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Officialish Chicken Photo Thread!

186K views 2K replies 114 participants last post by  ChieTheRider 
#1 · (Edited)
Show your girls and guys!

Here are my RIR's (19)! Hatched September 25th, 2011. Today I got my first two eggs! I've had chickens since I was 20, even had two laying hens in my historic downtown apartment when I was in college! Spring 2010 I was out of town for two days and there was a horrible uncommon gnat outbreak. I lost my three laying hens. So now with an improved coop, and yard we are BACK in business! Please post your eggers! We just love ours!!





I have a running contest with my Co-op friend Mary to see who can keep their hens laying the longest. So far I'm the winner, hint it's all about fresh clover! Keep it a secret! LOL!
 
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#928 ·
"You will flock with other people with chickens...." UMMM SOOOO TRUE! Hello!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: That lady is DEAD ON!

*says the crazy chicken lady living in the mid south attempting to run an eco farm and has gone WEEKS without seeing another person outside of her family and would rather cuss her birds instead of hold a conversation about shopping and is possibly buying a pony that she can plow her garden with and and and and.... :lol:*
 
#930 ·
Hi Horse Forum chicken ladies- I miss hearing about your birds! I've been reading some over on the "backyard chickens" forum lately, but I always walk away utterly depressed because every thread I read about medical issues seems to end in people losing their lovely birds :( I need a little more light-hearted chicken chat!

It's so bitterly cold not much is going on with my ladies, but on the couple of rare days that it's been close to getting above freezing, I've given them a "cabbage tetherball" to play with, which they love:
Fun with cabbage - YouTube

Anyone getting ready for new chicks this spring? I don't think I'm going to be adding at all this year, so will have to live vicariously through all of you.
 
#931 ·
Great idea with the cabbage, egrogan. I've got one now sitting in the fridge that I didn't need so it will now be gifted to the chickens.

I am toying with the idea of getting some chicks this year. The place I get the babies from has a minimum order of 10 for the 'fancy' breeds (ie the non egg factories) so it would be that many if I commit to it. I really did want to get a new coop built and realistically that probably wouldn't happen until after the chick order needs to be in so I'm currently in a pickle about what to do.
 
#932 ·
Stupid stupid ME!

Lost six birds last night... GAHHHH! It looks like a war zone and I'm so very very sad. :(

It's all my fault too! I've been so good about shutting the coop at night, since it's been so cold and yucky I've been on the lookout for opportunists. I also kept all the dogs in the house last night, if they'd even just been in their pen the barking would have alerted me to the SLAUGHTER.

Lost four hens and apparently two of the Roos put up a good fight but lost, :(. The coop is in shambles and there are feathers EVERYWHERE.

Sad day.

Lola is obviously distraught that something got my birds. She's had her hackles up all day slinking around the yard. I'll leave her out tonight to hopefully ward off and possibly DESTROY the intruder. THIS MEANS WAR!
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#935 ·
Ohhh those are soo cute. They were 25% off not too long ago.

:(. I miss Satan and lost one of my orphington Roos that was so sweet.

I looked everywhere for tracks but the chickens had mucked up any possible areas, of course it's dry today. It could have been a bobcat, I've seen one in the yard before. Coyotes won't come near the yard and I've never seen a raccoon... setting a trap this evening. Do you think an owl would fly through a run into a coop? But they wouldn't have taken 6...
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#937 ·
I'm probably the least informed person on US wildlife but I think its rare to see raccoons in daylight and same goes for coyotes too I think because the only ones I see in daylight are road kill so if I didn't see them at night I wouldn't think any ever came here but I do see foxes and bobcats in the daytime
Again - know nothing about what any of those do when they get in a chicken run other than foxes and those things go berserk on a killfest and leave a massacre behind but usually only take one bird away with them
I hope you can put a stop to it
 
#939 ·
Yes, good friends of ours just lost all their chickens to two roaming dogs who broke into their run and killed everything. Apparently the same dogs did the same thing to another neighbor down the road earlier that day. Really sad that two people lost their entire flocks because one irresponsible person on their street refuses to contain their dogs.
 
#943 ·
Thanks guys. :(

See that's why I'm baffled... No carcasses, just feathers, EVERYWHERE. My dogs were up so it wasn't them, nor would they hurt them. It also couldn't have been a dog because I live in the middle of nowhere. Any dogs that show up try and stay.

***** in my experience will take a few but will also hurt a bunch in the process. I have a strong suspicion that it was the bobcat, argh... I've never seen a fox near. I've heard skunks will kill them, we have a skunk epidemic! I trapped several last year eating my eggs, but they didn't kill any.

So guess what? Today the electric co showed up because they saw from the highway a section of line sagging halfway up our mountain and needed to hike down and check it out.
The cause? A bear has been using a pole as a scratching post! Apparently it's massive, reaching up over 12 feet. If that guy gets brave I'm in trouble!
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#946 ·
Coyotes are a "one chicken dinner" but they'll come back for another meal 24+ hours later.

Dogs won't haul away all the carcasses. One, yes.... but they generally just kill for the fun of it and leave mauled chickens everywhere.

Only time I lost 3 chickens was to a Mountain Lion. We didn't find any prints (ground was rock hard) but the Mountain Lion was shot by Wildlife Dept. the next day and I haven't lost any more chickens. Mountain Lion wasn't shot for killing my chickens.... he was killing other people's lambs and calves and on and on.
 
#947 ·
Wow, no posts in almost 2 months. Is everyone out of chickens?

I'm suddenly up 15 chickens. I committed the cardinal sin and picked up 2 free EE hens off CL. City chickens who had never been outside a pen and were stressed with the new pullets and roo. Lavern and Shirley. Shirley's pretty beat up with broken feathers and a bald head but I can't find anything off with her. I'm too dry for mites and lice so I'm hopeful it's just stress and overcrowding. I have 8 one month old chicks in a brooder. 3 EEs, 1 RO, 1 welsummer, 1 bue Ameraucana and 2 cream brabanters. Last week I added 5 golden brabanters and gave them to a broody cochin. Having a hen raise chicks is simply a marvel of nature.
My goals for 2014 is to start breeding brabanters and OE.
 

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