This one was eight years old. A silver laced Wyandot. Sweet, sweet girl. Just a month ago another one died. She was four and had been sick off and on. I have two left and I don’t think I’m getting any more. They bring so much joy, yet they are alot of work and it’s heartbreaking when they go. These chickens all have names and will follow me into the house. Chickens are some of the best people I’ve ever known.
The sister of the one who died today, one who I usually have to try to catch, came right up to me today and wanted to be picked up. They know. They really are quite aware, maybe even self aware. This same chicken wouldn’t talk to me for four weeks when I brought home two new chickens two years ago.
No really, she looks up at me and says “chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp”. And I say something back and she does it again. For four weeks she wouldn’t even look up at me. She was pissed. And yes, she chirps.
I had one RIR and while she was super smart and did some funny shit, she was a twat to the other chickens. She was so mean to my barred rock, that one day I came home and the RIR was dead and torn to pieces. I surmized that the Barred Rock tore her up after she died. There was no fight or there would have been feathers of both chickens.
I have a close friend who raises rare chickens. He says that it's nearly impossible to do without a fine mesh enclosure because nearly everything wants to kill them. He's got a couple of pitbulls that he keeps near the cage to run any wild animals off. Sometimes he sends me cam footage of the dogs chasing off hogs and even bears.
I watched 'The Biggest Little Farm' movie about making a self-sustaining ecosystem: First use cows to mow a section of the lawn. Add to compost pile and make a sprayable liquid tea from that. Follow with chickens to clean the bugs in the cow patties and leave their own. Ducks for slugs eating the crops. etc. All work in synchronicity.
A large moving wire shelter on wheels, half-covered, water trough filled from outside, means they are safe with rotating new turf to clean. Roll back to the overnight storage. Open door. Design an easy system to spray out and clean. Water drains away.Chicken poop can be toxic.
Enjoy those fresh eggs and grillinz ya lucky basterd.
RIP birdie. I had two gold laced wyandottes in my last flock, a mixed group of different breeds. They were very friendly compared to the australorps. Then some bastard broke into the coop, bent my hog wire :( birds are my favorite animal to keep but it really really sucks when they die.
After these last two I’m gonna take a break, see how it goes. I have a whole fenced yard for them with two coops, a lean to thing for shade. I have misters set up and so on. It will be hard to look at a chicken yard with no chickens. They have taken so much effort over the years, in that, I can’t go on a vacation without having a sitter. When one is sick or old, I worry constantly. I need a real from that stuff so I can get out and do things with the wife, like a weekend in Carmel or something. We'll see.
Chickens are evolved to endure pretty extreme famines, they came from the bamboo forests in Asia. You can also get em a treadle feeder, or some other auto-feeder. End of the day they are just chickens man, they are your dominion. Keep em for the next lockdown BS.
[ - ] Native 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 18:12:26 ago (+1/-0)
Buy two garbage cans, one for water and one for food. They’ll have enough food and water for a month. Condolences on your loss I had a chicken die two weeks ago, she was my bum foot girl. All her toes on her feet were curled in and she had trouble walking. But I didn’t want to put her down. She escaped twice. Once she flew on top of her coop and the second she escaped in the woods for two days and then came back
I’ve had chickens with many different issues and I cared for them all the best I could. Wrapping their foot infections. Antibiotics for different illnesses, trimming toenails, washing poopy butts, you name it.
It is the same amount of work for 2 as it is 30, just more food. I opt for 30 and try to hatch some in the spring. You are going to need some birds for the upcoming struggle. Jk, you won't make it to the struggle, CA is going to fall into the ocean before then.
My chickens are assholes. They are just a wild breed of jungle rat, nothing special. When the hens get broody they will literally attack as I collect eggs. One is clearly convinced she can kill me and gives it her best shot twice a week
[ - ] Althea 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:00:22 ago (+1/-0)
I had one chicken named Mugen that died a year or so ago, and we had her before my daughter was born 11 years ago. She was one of the chickens from our first batch, it was the end of an era when she passed. Most chickens we have don't live more than 4 years because we occasionally free range, and we have hawks, coyotes, lynx, and assorted racoon/opossum etc. The alternative is they stay in the run. It's either lock down jail where they are bored and confined, with near 100% survival (after we got rid of the racoon that was breaking in), or free-ranging and content eating all the plants and bugs they desire, but with the chance they can be snatched up in a moment. Mugen was blessed by God to have lived so long.
[ + ] Sleazy
[ - ] Sleazy 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 21:03:40 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] mikenigger
[ - ] mikenigger 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:53:49 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Master_Foo
[ - ] Master_Foo 0 points 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 00:27:37 ago (+0/-0)
Try burning it in a pot of boiling oil next time, you'll be happy when chickens die.
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 0 points 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 00:42:18 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] FreeinTX
[ - ] FreeinTX 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 15:48:18 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 17:08:39 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] SumerBreeze
[ - ] SumerBreeze 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 16:10:00 ago (+1/-0)
Sorry for your loss.
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 17:09:14 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Clubberlang
[ - ] Clubberlang 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 17:27:04 ago (+1/-0)
Sorry for your baaabaababaaguk!! loss.
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:08:01 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Clubberlang
[ - ] Clubberlang 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:17:10 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:26:05 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Clubberlang
[ - ] Clubberlang 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:32:26 ago (+1/-0)
I'm calling buhbaaguuuk bullshit.
Chickens can't talk.
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:10:26 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Clubberlang
[ - ] Clubberlang 0 points 11 monthsJul 3, 2024 15:56:26 ago (+0/-0)
Suprised yo bishass herd it neeyuhguh!
[ + ] big_fat_dangus
[ - ] big_fat_dangus 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:57:58 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:06:12 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] prominent_proboscis
[ - ] prominent_proboscis 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 21:18:25 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:05:02 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] AlexanderMorose13
[ - ] AlexanderMorose13 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:23:25 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] 2plus2equals5
[ - ] 2plus2equals5 1 point 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 00:12:46 ago (+1/-0)*
A large moving wire shelter on wheels, half-covered, water trough filled from outside, means they are safe with rotating new turf to clean.
Roll back to the overnight storage. Open door. Design an easy system to spray out and clean. Water drains away.Chicken poop can be toxic.
Enjoy those fresh eggs and grillinz ya lucky basterd.
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 1 point 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 00:41:12 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] NaturalSelectionistWorker
[ - ] NaturalSelectionistWorker 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:47:41 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Endo_Aryan
[ - ] Endo_Aryan 1 point 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 00:39:27 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 1 point 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 00:41:52 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] boekanier
[ - ] boekanier 1 point 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 05:21:42 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] HelenHighwater
[ - ] HelenHighwater 1 point 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 15:44:58 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 0 points 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 22:23:28 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] lord_nougat
[ - ] lord_nougat 2 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 16:48:42 ago (+2/-0)
You'll miss stepping in massive chickenshits right on your steps!
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 2 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 17:07:23 ago (+2/-0)
We'll see.
[ + ] KeepPoal4fags
[ - ] KeepPoal4fags 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 17:26:00 ago (+1/-0)
End of the day they are just chickens man, they are your dominion. Keep em for the next lockdown BS.
[ + ] Native
[ - ] Native 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 18:12:26 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:10:34 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Native
[ - ] Native 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 20:48:33 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Sector2
[ - ] Sector2 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 21:31:25 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] MaryXmas
[ - ] MaryXmas 4 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 16:44:43 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] xmasskull
[ - ] xmasskull 6 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 15:44:06 ago (+6/-0)
[ + ] ItsOk2bArian
[ - ] ItsOk2bArian 6 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 16:04:07 ago (+6/-0)
[ + ] bobdole9
[ - ] bobdole9 4 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 16:40:32 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] KosherHiveKicker
[ - ] KosherHiveKicker 7 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 15:39:34 ago (+7/-0)
[ + ] MaryXmas
[ - ] MaryXmas 4 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 16:42:10 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 17:12:37 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Althea
[ - ] Althea 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:00:22 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Krier55
[ - ] Krier55 9 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 17:12:50 ago (+9/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 4 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:08:16 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] Love240
[ - ] Love240 7 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:10:47 ago (+7/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 5 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:14:08 ago (+5/-0)
[ + ] InYourFaceNancyGrace
[ - ] InYourFaceNancyGrace 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 20:26:27 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] big_fat_dangus
[ - ] big_fat_dangus 4 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 19:59:06 ago (+4/-0)
[ + ] JudyStroyer
[ - ] JudyStroyer 1 point 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 22:58:44 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
[ - ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey [op] 0 points 11 monthsJun 30, 2024 23:15:57 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] boekanier
[ - ] boekanier 0 points 11 monthsJul 1, 2024 05:24:47 ago (+0/-0)