked at night some, but not non-stop, and it didn't bother us. We knew she was at work. Mine never roamed far from us either. Stayed close to home. Might help if you have an old cat they can attach too if you aren't around and that might keep them around home (they love cats, your cats, not stranger cats). I could let my flock roam during the day and she sniffed out the opposums that snuck in the coop before I shut them up at night. I only lost two chickens in 10 years with her around. Never came home to find my whole flock laying dead in yard from the neighbor dogs or gone because of coyote. She ran them off once she learned what they were about. They take a little bit of positive training to show them you are boss and the chickens are not to play with and they are a bit hard headed and used to thinking on their own, but really she wasn't hard to train (when she was put on leash, she knew I was in command) and they have a maternal guarding instinct (she considers all on your property hers), not territorial. And the Great Pyrenees are the gentle giants of the LGD breeds. Very good with kids and your smaller pets. It's best to get a young one, 6 months or less, so you can train it and it's still young enough to imprint on you and your animals. Keep it leashed or penned for a few weeks before letting it loose and it should stick around. They are not very active dogs either, so if they lay around alot, don't think they aren't doing their job. Less activity, less feed.

Not if she is by herself. Chickens are flock birds, not solitary. If you don't have any chickens, that is why she is hanging out with you. They feel safe in numbers.

Oh, I see. Is she your last old bird? Yeah, she will want to hang with you. Chickens don't like solitude.

This last one is only two years old. I lost all my old hens and rooster. She is the one that was always getting in trouble, the most irritating, LOL, the bully and the ring leader and the smartest.
It was a bad year for predators. They were attacked by hawks, vultures, cougar, bobcat, coyote, and the new wolf pack got the most. All during the day close to the house.

I would loose a few each summer, but nothing like this ever before, the entire flock, even after I fenced them in to keep them safer during the day. One broke in the door and got a hen on the enclosed porch that was recovering from a previous attack.
Now that they are out of chickens I fear I may be next.

I hate to bring up this very dirty word....rabies, but the other day talking about the problem with the old man at the hardware store, he said there were reported cases in the area and that a bear even tested positive for rabies. I have lots of bears next to the house too. The man at the hardware store showed me what combinations to mix in bait to rid them. First time I have wanted a shot gun, hard to miss with that and bigger guns.

:cornbread:

It's a coup!

It's a chicken coop!

It's a Super Chicken coop!

No it's just chicken soup!

I love my chickens for what they provide - Eggs and manure. I am the neighbor in town with chickens. I occasionally let them out to free range, otherwise in a big coop.

I only have 3 now. I had one out for a bit when she was being attacked by the others and she must have went over the fence. My sister had sent me a picture taken a block from my home of a chicken on the roof. Someone had taken the pic with a Ring app. I couldn’t find her. Then other was attacked by a small neighbor dog that came through a gate.

Eggs are life!

I love my chickens for what they provide - Eggs and manure. I am the neighbor in town with chickens. I occasionally let them out to free range, otherwise in a big coop.

I only have 3 now. I had one out for a bit when she was being attacked by the others and she must have went over the fence. My sister had sent me a picture taken a block from my home of a chicken on the roof. Someone had taken the pic with a Ring app. I couldn’t find her. Then other was attacked by a small neighbor dog that came through a gate.

Eggs are life!

Sorry you have had a bad year. You have some serious predators, be careful! I know it's hard to lose a flock. Fourth of July morning this year I found all 8 of mine killed, it was horrible! I had rescued them after they were abandoned and they were free ranging in my(not so secure}_ fenced yard. A dog got in the fence early morning and got them all. Now I am overly obsessed about safety of my new flock.

How are you doing on your smoking? It drove me mad every time I quit.

So sorry. What did you do about the dog?