hello yes chickens are cool and i love them

yeah. hatcheries also have one big thing over breeders, though- they sell sexed chicks. if i wanted to show or breed, i'd buy from a breeder. but these are pets, and i can't afford another rooster while living with people who would rather sell one on craiglist to someone training their hounds to blood while i'm at a friend's house instead of letting me humanely dispatch it.

 

wow, your parents sold your rooster behind your back? to someone who'd throw him to their dogs? seriously? good goddamn. >:( knowing you're buying hens does sound like a good idea, then. I'm just surprised breeders don't sex their chicks. is it that difficult? do they have to be a certain age or something? (I have no idea how you sex chicks. or any birds. or anything that isn't a mammal, really. should probably read up on that.)

 

naw, they just want to do that w/ any roosters after this one. i made sure they got attached to this one, lol.

and sexing is hard, and in some breeds impossible! silkies, for instance. can't sex a silkie till it starts crowing, just about.

there's three main ways to sex- vent shape, feather development, and feather color/pattern. everything except the vent thing varies based on breed and color variety within breed, and the vent thing's pretty hard. also breeders have no incentive to go to that extra effort, tbh.

 

bought my chicks, they'll be at my house in two months. decided to forgo the cochin because i was worried abt my current flock being too rough on one.

 

BLARGHLE BLARGHLE BLARGHLE something got intot eh run last night and got Nugget and then again this morning after I let them out and got V-bird >:( I'm getting a MIGHT PISSED. Suspect neighbor dog behind the house. Pitbull with absolutely NO training or manners. Could also be the rat terrier mix on the corner because the gap under the fence that looked dug out was very small. Fence area has been re secured and hub is doing day and night checks now. If perp is caught, owner is going to owe me at least $60 to replace two laying hens cuz the just came into production.

 

oh no 8(

best of luck finding the culprit/getting new girls!

 

Well I have those hatching eggs coming in the next month but then I gotta WAIT for eggs to hatch then WAIT for chicks to grow up then WAIT for them to com into laying... probably by August, and then they'll go off production in November >:(

 

yeah 8(

i've found shining a light for a couple extra hours a day if it's feasible can help? dunno how far your coop is from an outlet/how much extension cord you've got. what breed are you hatching again?

 

Breeds will be a mix of slw, buff orpington, speckled sussex, and australorp. It's kind of a mystery pack so I don't know how many of each will be in there. Shinning a light won't do anything to deter the predator, both attacks happened in broad daylight, hence why I'm suspecting dog. That and it didn't take the body with it/eat it, so it looks like they were killed for fun, not food.

 

oh, sorry, meant to extend egg laying time! wasn't clear, ahaha.

 

VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE I'M GETTING A PAVLOVSKAYA PULLET IN TWO MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (in addition to the chicks of course)

Spoiler: parent and sib pics

 

Oh! No, it's a) too far from the house and b) hard on a chickens productive system to not get a winter break and c) light/heat in a coop with dry straw and bedding is a fire hazard.

 

How pretty!

 

GOD DAMN IT it got Aubrey and now Rose and Zeb are missing (if they ran and hid somewhere it too dark to find them rn). Amending possible predator list to include raccoon, head was missing and feathers plucked from the breast area. I brought Blue inside but now I'm not sure what else to do.

 

one time one of my chickens was bit by the neighbour's dog
we found it the next day, it needed stitches but was still alive
amusingly it absolutely refused to drink the water at the vet's and would only drink water mum brought from home...presumably town water tasted weird to it
note: they will throw leaves, dirt, etc into their water at home and don't seem to care
but they won't drink town water??

anyway that chicken survived! we had to keep it inside for a bit. it was fascinated by the fireplace and kept trying to get to the fire.

anyway so even if one of the missing chickens got bit, it might still be alive

 

also, if it's a dog, it's likely the terrier-as you said, the gap on the fence is very small, and pit bulls have a much lower prey drive than terriers. pit bulls are also generally human-friendly but are more likely to be dog-aggressive than average.

 

Shit, @Lizardlicks I'm so sorry about your chooks. I lost my rabbits to dog attack when I was little :(

 

Looks like it did get Rose last night, I just didn't see her because she's dark brown against dead leaves in the dark. Zeb got away and hid on the shed roof though, so Zeb and Blue are safe.

 

I'm so sorry. I hope you can at least find the culprit.

 

Collected eggs from Blue all week, have set up home made incubator and put the eggs in today. 1st run experiment!