I had a coyote try to swipe a chicken less than 20 feet from the house within the last month. They are opportunists.
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I think it depends on what the coyotes in your area are used to. Where I live, they are all around town, grabbing people’s cats and small dogs out of their yards. People walking small dogs on leashes fairly often report being menaced by coyotes in broad daylight. Once they get used to humans, they can be quite bold.
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the ones around here are pretty skittish and are rarely seen during the day. foxes are the ones seen in towns and are more of a nuscence here.
My favorite chicken passed away a few days ago. She was being treated for gape worm, anyone ever dealt with that?
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Sorry for your lost.
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well my hybrid 300 ducks are finally getting their feathers. this breed lays as much eggs as a white leghorn chicken and ducks never have disease issues and are much more hardy. my adult ones sleep outside and only go in when temps get below -20f.
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Two black broody hens both trying to hatch out the same three green eggs.
Originally one broody hen was in the nest box and a few weeks later two hens decided to become broody just outside the nest box. After several long weeks of the first one being broody, I broke down and gave her some eggs. A week later one of the other broody hens gave up and rejoined the flock. The other black hen hopped into the nest box with the first one, and they’ve twinned up on those three green eggs ever since.
I would have said nothing like that has ever happened to us before, but in the spring, just on the other side of the barn stall wall where these hens are, two broody ducks successfully hatched out six ducklings The oldest and youngest ducklings hatched out more than a week apart.
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A few years ago I ordered some hatching eggs through the mail and put them under a broody Silkie. Then a second Silkie decided to go broody and insisted on setting the same clutch of eggs. I kept trying to discourage her, but she persisted. The two hens weren’t fighting with each other, but neither would give up those eggs. When the eggs hatched, the chicks apparently imprinted on both hens and considered both hens “mother.” They would walk around the yard as a group and both hens peacefully shared the mothering duties. I never saw them try to steal the chicks or push the other hen out. It is awesome how adaptable animals can be.
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For those knowledgeable and experienced chicken owners, any idea what I could expect if I hatched eggs from a silver laced Wyandotte rooster and a Delaware hen?
You would get a single copy of the pattern gene, a single copy of melanotic, and two copies of Columbian. It would give colors similar to a silver laced wyandotte but the lacing would be incomplete and washed out, particularly on the roosters. Also, in the F2, the colors could show some oddities given the different w/z gene combination and considering melanotic black shows varying levels of expression. There could be some pure black chicks at F2.
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We put turkey eggs under a Dark Cornish hen one year. She hatched them and was raising them too. Complications arose when the wild turkey hens would come into the yard because the vocalizations are different. The baby turkeys ended up getting lost from the chicken hen, and not accepted by a turkey hen.
Last year we incubated lots of turkeys, this year we are just trying to maintain a good reputation with tree service while inundated with work. Gotta prioritize!
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Anyone else holding off on ordering mail-order chicks out of concern they won’t be delivered promptly enough to survive?
I’m holding off on an order for turkeys because I don’t trust the post office under current circumstances. Their package business is too overloaded. I can get the turkeys whenever they are available, but won’t take a chance on valuable birds being killed by 5 or more days in shipping.
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News flash! There is a lab in Germany that can test chickens for the blue egg gene. I am arranging to have @20 of my birds tested for about $600. The wonderful thing about it is that I will know for sure which roosters are homozygous for the blue egg gene and which to cull because they don’t have it.
When an average person like me can tap into gene tests to further a breeding plan, we are definitely in a different universe than I was born in.
If anyone is interested in the logistics, you can look on the Silverudd breed forum for some details.
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Thanks for the link, this year is the first year I am ordering blue egg layers. I got the Opal Legbar, but I ordered eggs, the postal service up here is now not reliable enough either.
Northof53, legbars have a simple comb that is susceptible to freezing. They should still be fine, just be aware that combs are going to be a concern in winter. This is why I am using rose comb genetics, to avoid cold damage.
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Fusion-power I have my chicken house minimally heated so frozen combs are not a concern for me anymore.I find it interesting that you are working with chicken genetics.
Last summer we got a few guinea fowl, what hoot to watch them. They are the first bird I have been able to free range in my area. They don’t take any guff from anything, they faithfully go back into the chicken house to lay, and they faithfully put themselves in every night.
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Dinner today is three hens that developed a taste for cackle fruit. Locked them up and the damage in the nest boxes stopped. Enchiladas will be delicious!
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Pipping and peeping: Before these turkey poults hatched, we could hear peeping from within the shells. That hole in the egg at the top was made by the the lighter colored poult pipping its way out.
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