I got one of those fake owls, and within a week, something had ripped its head off. Here's a juvenile Cooper's hawk who was trying his skills on my flock. And yes, that's the broom I used to dissuade him.
I kept my girls in the coop/covered run for a week and a half after that. No problems since.
Hah! I have hoodlums as well. My original chickens (4 years old) have taught my newbies (6 months) how to jump the fence and wander over to my unpleasant neighbor's cedar patch, which has berries. I don't mind so much when they go to my other neighbor's place, because she and her kids think...
Yeah, I've never seen any of them chase squirrels, even when they're all eating the dropped wild bird food in the same place. That's why it surprised me. The weirdos!
This is a new one for me! I have ten 8-week-old pullets; they've been out in the coop with the oldsters (4 years) for more than a month. None of my other chickens have ever done this, but I just looked out the kitchen window and three of them--barred rock, welsummer and Easter Egger--were...
I love seeing everyone's Green Queens! Here's mine--this bunch is five weeks old. All black with one white wingtip. She's pretty chill and hangs around, but has zero interest in being handled. In the group pix, she's on the right.
Hi all! Sorry about those of you dealing with nasty weather. What a pain! Hope it passes quickly.
It's been really nice here lately. I've been eating broccoli, various and sundry greens and asparagus. My tomato and pepper seedlings need to get potted up, and I'm behind on starting my other...
Sunflowers can grow almost anywhere there's full sun, IMO. I had several that shot up in the yard this fall, from the hens or the wild birds. Go for it!
Thanks for the welcome back! :)
@Wee Farmer Sarah I put it in my tumbler composter and my regular one. It cooks much quicker in the tumbler. I've got a two-part one, so I put in a bunch, wet it, then work on the other one while the first cooks. I've gotten some good rich compost out of it...
Hi! I saw this late, but I have a nine-month old RIR LF, Red Sonja, and surprisingly, she's pretty chill. She's mid-to-low in the pecking order as well, which is odd, because she's much bigger than my appenzeller spitzhaubens and golden campine and isbars. I'd heard they were aggressive as well...
Hi fellow growers of things. It's been a looong time--the hurricane kinda kicked everyone's asses and my mom's had a slew of health issues I'm trying to manage long-distance, so I've been off the radar. It's good to see everyone's typing again!
So, my neighbor's dog got my head PRB Cleo...
I have three different age groups, ranging from eight months to six years. I just get Flock Raiser for everyone and have a container of oyster shells on the side. Not sure if you have that kind in Aust, but mine is 18% and seems like everyone does fine.
I'd have:
Marans--friendly and beautiful eggs
PBR--great egg layers and mine at least are people-friendly
Golden campine--they're gorgeous and inquisitive
Speckled Sussex--great egg layers and chill
Appenzeller Spitzhauben--very cool looking and so friendly I call them my dog-chickens. Not...