Rolling Acres - This and That

[Jennifer Hinkle]

We raise sheep/lamb and it is delicious. You are blessed to have a boy that eats almost anything and is not picky.

I have never ate sheep or goat, so I don't know if I like it or not. I was raised on beef. We all had plenty of beef to feed our family. My grandparents had a dairy farm. But in 98' they retired and shut it down. I was living in another state at that time. I wish I could have helped them. So by the time I moved back in 2011 It was all gone. So now I raise hair sheep, rabbits, and chickens.

 

[RollingAcres]

Last night when I closed up the chicken coop(front door) I forgot to close up the back opening that goes to the chicken run, I loss my laying hen. When I went to let the hens out this morning I saw black feathers all over the floor in the coop and I knew something terrible happened. I walked around the chicken run and found the carcass .
Now i only have 1 hen left and she doesn't lay eggs.

 

[Mike CHS]

Sorry to hear that. There are several times I would have kicked my own behind if I could bend my leg that way.

 

[Mini Horses]

Ouch! So sorry. I know how it feels!

 

[RollingAcres]

Now I don't know what to do with this only hen. I'm checking Craigslist to see if I can get some pullets.

 

[Bruce]

So sorry @RollingAcres

Feathers and carcass? What part was eaten?

 

[RollingAcres]

1/2 of the carcass

 

[Baymule]

Awww that sucks. Sorry about your hen. Get some more and start over. A mixed breed flock is fun, like a bouquet of flowers!

 

[RollingAcres]

How do I introduce new flock to this current one? I'll need to read up on that. If I remember correctly they have to get "accustomed" to each other first right?

 

[Bruce]

1/2 of the carcass

Curious. Coons usually eat only the head, neck and crop. A fox would have taken the entire bird. Maybe a raptor? They can't always carry the chicken away.

How do I introduce new flock to this current one? I'll need to read up on that. If I remember correctly they have to get "accustomed" to each other first right?

Right. A couple of things:

• Unless you are getting chicks or started pullets from a hatchery you want to have a quarantine period for the new birds away from your remaining bird. The last thing you want is for her to get mites or something worse like Marek's.
• Once that is done you want to have the birds separated in the coop by a "fence" they can see through so they can get used to each other. Put each "flock's" water and food near their side of the fence. Food is one of the things chickens will fight over for pecking order so eating near each other but not in competition is a good thing.
• If you free range you can let them out at the same time after a couple of days so they can get used to being around each other but with easy escape while they are working out their pecking order.

Integration with older birds and chicks is usually much easier than with all adults because the chicks are not immediately seen as competition for food or status. They would still need to be kept separate but you can put a chick size opening in the fence so the littles can get away from the bigs. Your integration situation is a bit different than most since you have one resident hen. There is no pecking order. Bringing in other adults that already have their order set will mean your current hen is the odd girl out who needs to find her way into the existing order.

Good luck!