Well, we got our answer.

After 8 chicks, "Pen Mama" abandoned the rest of the eggs. One chick actually hatched that day, but she wouldn't keep it warm. The little guy would follow her, but she was busy giving lessons to the others to give it any attention or warmth. My wife called me and told me that the new chick wasn't going to make it. I got home and realized that the little chick was just cold. Really cold. So I reversed things, and put him under "coop mama".

Coop mama happily accepted the chick and chick dove under her. Excellent! The next day was when we realized that the mama in the pen had abandoned the last four eggs, and they were stone cold. Apparently, eight chicks was her limit. Or perhaps, it was more about the timing. Now she is in teach mode, not sit on eggs mode.

Anyway, we put the cold egggs under "coop mama" but after a couple of days, she rolled them out of the nest. They had died. But she continued to hatch chicks from the eggs she was sitting on. The other morning, I went to check on her, and I was surprised to see four happily peeping chicks!

Now we were in a quandry. Do we try to put the four new ones out in the pen with the others, or do we let coop bird try to raise them in the main chicken yard?

All seemed well in the coop for 2 days, but then I witnessed one of the red hens attack one of the chicks when it walked near her. I rescued it, but it was clear that the chicks are not safe in there. When I put the four new ckicks in the pen, they ran right to mama and snuggled into her feathers. BUT she cocked her head, looking at them funny. She got up, sniffed the new chicks, and started beating them violently!

Long story short, the mama hens do not get along, so I ended up building a second nursery pen, and now the two hens and 12 chicks are doing quite well. There are two eggs left, and another broody brahma is sitting on them. This has been an interesting learning experience.

-TH

Last year, our Brahmas got broody, and we had a successful hatch. The problem was that the other hens got jealous, and they killed all the chicks but one. I realized too late that I should have separated the young from the adult birds.

This year, all the Brahmas are broody again. This time, I put the most seriously broody hen and 10 eggs into a pen with a jumbo dog crate filled with straw. I even covered over the pen with netting, in case any hawks want an easy meal. Just as backup, we let a second broody hen stay on 12 eggs back in the coop.

The "coop bird" hatched the first chick. After watching another hen "stalking" the little one, we took that chick and put it out in the separate pen. She tucked it under her like it was her own. Then one of hers hatched, and another from the coop, and so on. Over the last couple of days, we've gotten 7 chicks, and have put all of them into the separate pen, and that hen seems very happy, but we are wondering how many chicks she can actually handle? We still have 15 eggs to go.

Now I'm wondering how it would go if I bring the second hen and put her in the small pen along with the others. Will the two broody hens fight and peck, or will they share the space peacefully?

What do you think? I just don't want to see any more chicks with bashed-in heads.

Thanks

-Tony

It's been years since my last post on this thread, and I wanted to post some updates.

After three years, I STILL love the cornish rock breed. We have experienced very low mortality. They are very strong foragers, and very hardy, so far.

The first year, we harvested all of the birds. Really good, dark meat, but we let them go for 12-16 weeks, mostly free range, so they were a a little tough, but still delicious.

The second year, we kept one of the big cornish hens to see if she would lay. Well, I'm happy to say, she lays a jumbo, champange colored egg every morning! She is a very good layer! And she is popular with the roosters, judging by her back feather condition.

We are allowing some of our Buff Brahmas to brood, and we have put some of the cornish cross eggs in the mix. Very curious of how they turn out. They will be either Cornish X/Brahma or Cornish X/Americauna. We are hoping for the Brahma mix. as those are bigger birds with a lof of "wild" instincts, and I think that would make a very desirable breed. I guess we will see!

But two thumbs up for the cornish Rock!

-Tony

Chris French wrote:Killing the fox is the type of thinking that got us in this mess.
Foxes are an important part of the eco system, and closely related to your dog.

You will probably kill the foxes and complain about mice and rabbits next.

UPDATE:
The fox attack never repeated. The dog does stays out at night. Problem solved.

But I am NOT into whining as you describe.

If I killed the fox, it would be okay, the same as if a coyote or dog killed one. There are large populations of both in our area.
The mice... our chickens eat them. They absolutely LOVE eating mice. They take out the snakes, too. Not many vermin live very long in our yard.

We have lost one chicken in three years. Not too bad. We have a really good German Shepherd. She herds them and is really protective. But I think putting her in the pen would test her a little too much. She kills animals regularly, and I don't want her getting annoyed at a chicken and discovering how tasty they are. That is hard to reverse once it happens.

-Tony

they are good for 3 years if raised right. Raised right means free ranged with the rest of them.

I must disagree with the opening blanket statements, but agree 100% with the above. Our CX birds have been outstanding in many ways, including foraging and flavor!

We bring in some CX chicks in the spring, and throw them in with the rest of the birds. We do NOT continuously feed ANY of our birds, so ALL of them forage. And the CX chicks are the BEST foragers we have! Probably because they have to support rapid growth, they kill and eat stuff the other chickens are afraid of, including mice and snakes! Of course, ours don't grow as fast as one force-fed to death, but still, they grow much faster than our other birds.

We have 5 breeds, including some Buff Brahmas, which are excellent brood-birds, besides being delicious meat birds, and laying as reliably as our Reds and Sextons. Only problem with them, is they are so jealous, they will kill chicks that aren't their own, so you have to separate them once they are sitting on a clutch. But the chicks that make it are fast, tough and smart!

Take a CX and let it free-range, and you MIGHT be surprised at how well they range.

-TH

Here is a pic of the traps I'm using. I just tied it to a tree near the chicken run AWAY from our garden. There is a scented packet that attracts them, and then they hit the yellow plastic and fall into the catch bag below. I dump them in the coop every couple of days, and that makes for some happy chickens!

Update:

I tried using them without the bags, but that didn't work, as they would keep flying

But with the bags, it works well. The chickens love it! Unfortunately, its been cool and rainy, so I'm not getting as many as I wish. But they will come. They always do!

-TH

Our chickens LOVE Japanese Beetles. The eat them like popcorn. When they free-ranged, they would sit under the Rose of Sharon bush, waiting for free meals to drop Last year we collected jars full of them, and they would vanish instantly when we opened the jars.

This year, I had the novel idea of buying some Japanese beetle traps, hang them in the coop, and cut holes in the bottom of the collection bags. That way, when the beetles fell into the bag, they would end up on the ground and become free protein for my birds. I just hung the traps this evening, and can't wait until morning to see what happens tomorrow.

When buying the traps, the cashier warned me, "Those traps will attract more beetles to your yard. You will get millions of them!"
"I sure hope so!" I replied. Of course, she looked puzzled, so I explained my plan. She thought that was a great idea, as long as the chickens didn't get sick of eating them.


This seems like a simple idea to me, so I'm guessing that I'm not the first... Has anyone else ever tried this?

-TH

mick mclaughlin wrote:

I have read other folks on here talk about slowing the growth of cornish x, and I am not sure what the purpose of that would be? I mean, why buy a sports car and drive it slow? I mean these are petri dish un natural, freaks of growth. If you are gonna raise 'em, take advantage of their good points. They got big big breasts and they grow quick. There aint no other good points to them.

I have had excellent results with mt. healthy.

I also and would feed a straight grower mix. There are tons of reasons why your feed may be the issue beyond protein as well, but your protein is way, way way too low for cornishx. You might consider buying a commercial feed to get this batch through.

We decided to slow the growth rates of our CX's, The reason we chose to do it that way, was to have the chickens healthier, and so we didn't have to kill them all at the same time.

So instead of constant feed, we feed several times a day. Instead of straight grower feed, we feed a vairety, from grass clippings, to leftovers, and so on. And the results were outstanding. Some still grew very fast, but all of them are very active and strong and FAST. Something worthy of my dinner plate! So the big ones go first. Then a week or two later, another batch. In the end, some of them lasted 5 months, and every one of them was delicious.

This year, we did 18 of them, besides some others. Same pattern as last year, and we are about to process the first 5 or so this week.

Maybe not the best plan for commercial growers, but works great for us who are raising them for food.

-TH

A rooster will help somewhat, but won't save them from foxes, which there are a lot of in our area. But they are good for sounding the alarm, so the rest can run for cover.

But a good dog will deter everything.

If you get a rooster, I wouldn't worry much about being attacked. Never be intimidated, always hold your ground. If ever you are attacked, all you need is a switch. Pull a switch off a tree, and strip the leaves off. When the rooster comes at you again, give him a swift slice across his rump (or wherever happens to be closest) with the switch. And don't be shy, really slice him good! He will be shocked at first, and then bristle at your insolence, and probably come at you again after he gets his wits back. If so, then you do it again, this time YOU being the aggressor. Chase him and give him 4-5 good slices, then allow him to escape.

What you just did was put yourself at the top of the "pecking order" as you rightfully should be. It is unlikely that ANY of them will bother you again, at least for a long time.

Stories about hitting roosters with 2x4's and so on always end up with the rooster coming back on the attack. But for some reason, perhaps because the sting from a switch is memorable, or because the rooster was never unconscious, so the the lesson has time to steep in his brain- either way, the switch trick seems to work. IF you do it right, he will NEVER challenge you again. If he does, use the switch on him harder and chase him longer. All of the hens will follow and watch, and with every "SWISH!" of the switch, and following yelp from the rooster, they will ALL understand who the boss is.

Easy, simple and no permanent damage to anyone. Works well with all sorts of other livestock, too.

-TH

To post pictures, click on the "Post Reply" button at the bottom of the page. (NOT the quick reply)

Type your text, then right below where you type in the text, there are two tabs, "Options" and next to it, "Attachments". Click on "Attachments."
Then you will see a button that says "Choose file" Click on that.
Then find the pictures in your computer, click on them, and hit "upload". Done.

Let us know how it works for you.

That being said, we don't have a lot of open areas for a tractor. Our yard is mostly driveway, garden and woods, with minimal lawn areas. This big pen is probably going to be the way to go, in this particular situation, and for this many birds. (we just got 24 more) I really don't want to spend my days moving chickens around.

-TH

Ha ha!

My wife found a crock-pot recipe called Coq au vin, which means "Cock in wine" that is AMAZING! Basically, you take a tough old bird, season it, and put in two cups of red wine, with bacon, mushrooms, carrots, onions and garlic, and let it simmer on low for 8-10 hours.

It sounded like it was going to end up being a soggy grey mess, but it turned out fork-tender, sweet, succulent and delicious! It's AMAZING how good it makes an old rooster taste! One of my new fav recipes! Interestingly, at first you couldn't really taste the wine in the recipe, (I don't like wine taste very much) but when re-heated as leftovers, the wine flavor becomes more pronounced. (Which my wife likes)

Either way, it's a delicious way to prepare an old bird.

-TH

John,
The coop is secure, and no more nights indoors for the dog, so the foxes should stay away.

The real problem is that the chickens DESTROYED our garden last year. Not to mention all the poop, and the fact that they are now walking several hundred yards outside our fenceline to terrorize our neighbors, their cat-bowls and their gardens.

These birds are bullies! It's time for them to go to jail.

Well today is the first day in the new, hastily erected pen. Came home this afternoon to find ALL of the birds out. Found a spot where the wire went around the base of a big tree, and I had forgotten to staple it down, and you could see where they went under. So I repaired the spot, and lured them back in with food.

So far, NO escapees.

This is step 1 of the chicken penitentiary. More wire, posts and netting to follow!
This year, we ARE going to have tomatoes, blueberries and vegetables. They have a big patch of woods to call their own. They had better get used to it!

-TH

From what I have seen with our very murderous, killer cats, chicks are in danger, but once they get about 1/2 grown, the tables turn!

Now my wife has to protect the cats from the chickens. We cannot feed the cats in the daytime, or the chickens will administer a beat-down on the cats and take their food. Now, the cats just run.

But the cats still kill everything else. Brought us a beautiful flying squirrel recently. Angered me that they killed it, as I'd never seen a real one before.

-TH

What do you do with the fox after you catch it?

Here, things are getting a bit strange... Looked under the trailer, where "Mama bird" has her nest, and now there are NO eggs.

So this is at least two clutches of eggs that are gone now, but if it was the fox, you would THINK it would take the hen too, right?

Wondering if it's not a young possum. We had one stealing eggs at night last year.

Starting to wonder if free-ranging is such a good idea. Thinking of making the pen bigger and more sturdy, and keeping them in there permanently.

Jim,
I would think a .22 rifle hit would make a fox lay down for a while, even if you just winged him. Probably the mate of the first one, I would guess, or possibly it just barely touched him. I've got the shotgun ready with some #7 shot, which will kill close up, but would probably only sting him at any kind of distance. I like the idea of simply scaring them, but allowing them to live, to "guard" ther/our territory from new foxes.

We hear coyotes every night, but interestingly, we have only lost cats, and only during very snowy periods. Around here, there is an open-season on coyotes, and a $15 bounty for their pelts, if you want to go through the trouble of turning them in. There are a LOT of them around here, in VA.


Kevin,
Actually, that doesn't sound strange at all. I will remember that next time I need a "tree."

We, also have not had any problems until now, while all our neighbors have crazy fortresses for their birds, and still lose them regularly. We have a light-duty fence around the yard, and I think that first layer has helped, as does the dog. I guess the "pee defense" couldn't hurt! I'd rather not kill anything, but I absolutely will, if they keep coming back.

-TH

James,
Thanks for the reply, and very sorry to hear about your fox troubles!

What kind of gun did you hit it with?

A fox is pretty small, and I would think any kind of hit would really slow it down, especially within a 3-day period. Maybe it was the mate of the first one, or possibly one from a previous litter, if you've had problems in the past. Have you had predator problems for long?

I've gone back to locking the birds up until 7-8 AM, and I have the shotgun leaning up next to the front door. But borrowing that wounded rabbit call is sounding better and better!

-TH

Oh, I almost forgot...

What I think may have drawn the fox to the yard is the fact that one of our hens was sitting on 8 eggs eggs that were due to hatch last weekend. It was past the 3 week mark, and we were expecting her to come out with the little peepers when I caught the fox. Got a bad feeling, and went under there to look, and everything was GONE. No eggs, shells or chicks. Bummer.


But at least the hen wasn't taken. She's now laid another clutch of I think 4 eggs. I guess we will see what happens in three weeks.


-TH

We bought 30 chicks last year, and had 100% success. The meat birds became delicious meat as did some of the roosters. The hens are reliable, high-production layers. No hawks, coons or foxes have taken any birds. Well one year to the day that we brought the chicks home, we had our first predator incident.

Early Sunday morning, around 6, I heard the hens squabbling. I thought, "Wow, those roosters are jumping on the hens early," but when I looked out the window, I saw a FOX zooming around the yard, chasing chickens!!! I opened the door and yelled, "KATIE!!! GET IT!!! And from a dead-sleep, our German Shepherd was out the door and in pursuit! But the fox escaped before I could get a gun.

There were feathers on the ground in several places, but everyone was there. There were a couple of tattered and frightened looking reds, though. But COOL!!! No casualties! At least not then...

Later that afternoon, broad daylight, chickens roaming all over as usual, I noticed a white bird missing. I did a head count... HEY...... Where is number 15??? She was GONE. That sly fox picked her off in the middle of the day! So now we have a fox problem.


This is partly our fault. Long ago, I stopped locking the chickens into their house at night. And they are FAR roamers, going as far as about 1/4 mile away in either direction. And with all the snow and rain, we have been letting our dog Katie stay in the house at night. So I know we were asking for it. But I HATE that this time has come.

I asked a farmer friend how he gets rid of foxes, and he uses a recording of a rabbit in distress. He says that you turn that thing on, and within minutes, any foxes in the area WILL show up, then you just have to make sure NOT to miss.

BUT... I've also heard that you can use a shotgun and very fine bird shot, and pepper the fox in the hindquarters with it, and that the experience will keep him from coming back, and that he will also keep other foxes away.

Does anyone have any experience in this area? Is it better to kill them or just scare them away? Everyone around here says that once a fox kills one chicken, they will keep coming back.

Thanks as usual.

-TH

We have 5 Buff Brahmas, and we have to constantly shoo them off of eggs. Once, when we were missing a hen, I searched and found her over a clutch of 18 eggs.

Well, it's happened again, missing hen, and we found her over another clutch of eggs, not sure how many this time. Since it's nearly chick time anyway, we are allowing her to stay on this batch.

The only problem is that she won't eat or drink, even when offered directly. I can't imagine she can last 21 days like this. Any suggestions?

-TH

Ty,
Since my original post, I've done a lot of asking around. EVERYONE tells me that the second year has the biggest drop in egg production. Their first real molt. So don't worry too much.

What was recommended was to boost their feed rate with "layer mix" pellets, and DO NOT heat their pens. The cold inspires faster feather growth, so they can get back to laying. These are farmers who have been doing this successfully for generations, so I listen carefully to everything they tell me. The layer pellets will fix the shell problem, too, as will some oyster shell tossed in there.

Our broody Brahma survived the crazy-cold the other night. Is snowing right now, but the weather is finally going up into the 50's this week, so we may be out of the woods with this crazy winter!

-TH

A good German Shepherd does wonders! You just need to make sure she knows not to eat the chickens. Ours keeps out EVERYTHING. Squirrels, deer, rabbits, coons, foxes, etc. She even tangled with coyotes one night. She was limping the next few days, but they didn't come back.

Couldn't be any happier with Katie on many levels.

-TH

I highly recommend having different breeds for different purposes.

We got four breeds of chicks for in our initial flock of 30 birds. 12 Brahmas, (Dual purpose birds) 6 Red Star pullets, 6 easter-eggers, and 6 Cornish X, and I would call our first year a success!

The Cornish X birds grew fast and tasted GREAT! We plan to get 18 more chicks later this month to do it again.
The Brahmas are slow-developing, but are very good layers, and the roo's are big and meaty, although a little tough. Best in the crock-pot with some wine to make tender.
The Easter Eggers and Reds are reliable layers. The whites tend to wander far during the day, while the reds are like pets, following us around all day when not foraging.

We are currently down to 20 birds, but still have 4 roosters. Two need to go soon. We have a Brahma sitting on a clutch of eggs right now. Very curious of how many of them are going to hatch out!

And for what it's worth, the Brahmas are sort of "wild", not needing much attention. Our birds are free-range, and I think if we vanished, these would be the ones to take over the property.

-TH

I've researched it a bit on the web, and from what I understand, as was stated much more eloquently above, different breeders have slightly different mixes. We (in rural Virginia) were fortunate enough to locally get a mix that was well suited to free range, with no disease or parasites, good foraging behavior and the good sense to run for cover when a hawk flies by. Yet, they still grew like crazy, and had succulent meat, and we got a 100% survival rate. Every one of them grew up big and healthy.

We kept some of them around for a long time, nearly 5 months, but they ate so much that we dispatched them before finding out how they were as layers, BUT our neighbor kept one of his, and his girl gave him one large brown egg a day. (he was surprised they were brown, from a white chicken) IF I recall correctly, she lived for a year and a half, and then a weasel chewed her head off this past summer.

So my recommendation would be to find the best stock you can to start with, and go from there. I think if you get a nice batch, you will notice the best, smartest ones pretty quickly. Keep those around, and enjoy the others for dinner! And DON'T overfeed them! throw some food out in the morning and let them find most of their own grub, and they will be much healthier and smarter for it.

I tend to think that most of the "over-bred" chickens that some complain about still have the instincts in them. It just needs to be encouraged to come back to the forefront.

-TH

My chickens eat mice, when they find a nest. Mice, lizards, moles, any little animal they can catch.

I'm sure wild birds would do the same with any small animals they can catch. Bones have a lot of calcium in them.

-TH

We have Red Stars, White Stars and Buff Brahmas. All three are GREAT foragers. We barely throw anything at them in the summer. All three are GREAT layers! 16 birds produce 13-15 eggs a day, and 14-15 now that they are reaching a year old. None have fallen to predators, and we live in deep woods, 1/2 mile off the paved road.

The Brahmas are the biggest, and seem to have very strong brooding instincts. They are easily big enough to use as meat birds, but lay just as well as the others. The only thing I'd have to say is that they mature more slowly than the others. Most of them started laying right at 5 months. They started around 6 months, and didn't kick in strong until 8 months. But they lay big, beautiful eggs like clockwork now.

And they have a "wildness" about them that is hard to explain, but I have this feeling if we were to never come home, they would thrive and produce a wild population in a short time. By comparison, the reds are the most domesticated, and the whites stand out and don't look around when foraging, so they would be easy to pick off. But the Brahmas would survive.

Just my opinion, of course.

-TH

Some interesting replies!

What I've been doing is bring her in the house first thing in the morning, and then take her with me when we collect eggs. It's a happy time, and she leaves eggs alone, as long as they are in the "usual" spots.

We've been getting 15 eggs/day out of 16 hens, so if she's getting any, it's not many. Problem solved through management.

Hopefully, this is the end of it.

-TH

For the last few months, we've been occasionally getting scraps. Nothing separated, all mixed together.

All I can say is that our chickens LOVE it, and are thriving. Don't fret about the meat, they convert the protein into eggs. Ours are producing well, despite the very cold temperatures.

-TH

Although I am new to chickens, my grandparents were farmers. When our big white rooster became aggressive, I remembered a phrase from the distant past... "Get a switch."

If I remembered correctly, you can hit a rooster with a 2x4 and knock him out cold, and he will wake up, get back up and come right back at you. But if you take a switch to his backside.... well, THAT he won't forget.


At this point, my wife had several punctures in her shins, as well as scratches on her arms from protecting her face. This was getting serious. Me, I'd just glare at that same rooster and he would dodge away. Every once in a while, I'd grab one of them and dare them to do anything about it, and they all respect me. But she had allowed herself to get beneath him on the pecking order. It was time to fix that.


I selected a nice limber switch, and leaned it near where she fed the birds. She called the birds in for their food, and right on time, the rooster puffed up and charged her. She wanted to run, but instead grabbed the switch and sliced it across the chicken's lower half.

That first swish stopped him in his tracks. He looked SHOCKED that someone that HE dominated over had the NERVE to fight back! "Don't stop!" I yelled, "GET HIM!!" She sliced across his backside again, and this time he shrieked and jumped back. "Don't stop, you've GOT to teach him a lesson he won't forget... LIGHT- HIM- UP!!!"

Well she did. She swished him again, and this time that rooster took off running, with her in hot pursuit. I had given her a nice long switch, maybe 5-6 foot, and it gave her a beautiful reach. SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! Now the rooster was in full retreat, hollering with every swipe across his rump.

I let her go after him for awhile, and round and round the yard they went. After a while she started grinning and laughing- a nice change! But when she cornered him in the shed, I had to stop her. He'd had enough. But to solidify in his mind WHO she was, I had her get right in his face and TELL him that he had better NEVER, EVER mess with her again! She did, and at that point, she was TOP of the pecking order forever. Something about an angry human voice seems to affect animals. They may not know what you are saying, but they understand the intent.

Well, the rooster got the point. Never again did he come after her. And the other chickens, who had watched all of this going on, got the point too. None of them has ever attacked a human again. We feed them, the hens make eggs and the roosters strut around like kings. Everything is peaceful and happy, as it should be.

My Mom tells me that Grandaddy used a switch to train ALL the animals, and occasionally, a hard-headed boy, too. EVERYONE responds to a switch! "Do it right, and you won't have to do it a second time."

Good advice, Mom.

-TH

I am not very knowledgeable about breeds, but I have to say our Buff Brahmas have been very hardy, quite gentle, but also seem to have a more independent attitude.

Ours are strong foragers and seem to be very good brooders. (as advertised, when we bought them) We've had to chase them off eggs a number of times, and currently are allowing one of them to sit on a clutch.

Their egg production was sparse at 6 months, when the others were laying strong, but after a while they were just as steady as any of the others, laying 5-6 eggs a week. And they are big, meaty birds.

Just my experience.

-TH

Sorry to hear about you losing one of your girls!

We've had much snow since my last post. The chickens, (5 Buff Brahma henss, 6 Red hens, 5 White Sexton hens, 4 Brahma roosters) have apparently gotten used to it, and also to the unusually cold temperatures, sometimes dipping below 0* F.

Our hen-house has thin walls, NO light, NO heat. 20 birds should help each other stay warm, except for the one bird that has gone broody over a clutch of eggs. She's on her own, bedded down in some leaves beneath my work trailer. We've decided to let her hatch them or freeze trying. I think she will hatch them!

Surprisingly, despite the cold and snow, for the last few days, we have gotten 15 eggs from 15 layers, which is up from 12/day. That's as good as it gets!

The only problem in all of this is how much they are eating lately. They are getting about 4 coffee cans of food a day, right now, with the ground frozen up. Time to cull out two more roosters!

The Brahma girls are the surprise in all of this. We were told that "all-purpose birds are good at neither!", but they are putting out just as many eggs as the Sextons and Reds. It just took them longer to mature and get start laying. Plus they are bigger, so they will make a better stew once they stop laying.


Anyone have any advice about how to handle the bird sitting on the clutch of eggs? She won't eat or drink. Is that normal?

-TH

mick mclaughlin wrote:Tony, i sm betting they had your chicks mis marked. By 12 weeks a cornish cross wouldn't be able to walk, let alone be aggresive!
It's eould be kinda like a cat barking. Cornish crosses are not really chickens. Just info do you wont be shocked by what ya get next time

It's funny, but that is EXACTLY what we were told at the time of purchase! They told us that we HAD to kill them by week 10 or they would die anyway.

YES, they grew amazingly fast, but we did NOT just let them eat all they wanted to. Just threw out a coffee can of food in the morning, then they had to go find their own food for the rest of the day. Then another can of food to bring them back to the coop in the evening. As true free-range birds, they got most of their food from the woods on their own.

Exactly as others have posted, because they are always hungry, they were the BEST FORAGERS EVER!!! And even more amazingly, they were the SMARTEST of all the birds. The meat birds were the first to figure out almost everything, including the fact that they could eat mice. Those big Cornich Rock would find a mouse nest and destroy!

What was strange was they looked full grown while our Brahmas and Reds were still little chicks. All the other chicks would follow them around like they were their parents, and the meat birds were very protective of them. THAT is the reason we took so long to kill them... They were nice birds.

But when the roosters started attacking the wife, it was time to say goodbye. We killed the last few mainly because they ate EVERYTHING, and were not growing any more. At that point, we were feeding them for zero returns, and they were bullying the other chickens, so we killed them and put them in the freezer.

We are about to get another batch of Cornish X Rocks, the only birds we are buying this year. Not sure how we will handle this. Might just feed them heavy and kill them fast, as others do. That is certainly much more economical than feeding them for so long. Or, let them free range like last year, and let them grow a little slower, but have more flavor... HMMM.....

-TH

Yesterday was interesting. We got maybe 16" of snow or so overnight, and a steady drizzling rain was falling for most of the day.

The chickens came down the ramp, looked around, and went right back inside. After plowing our road all morning, when I came back in, my wife notified me that there were a number of birds "stranded" in parts of the yard, just sitting in the rain and getting soaked. They looked pitiful.

So I went out to rescue them and put them back in the pen, and amazingly, collected 8 eggs from their usual spots, with another 3 eggs in the coop. 11 eggs is not bad for a day of big snow, out of 16 hens. Good girls!

-TH

They are pretty smart, and maybe that's part of it, but the dog can't get into the coop. Those are safe.

Funny, but when a possum came around and ate some eggs, they never went back there. The dog takes them and they don't move. Go figure. Maybe they are taking care of their protector?

These hens just like to be contrary!

-TH

When we got our box of 30 chicks, temps were in the 20's so we set them up under a heat lamp inside an x- large dog crate in the family room. I used a large piece of 1/2"x1/2" wire mesh to keep them in. Eventually, I separated the top and bottom of the dog crate to double the floor space. Our wonderful German Shepherd, "Katie" took a keen interest in the fast-growing chicks. I allowed her to sniff them, but growled warnings that she had BETTER be very gentle with them. Once a chick jump suddenly, and Katie lunged, and everyone yelled at her instantly, and after that, she got the message- These were to be protected!

Once I was confident that she understood, I would let a chick or two out to test her. She would watch them carefully, almost with amusement in her eye, and if they got too far, she would herd them back to their pen with her nose. GOOD GIRL!

When the weather started warming, we would take the chicks outdoors on warmer afternoons. When we opened the door, the chicks would all come tumbling out. Strangely, Katie would sniff and nudge each one of them with her nose, like she was counting them... Hmmm... interesting. They would run around, peeping, pecking, plucking grass, having a good time. When it was time to round them up, Katie followed the same routine, sniffing each one, almost as if she were counting them. This was going better than I'd hoped!

As they got bigger, Katie became their loyal protector. She keeps EVERYTHING away from the chickens. We have found several dead animals, who no doubt were heading toward the coop. A stray dog came in our yard, and she was okay with him, until he headed toward the coop. She blocked his path, lowered her head with an intense, deadly gaze in his eyes, and rumbled a low growl. He got the message, and WOW, that was kind of scary, even to me!

I am confident that Katie is the reason we have not lost even a single bird. All 30.

But recently, something disturbing has taken place. Since our chickens are truly free-range, they tend to hide eggs sometimes, and sometimes when we find them, they float in water. So my wife has gotten in the habit of breaking any suspect eggs into Katie's bowl, over her dog food. Of course, she loves this!

But then, a few weeks ago, we noticed that we were getting fewer eggs, and NO eggs in any of the spots on the ground. All at once, and not during a cold snap. Hmmmm.... Winter lay off?

The next day, my wife happened to look out, and she saw Katie head toward the gray box, that usually has 2 eggs in it every day. A moment later, she reappeared, and my wife called her. Katie came, but with a guilty look. "What are you doing?" my wife asked. Katie leaned down and placed a big brown egg at her feet. She had been hiding it in her mouth!

My wife was stunned! It was warm and completely undamaged. She wasn't sure if she should scold Katie or praise her. A real head-scratcher! I told her to praise her for bringing it inside. The next day, she watched Katie, and sure enough, she did it again. Now we are keeping her inside for the mornings, until we collect the eggs from the lower locations.

Last week, I found several dozen frozen, old eggs way up underneath a storage trailer. I dug them all out, and saved the good ones. I left the big pile out in the open, curious of what would happen.

That night, she ate about a dozen. The next night, she ate all the rest, except for one. WOW, that dog can suck down some eggs!

So it's official. We have an egg sucker. We know it's our fault for giving her raw eggs, but it is what it is.

Any suggestions of how to break her of this? I don't care about the eggs so much, but I don't want her to start getting a taste for the SOURCE of the eggs! A chicken-killing dog is very hard or even impossible to break, I already know from hard experience as a youth.

-TH

Interesting!

When it was crazy-cold last week, I tried keeping them locked up for half the day. A few laid in the house, (the same ones as normal) but most held on and then went running to their established spots upon release.

THAT'S how we found the "new" spot. Saw chickens go that way, heard the cackle, but couldn't find any eggs. Then I crawled on my belly and looked under the storage trailer, and OH MY! Dozens of eggs way back underneath the axle, where they were impossible to reach!

I used a long handled net and with effort, was able to get the eggs out. Most were muddy, hard-frozen and cracked, with the exception of three shiny new, warm eggs that were separate from the rest.

The others I left laying there in a big pile... Now that's another story. Turns out, we have an egg sucker!!!

Will make a separate post about that one...

-TH

I did something interesting in the chicken house. I used an Anderson door with full-height glass on their coop. I salvaged it from a door replacement job.

I did this because I figured it would give lots of light, and make it easy to get in and out of the coop. The chickens like the brushed-nickel hardware, and it was FREE!

The door faces north, so the sun never beats directly into it, but the birds get lots of light. In fact, we have to be careful to keep outside lights OFF at night, because the chickens will wake up and come pouring out of the house hoping for an extra meal! That is a real pain when coming home at night, and the car headlights hit the coop!

No doubt about it- We need a chicken penitentiary!

-TH

John Polk wrote:Yeah. Any change will cause some stress to their tiny brains. Stress will slow down egg production.

Often it is cheaper/easier to fence them out of areas (like gardens) than it is to fence them in areas.

John,
Thanks for the feedback. On our case, the garden is pretty huge, the berry bushes encircle the entire house, the strawberry beds are in one corner of the yard, the raspberries in another, and the blackberries run along maybe 200' of fence line. I can see no way to effectively keep them out.

But creating a chicken penitentiary seems feasible. We just watched the animated movie, "Chicken Run" and it gave us some GREAT ideas! RENT THAT MOVIE if you haven't seen it. I really like their chicken yard! Yes, we need to make one of those...

Our problem with egg count is not that they stop laying, but because they are hiding the eggs in multiple, ridiculous locations. I think a fortified chicken penitentiary will solve that problem.

Everyone else is trying to give their chickens more freedom. We are looking for better ways to imprison ours. A year of running amuck has been quite enough!

-TH

Thanks for the reply.
Something strange about our birds.... When I slaughter, they produce MORE eggs. Almost if they are afraid they will be next, if they don't produce.

So after making them go into the coop, they produced MORE eggs than the week before. OR, they were warmer in the house, and that helped their production. OR, being in the house kept them from hiding their eggs.

My biggest problem is that they keep hiding their eggs. Reallly getting tired of the egg hunt. Found over 2 dozen just the other day, and they were all frozen and ruined.

I'm thinking of curtailing their free range, and putting them in a pen. I'm concerned that this will make them less happy, and they will produce less. But this year, I'm determined not to let them destroy the garden, flower beds, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, like they did last year!

Maybe I can keep them in the pen, and then let them free for an hour before dark, so they can't do too much damage. But if they run out and start destroying, they will stay in the pen. Can't allow the destruction they caused last year!

Does anyone know of any breeds that are better at eating bugs, and leaving the fruit and veggies alone? Maybe the Brahmas?

Thanks.

-TH