Eggs

[GenXer]

Wow! Incredible he let you get close enough to grab him up.

He was attacking one of the roosters in the coop. I covered his escape hole and grabbed him. There was some running around on his part. I managed to pin him down and just choke him out for a min or 2. I could still feel he was alive so gave him a smack on the head with a tail swing into a telephone pole. Fun was over at that point.

He just had to hit the coop with the expensive birds.

I would have gave him a rooster to feed on. There's 2 too many here now.

Cute little guy, but viscous.

 

[sean donato]

with eyes full of grandeur... i never got started. everyone i met or knew with chickens/coops etc... all had sad tales of woe, trying to keep chickens safe. we have friends here in town, live on 1 ac. got chickens, constant battle...

Haven't lost a chicken to predators yet. Few had some health issues, one broke its leg somehow, and two were getting picked on so we gave them away. The neighbor had issues with a hawk, but the hawk mysteriously disappeared. (I had no involvement whatsoever.) Need to build a good tight coop, and remember to close the door at night.

 

[muddstopper]

well, I findly got 4 eggs out of my 4 hens. I may soon have 5 hens as I have a blue one that keeps wandering into my yard to spend the day, and eat my feed, I dont know where she is coming from but she goes home at night.

 

[sean donato]

well, I findly got 4 eggs out of my 4 hens. I may soon have 5 hens as I have a blue one that keeps wandering into my yard to spend the day, and eat my feed, I dont know where she is coming from but she goes home at night.

Stuff her in your coop for about a week. She'll start roosting with yoir birds.

 

[muddstopper]

Stuff her in your coop for about a week. She'll start roosting with yoir birds.

I cant get close to her, she will slipup and go in the coop soon enough. In the meantime, her real owner might catch her and put her up. I got 5 roosters I need to get rid of and that might get her a little more comfortable being around my flock. I thought I had gotten rid of the rooster this wkend, had them all caught and in a sack for the guy to pickup. He was a noshow so after 24hrs in a sack I had to turn them loose.

 

[Bill G]

I cant get close to her, she will slipup and go in the coop soon enough. In the meantime, her real owner might catch her and put her up. I got 5 roosters I need to get rid of and that might get her a little more comfortable being around my flock. I thought I had gotten rid of the rooster this wkend, had them all caught and in a sack for the guy to pickup. He was a noshow so after 24hrs in a sack I had to turn them loose.

Just take the boys for a drive.....they will thrive and survive

 

[pdqdl]

Chicken soup comes to mind for excess roosters.

 

[sean donato]

I cant get close to her, she will slipup and go in the coop soon enough. In the meantime, her real owner might catch her and put her up. I got 5 roosters I need to get rid of and that might get her a little more comfortable being around my flock. I thought I had gotten rid of the rooster this wkend, had them all caught and in a sack for the guy to pickup. He was a noshow so after 24hrs in a sack I had to turn them loose.

I would have straight out killed them if I had them caught.

 

[muddstopper]

I would have straight out killed them if I had them caught.

The thought did cross my mind, I just didnt have time to mess with them. I also didnt want to butcher birds that had been in a sack for 24hrs. Dont know that it matters, but it doesnt seem right.

 

[sean donato]

The thought did cross my mind, I just didnt have time to mess with them. I also didnt want to butcher birds that had been in a sack for 24hrs. Dont know that it matters, but it doesnt seem right.

Wouldn't have bothered me one bit. About hate roosters.

 

[muddstopper]

My time was very limited last week. My youngest son had a heart attack, he's 43, so I spent a lit of time running back and forth to different hospitals. They installed a stint and he was back at work Saturday.
I did manage to get rid of the roosters, yesterday. I gave them away and saw them on fb marketplace last nite. Who cares, They are no longer my problem. A side benefit, is the free ranging hen that has coming around found herself a new home. All my birds where in the pen and the stray hen was outside the coop door so I closed off the access door between coop and pen and opened the main door. The hen marched right in, flew up in the nest box and left me a pretty pinkish present. I closed the coop door and she made herself at home. She makes 5 hens in my coop and I got 5 eggs yesterday. I did drive around the neighborhood and didnt see any other chickens, so I have no clue where she came from. I seriously believe them roosters where preventing my hens from laying. I am looking for a few more hens so I can get ahead of what we eat each day.

 

[GenXer]

Wouldn't have bothered me one bit. About hate roosters.

I have a few around just incase a fox comes in the yard, rooster will attack the fox and sacrifice himself. Till the dogs show up.

 

[Stonesforbrains]

I have a few around just incase a fox comes in the yard, rooster will attack the fox and sacrifice himself. Till the dogs show up.

I keep waiting for my A-hole rooster to do just that but I guess there are not any fox around my neck of the woods.

 

[muddstopper]

I had a few to many roos around. I had 5 roos and 5 hens, The roos where even double teaming the hens, so much so the hens kept flying out of the coop. My white leghorn still flew out today and she had a big dirty spot on her back. I can only assume my one remaining roo was rough on her. Only got 3 eggs today,one white and 2 brown.

 

[sean donato]

the fox population around here is pretty bleak, Coyotes have them knocked down pretty hard. Besides that, I don't really have predator issues. Idk if it's from having the dogs or what but we haven't lost a chicken to predators yet.

 

[Cliff R]

Currently I have 24 layers and one rooster. He's a MONSTER and absolutely fearless with any predators that wonder close to the hens. They free-range during the day but in the Winter months I don't let them out till around lunch time. I have to lock the inner door at night or a raccoon will slip in and take a chicken once in a while. Couple of years ago I started loosing a hen every other day or so, during the day and couldn't figure it out. Put up a trail camera on the coup and a HUGE bore coon was slipping in there around mid-day and if a hen was on the nest he'd kill her and drag her off.

The dogs typically keep any predators away but they aren't outside all the time. Over the 20 years I've had layers I've lost them to hawks, cats (huge ferral ones) raccons and occasionally a big opossum. Never once had a fox get into them and we have a few around altough coyotes have put a hurting on them in recent years.

Egg production always falls off some in the Winter months. I started keeping a low wattage light on in the coup and it picks back up some, but never as good as when the warm weather returns......

 

[sean donato]

We're down to 17, from the 20 whatever we stared with and were still getting too many eggs with the cold weather. Just gave the neighbor 3 dozen from last week.

 

[GenXer]

Killed a raccoon tonight that was in one of the coops. Might have lost a rooster, we'll see in the morning.

 

[Bill G]

At least you lost a coon. Iowa is considering a $5 bounty on coon tails.

 

[sean donato]

Wife came home with 4 hen chick's and supposedly a rooster chick last weekend. Came home last night and there are another 4 chick's in the brooder pen. Brings the total up to 26 chickens... I think she's addicted.