Procrastinators Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from chronic procrastination.

Chickens

Hey Slider, I was reviewing some older posts and saw that you like to "feed the chickens," I keep chickens, too. Just one more reason for me to stick around on this board for awhile.

1:30 AM Prowler

1Focus and gettin-it-done will appreciate this! I shouldn't be back online, but I rebooted to post this. While turning off all the lights, I heard the dogs barking a funny bark. It was an intruder bark, but not anything they were afraid of, nor anything that made them drool! I peeked out the back door, and they weren't even facing the same direction, plus they kept sniffing the air, so I figured it was nothing nearby, just something they could smell. Then they both ran to the same point of the fence, so I figured something was in the pasture. Then I heard the chickens squawk--uh oh! I ~was~ going to leave them to their fate, because it was raining and I was very tired and they're 3 years old anyway, and I hate finding them half alive or with injuries. But then I wondered what it was, and decided that if I could protect the old gals, I would. Maybe it wouldn't be too late. So I charged out with an LED flashlight and an umbrella, nothing else. Halfway there it ocurred to me that whatever it was could be dangerous to me, too, but then I figured (by the way the dogs barked) that it wasn't. Still, I was cautious. To my surpise, both chickens were visible and looked just fine when I was 10 feet away. That was a clue as to what it was. I expected to see a white face, and sure enough--yup! Possum! This time it ran away on its own--first time ever that one has run away from me. Usually I have to get a stick and prod them out of the henhouse. Once I even picked one up by the tail and flung it out (I had a pitchfork between its teeth and my hand); you should hear the version of that tale DH tells! Now, after it ran off I got to a certain spot on the backside of the henhouse (in the shadows from the back porchlight), and suddenly I smelled skunk! I nearly panicked, but I froze, and I never did see one. Anyhow, I know possums are supposed to be dangerous to chickens, but mine must be lazy. They just eat the chicken feed (especially in the summer, when we use catfood). I have even found them curled up asleep in the nestboxes--right next to the hens, who evidently went back to sleep after being jostled. It might be all the same possum, but they're always small, and I've seen them over the last three years, so I guess they are just young ones. Of course, with fleas and diseases and rabies and stuff, they might be a hazard in other ways, but so far they haven't caused me any real problems, although, now that I think about it, they might have eaten some eggs (maybe the hens laid better than I thought a few times). However, I sure do need to repair the chicken wire! It's the plastic kind, and it all broke off at the bottom along one side. Hope nothing else comes along tonight--maybe the rain will keep everything away (or make a tame chicken dinner look even better, I dunno). That's something I will likely put off for some time, though I can find something in the daylight to block it, hopefully! Hmm. Maybe some wire or twine at least to"sew" it closed would be better. We'll see. Hope your chickens are having sweeter dreams!

Recent chicken experiment

We had a few extra roo's and they were really tearing up our hens' backs. poor things have no feathers left hardly. So I had been wanting to see if the chickens would stay in the barn/pasture with the horse and goat, so we took the two extra roos, and put them out to pasture.... they quicly flew over the fence (only 3 or 4 ft. tall) and one became a doggie dinner and i dunno what got the other. lord only knows. SO that experiment turned into a miserable failure. Although, I am still thinking that if we connected their enclosed pen up to the pasture, which is pretty easily do-able, they would be ok cause they would know where to come back to in the evenings. but i dunno... they may still go over the far end of the fence off into the woods, then they are doomed for sure. Who knows..

No more extra loafers strutting around...

Maybe the experiment WASN'T a failure! ;)

LOL

so true.

Success

We received useful data, that's what makes an experiment successful.

HEY!!

That wasn't nice!!

Animal rights....

Jestright, you will have to forgive me. They sacrificed themselves in the name of science... Free range chicken Science. I did feel bad for them, It was a good experiment however.

So what scientific conclusion do we draw here?

(1) Give a male free range chicken enough rope and he will hang himself.
(2) Females enjoy testing males.
(3) Men are stupid.
(4) The female is the more callous and bloodthirsty sex.

Funny Funny Funny

That was a good one. As is the uh say uh say. I agree with all conclusions except perhaps #4. I don't think I agree with that one. I need more evidence. ;)

Thanks

Glad u liked my scientific hypotheses.

Re #4, watch for my new movie script, "What Women REALLY Think"

Grandma's refrigerator magnet

Used to read, "Roosters may strut and crow, but it's the hens that do all the work." Feminist humor--unless you're actually in the barnyard. If you raise chickens to produce eggs, then all the extra roosters (they're about half and half) become a problem, unless you want to butcher them yourself. If you don't want to go into the butchering business, then you have to find SOME way to get rid of the excess roosters. Of course, if you also raise them for the beautiful feathers, that's another story--but sadly, it still involves butchering! 1Focus had mentioned trying to find a local market for them. If they get themselves killed he doesn't have any more work to do in that regard. Laughing at it is a sort of gallows humor, I guess. But hmm. You sure do identify with the roosters--I'm going to picture you as Foghorn Leghorn from now on Jester buddy! :P

uh say uh say uh say,

thanks for the explanation - i have no experience in serious poultry science, although i have been involved in an avian execution or two. and i have visited a henhouse a time or two.

(the kind where you gather eggs for breakfast.)

my sons would appprecite the foghorn leghorn remark. and, come to think of it, my ex always did enjoy that cartoon.... you don't suppose that she thought that i.... nevermind.

Avian Execution?!

OH- and he says we're the ones that aren't nice...LOL :D ;)

What, might I ask, how does any of this chicken business relate to procrastintion? Other than my inclination to procrastinate washing eggs.

High Irony

Be kind of funny if you went to visit a website on procrastination, and everyone there was discussing only non-productive stuff -- the weather, politics, romance, chickens, soap operas, sports, todays crossword puzzle etc.

Hmmm..

I think chickens, well the hens anyhow, are quite productive, so maybe that one is ok to discuss.

reading your subtext

not sure if you're making a valid point here, or piling on the endangered male species.

look at it this way -- if we were productive TOO, just think how arrogant we would be THEN.

6 foot high fence a great investment.

That is a hilarious story. Like 1 focus said we haven't had a single critter in the hen house this year. We built anew house - one of those prefab , easy build storage sheds, and put a 6 ft. high weld wire fence around their area. Can't let them free range all the time here or the dog eats them. That fence has worked like a charm.

Possum trot

That's pretty funny. Everything I'ver read says poosums eat chickens, too. Sleeping in the nest boxes ?!?! that's just too funny. "Sewing" the fence with wire works pretty good, although plastic fence, I would thing that dry-rots after a year or so. I know it's a lot of work to hang fence. We actually put doors on the hen house to close them up at night. That worked, but we haven't had any intruders anyway, so we quit bothering to lock them in. We didn't even have one snake in the coop this year! Pretty unusual.

Plastic fence

Overall, the plastic netting is still just fine. But wherever it bends (like to to go around a board), it eventually breaks off. So the entire bottom came loose where it got bent from the chickens pressing it outward at the bottom. I tried it for my portable henhouse because it doesn't rust, and because it's not so wicked on the hands to work with. It has held up nearly 5 years. Sometimes we leave the door open and don't shut them up, too. Right now I might as well not! they can't get out (because of boards leaning against bottom of cage), but nearly anything clever could get in!

neat!

I used to like heritage breeds (still do) and planned to raise some, but wound up just keeping leftovers from petting zoo (Scouts) and school projects. I have 2 3-year old production reds. They still lay, are good for grasshoppers. The first few batches we really made into pets, but they kept getting killed by dogs and things, so we quit geting so attached, and these are not really pets. But we enjoy feeding them and talking to them, and you still can't beat yard eggs! What type are yours?

Gotta love home grown eggs.

We have Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, and Silver Laced Wyandottes...somewhere around 40 in all, in the 2-3 year old range. We lost a lot of birds to roaming dogs when we first started, too. So I can relate. We got our own dog and haven't seen the strays since.

Oh!

I LOVE those breeds! Great to hear you are raising them. Are you breeding them and hatching any yourself? Sadly, for us, it was largely my own stray greyhound who did most of the damage. Being a sight hound, he could not resist! At first we had the chickens penned and the dog free, but he kept finding ways to get in (he was a great fence-tester--but just as damaging as the possums, coons, owls, and skunks!) Later we penned the dogs (another stray came along), too. The other has a soft mouth and doesn't break their backs and necks even if he does catch one, being part labrador retriever. Funny, the lab is a real pistol and very hyper, but gentler on small creatures. The greyhound is such a sweet, calm dog--until that trigger gets switched on! Boy!

Raising Chickens

My wife and I keep talking about raising them ourselves, but we haven't figured out what to do with all the roos (gender is a 50/50 split, you know; and we're not big on doing the culling ourselves.) Our best idea to date is to either give away or sell cheap in the local classifieds.

My dog culled the dumb birds early on. She got where she would run back and forth along the fence and get the birds running, too. If she got them revved up enough, one would eventually pop over the fence. Kind of funny, really. You're right, though, it's not wise to get too attached to your chickens.

Yeah, culling, bleagh

I enjoy the hens (and we've had a coupla roosters along with), but I don't really want to go into the killing and butchering business. I eat chicken, so I ought to be willing to do it, but I'm not. I've even read extensively about it, but I just don't wanna! But giving e'm away cheap might work! Lots of people still raise fryers or broilers themselves--those excess roosters would be great for that since they're heavier breeds than production layers and Leghorns.