|
I just rescued my Sussex legbar from the jaws of a fox. She’s OK, lost a few feathers, but we got down in time and scared it away… Does anyone have any decent ways to scare foxes away? I’m worried it’s going to come back and finish the job when I’m not paying attention…
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2022 07:05
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 8, 2024 15:53 |
|
|
my cat is norris posted:Traps may be a good option. :\ I've heard coyote urine can also help, but idk how large your yard is...you can't go overboard with that stuff, and if you have only a small space, even a tiny bit of coyote stank can be overwhelming. We live in the UK, so I’m not sure how easily I can get hold of coyote urine…
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2022 16:03
|
|
|
Since the fox attack, we’ve set our run to open much later, but now the chickens are making a lot more noise in the morning. I think they’re bored, so I got a load of different enrichment things to try to entertain them: they already had a few bits, but I bought various pecker blocks that I could put in the night before and hopefully keep them entertained in the morning. The problem is, they don’t seem to understand them. I’ve tried whacking them with my finger in front of them until bits fall off, while I make our treat noise. I’ve tried crumbling them up and leaving them in smaller chunks. I’ve even tried covering them in corn, but they just don’t get it. I think my chickens are too stupid to understand, but just smart enough to get bored. Does anyone know any good enrichment that I could try?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2022 06:36
|
|
|
I make a clicking sound like the one people make to get horses to come over, or when they wink at someone They go mental and start weaving between my feet
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2022 22:09
|
|
|
ynohtna posted:Today I learnt that I can order maggots on ebay. Well, yes, you don’t daintily sip them from a martini glass
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2022 16:03
|
|
|
spookygonk posted:
Impressed Molly is able to type so lucidly so quickly after coming round
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2022 15:06
|
|
|
We have one of those, and the ladies are too stupid to realise that they can peck it to get corn, so we have to position it in a place that they brush against it when they’re walking through the door to the run…
|
|
#
¿
Nov 22, 2022 00:07
|
|
|
Can you keep quails and chickens together? My daughter is very keen to get some, but I feel like our chickens will bully the poo poo out of them
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2023 09:55
|
|
|
a strange fowl posted:not together as in, in the same enclosure. they can transmit diseases between species and the chickens will harass the quail. but you can keep them fairly close together as long as you practice good hygiene, as long as the chickens can't physically get at the quail they will probably leave them alone (at least in my experience) That’s what I thought. We have the chickens out in the garden a lot when it’s not flockdown, and it would have been lovely to have a mixed menagerie, but sounds like it would be a bad idea
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2023 12:37
|
|
|
My escape artist chicken was snatched by a fox at the weekend, and we are on the lookout for a new one. As much as I loved Sarah, she was a very, very noisy Warren and our neighbours were starting to get seriously pissed off. I've read that Orpington's are reliable egg-layers that are quite quiet, but I am struggling to find any near me... Are there any other good options to look for?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 5, 2023 09:21
|
|
|
ynohtna posted:We're on our third generation of Hy-Lines browns and love them. All the steady and stable egg laying reliability of Rhode Islands Reds, but with incredibly sweet and calm temperaments. Are they quiet? I know there's going to be a lot of variability, apparently Sussex Legbars are reputedly intelligent, and ours is a loving idiot...
|
|
#
¿
Apr 5, 2023 12:07
|
|
|
I suggest Philip K. Chick
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2023 08:31
|
|
|
This may be met with disapproval by many people, but I’ve found a gentle spraying with the hose has trained my loudest chickens to stop screaming in the morning
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2023 17:19
|
|
|
Mustache Ride posted:I want to scream in the mornings sometime too. I hope none sprays me with a hose. If it stopped the local council taking me away and killing me, I’d take the hose
|
|
#
¿
Apr 29, 2023 08:26
|
|
|
A couple of my chickens woke up this morning with raspy breath, and what I’ve seen online suggests it’s MG: we are struggling to find a vet that’s open because of the bloody coronation holiday, and I am struggling to understand how much of an emergency it is… They’re otherwise OKish, one has a bit of a swollen eye, but they’re walking about and drinking water, I’m just worried that they might get worse quickly and I don’t think we can cope with any more deaths after the recent fox attack. Not expecting any in-depth veterinary advice, but just wondering if I should be panicking, or completely chill? And if they need to wait until the vets open, is there anything I can do in the meantime to help? Edit: our local vet opened for us and has prescribed doxycycline, hopefully they’ll be fine, and we just have to survive a month without eggs! Scientastic fucked around with this message at 11:25 on May 7, 2023 |
|
#
¿
May 7, 2023 08:30
|
|
|
City of Glompton posted:Good luck Scientastic! Noticeable improvement after less than 24h of doxycycline in the water, Norbert now has both eyes open and Falcon is no longer wheezing, incredible scenes of relief at the Scientistic household. Antibiotics are just amazing.
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2023 09:20
|
|
|
MrUnderbridge posted:So our little flock of six has a coop with an automatic door. We've been having a few problems with "party hens" (although I prefer the term party fowl) who stay out too late and get the door closed when they're still in the run. What brand of door is it? I have an Omlet one that is light sensitive, and you can adjust the light level at which it closes, and also add a delay after it has been at that low light level for a certain length of time...
|
|
#
¿
May 16, 2023 16:26
|
|
|
Doom Rooster posted:New chicken owner. We have 5 that are about 3 months old, in a nice coop designed for 8, with a full enclosed run. Big food and water dispensers. If the run is secure, I would just let them roam in the run and leave the door open. You can also buy automatic doors that open in the morning and close at night, either by time or light levels.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2023 08:29
|
|
|
My daughter now doesn’t let us eat chicken…
|
|
#
¿
May 25, 2023 18:11
|
|
|
Got home from visiting my mum and the chickens had been in their run all day, so I decided to pour myself a negroni and sit in the garden with them (we have some really aggressive foxes, so they can’t be out alone), what a pleasing way to spend a summer evening
|
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2023 18:30
|
|
|
Make sure your honest about why you're giving her away though, you don't want to paint a rosy picture and then have someone complaining that you gave them a demon chicken
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2023 16:01
|
|
|
Neddy Seagoon posted:Pepper looks like she understands the assignment and is trying for a sassy pinup pose Nigella is famously pretty spicy 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2023 07:05
|
|
|
ynohtna posted:A friend, very confidently: chickens can't jump!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2023 19:57
|
|
|
We are taking a long holiday in February, and putting the girls into a local chicken boarding farm. While they’re away, we have a day to do a deep clean of their coop before our flights, and one thing I have been thinking about is red mites. We don’t get them too badly, but we do get them and have to keep them under control in Summer. I was wondering if there’s any sort of pesticide we could use while the girls are away that would kill off any mites/eggs? I’m wary of using anything particularly strong while they’re there, just in case they breath in a load of poison, but since they’re away for almost a month, it occurred to me that we could do something a bit more scorched earth.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 24, 2023 09:49
|
|
|
MrUnderbridge posted:I keep telling them how fat chickens would roast up really well, but they aren't taking the hint. This never works for me either, I've come to the conclusion that my chickens don't speak English.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2024 17:53
|
|
|
In Summer, our girls are up at 4am, and make a fair old racket until someone (inevitably me) gets up and lets them out. We used to have an automatic door, but the neighbourhood foxes are really active, so I have to stay nearby supervising until everyone else is up. I keep thinking that while it’s still reasonably dark in the mornings, I should rig up some sort of blackout blind for the coop window, and something to overshadow the vents on the cool, so less light gets in in the mornings. Is this something that I could do? Would it work? Or would I be messing with their body clocks and making them unhappy?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2024 08:33
|
|
|
ianskate posted:the noise will be minimal (and limited to daytime) Where I live, that can start at 4am, Summer is quite a tough time to own chickens in London
|
|
#
¿
Feb 29, 2024 18:50
|
|
|
ianskate posted:Oh no... that's something that I was concerned about. What if they have an automatic coop door to get into their run and access food at sunrise so they're not annoyed by the urge to get going, or blackout curtains that open when we're actually awake (~6-7am), or is that animal abuse? We have an auto door on the coop, but not on the run, so they can get out and get their food, but not out into the garden, to stop foxes eating them. They still make loads of noise every morning until they see me, because they love me so much. Once they see me, they usually calm down a bit, I think they feel secure knowing I’m around.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2024 11:30
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 8, 2024 15:53 |
|
|
Slugworth posted:Anyone have a coop they would recommend for 4 chickens? I have this one: https://www.chickencoopsdirect.com/sussex-chicken-house-with-run And we have four chickens. So far, we haven’t had any predators getting into it, and it’s quite easy to keep clean.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 25, 2024 08:13
|
|