Flock!

[godfry n. glad]

I lost two hens to raccoon invaders on a stormy night last fall. Since then, I've struggled through the winter and early this year with two hens, Ingrid, my green-egg laying EE, and Dora, my mixed breed dark-egg layer. Today, I obtained two new pullets.

The pullets, each 8-10 weeks old, are Ameracaunas...EasterEggers, like Ingrid. Instead of blonde, like Ingrid, they have a dark 'frosted' over dun, or buff, look. They won't have wattles. Instead, they'll have feathered beards and face tufts. I'm hoping they'll both be green egg layers at maturity. It's a crapshoot; it could be green, or ordinary light brown.

[godfry n. glad]

So, I live in a cramped inner city neighborhood, where my house sits on a 'substandard sized' lot (less that 5,000 square feet). I keep my chickens contained in the back open area and the narrow walkways along either side. When the temperatures begin to rise, flies like the fact that I have nice fat birds generating maggot accommodations. The fly population booms in the early warmth of late spring.

But I've got my response. I got my bugs today. 'Fly raptors'. They are parasitic wasps which lay their eggs in maggots. They are exceeding tiny and not at all interested in humans....just fly maggots. I've been using them for several years now to decent effect (I was not the arbiter of their effectiveness, my neighbor was).

My supplier is a local gent who has developed a business around biological answers to veterinary and botanical pests. I set up an account and he regularly sends (one every three weeks during the heat) a packet of enough of the eggs to hatch out and keep my fly populations down in the hot weather coming.

[ceptimus]

Interesting report today on the BBC about Monique, the hen who is sailing around the world.



Most of the time, she shares a boat with her fellow sailor, 24-year-old Guirec Soudee.



But she also uses other forms of transport on occasion.

[JoeP]

The hen and the Frenchman went to sea ...

[godfry n. glad]

Greetings, FFers.

I just lost my special crossbreed hen to Death with a Fur Coat, after losing my goofy elder hen three weeks earlier. I'm facing leaving the country again, and I just don't want to fuss with arranging for care for the remaining pair. Plus, we plan on doing some roadtripping once returned from Urp and chickens would just tie us down.

So, I have arranged to have my last two hens, May & Day, who I took possession of on May Day 2016, rehomed to a suburban tender on the far side of the metropolitan area.

I'm going chook-free for the first time in more'n ten years. I had to come here and check this thread to find out when it was I started with the first trio (August '07).

I suspect it is going to take me near a year just to extract all the grid wire fencing from the back yard....

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by godfry n. glad

chickens would just tie us down.

Kinky.
Revenge of the hens.


If only they could do that to the foxes/coyotes that are getting them.

[godfry n. glad]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Kinky.
Revenge of the hens.


If only they could do that to the foxes/coyotes that are getting them.

Well, we don't have foxes here in the city center. We have had a coyote lope past, but they haven't been very obvious.

The problem, here in the big shitty, is raccoons. And, on rare occasion, when a chook tender slips up, an opossum can cause problems. But usually, the perp is a raccoon. Y'know, bandit mask and all?