Getting some chickens

[RED333]

Lost one of mine a few days ago, no sign of attack, she was still alive when I found her.

She just layed there, picked her up, could not find anything wrong, she was weak,

died bout 2 hours latter. All the others are OK so far.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Sad that the hens keep getting killed..

If there is a way for a predator to get in..they will get in.And if you didnt have a coon/possun or snake problem,,you will when you get chickens...

 

Sounds like you had a some sort of illness..It could be a host of things.thos ethings get sick in a matter of hours and once they go down..its really hard for them to recover.It could have ate something also..sometimes they eat or drink stuff that will kill them.Chickens are not very smart when it comes to that.

 

For  summertime fun,We used to buy watermelon ,half it and set it out..they would pick and gorge on that melon..was rather funny to see...Grapes are always fun as they peck at them and they get stuck on their beaks.Takes them a few shakes to fling them off...

[PackinMama]

Having chickens and dealing with predators go hand in hand.  Around here, I have foxes, coyotes, possums, coons, snakes, and big rats to name a few. I've had chickens several times over the last 20 years and every time, they eventually all got killed by predators. This time, however, is different. This time, I built my coop right next to my dog pen and the dogs keep everything scared away. I also used 7 ft welded wire fence with 4 ft of chicken wire attached at the bottom with 2 ft of it rolled out onto the ground and covered with dirt. This way, when something comes up and tries to dig under, they hit the wire and can't dig any further.  So far, the only deaths I've had were caused from another hen pecking two of my chicks heads. Since I got rid of her, all is well. :)

[thundersnow]

So far, the only deaths I've had were caused from another hen pecking two of my chicks heads. Since I got rid of her, all is well. :)

There's a joke about being henpecked in there somewhere. Just not sure what it is...

[RichardR]

My chickens favorite treat is "sticky rice" which is just white rice boiled in a bit of cane sugar & pressed/squeezed into small balls.

They absolutely love it, meal worms are probably a close second.

[JAB]

Never had a predator problem like I did with chickens.

 

Before I moved to where I now live (with my mom as a neighbor on one side and my sister's family on the other) my sister's husband was raising a few hogs and they had a litter of piglets.  I had never really seen a set of what I would call true tusks on a domesticated hog, before, but their big boar had some pretty impressive ones.  One day, while the piglets were still small, two or three mean dogs that lived in the area came around looking for trouble.  They were trying to get into the area where they were keeping the piglets and even acting like they would attack my sister.  Well, the piglets were scared and squealing which probably only riled the dogs up further.  One of her dogs was trying to fight the threatening dogs and was able to keep them off of her but wasn't going to be able to hold its own for long.  Desperate and scared for herself and her dog, she says that she did the only thing she could think to do - she reached over and tripped the latch to open the big hog pen.  She said that boar hog came out of the pen like a demon straight from hell and laid into the attacking dogs.  She said it ended up ripping one of them all the way down its side with those tusks.  At that point, the attacking dogs ran off and - despite her fears that she wouldn't be able to get the boar back in the enclosure - the hog just turned around and walked right back into the pen, allowing her to close the gate.  After that, she referred to it as her attack pig.

Edited August 13, 2013 by JAB

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Pics of my girls

Black Australorps

Golden Comets and Ameraucana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll187f27Pxg

 

Just what I imagine you are turning into, Red. :D Now, am I right?

[RED333]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll187f27Pxg

 

Just what I imagine you are turning into, Red. :D Now, am I right?

WHY ARE YOU PICKING ON ME!!! :ugh:

Ya know I have been thinking of a beef cow, maybe a goat or 2. :woohoo:

[Guest 6.8 AR]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[PackinMama]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll187f27Pxg

 

Just what I imagine you are turning into, Red. :D Now, am I right?

Ahhhh. The "slippery slope of backyard hens."  Yep. I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting better at my chicken imitations every day! :D LOL