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The Pit Chicken Keeping Thread

tsywake said:
They weren't on the porch though.

It was weird, they were essentially killed for sport. The only part of them that was eaten were two of the heads. The rest of the bodies were intact. I'm thinking racoon, or a wild chance it was an owl. These were fully grown birds though, so I doubt it was an owl.
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Most likely an opossum did this. They love eating the brains.

Owls could definitely take a chicken though. Great horned owl could take a full grown fox if it wanted. I once had a Cooper's Hawk take an Americana/Easter egger, and a Cooper's hawk is about 1/3 the size of a Barred owl, so, Barreds and Great Horns could easily take a chicken. Great Horned Owl's MO is to decapitate it's victims because it is the fastest way to minimize the risk that the prey will fight back and injure the owl, but usually they will leave the head at the sight of the attack and carry off the body to eat. So, if you found a mostly intact chicken carcass with the head chewed on and brains eaten, it was likely an opossum; if you found a mostly eaten headless chicken carcass, that was likely an owl.
 
birdman said:
Most likely an opossum did this. They love eating the brains.

Owls could definitely take a chicken though. Great horned owl could take a full grown fox if it wanted. I once had a Cooper's Hawk take an Americana/Easter egger, and a Cooper's hawk is about 1/3 the size of a Barred owl, so, Barreds and Great Horns could easily take a chicken. Great Horned Owl's MO is to decapitate it's victims because it is the fastest way to minimize the risk that the prey will fight back and injure the owl, but usually they will leave the head at the sight of the attack and carry off the body to eat. So, if you found a mostly intact chicken carcass with the head chewed on and brains eaten, it was likely an opossum; if you found a mostly eaten headless chicken carcass, that was likely an owl.
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See, posts like this are why I visit the chat thread.
 
birdman said:
Most likely an opossum did this. They love eating the brains.

Owls could definitely take a chicken though. Great horned owl could take a full grown fox if it wanted. I once had a Cooper's Hawk take an Americana/Easter egger, and a Cooper's hawk is about 1/3 the size of a Barred owl, so, Barreds and Great Horns could easily take a chicken. Great Horned Owl's MO is to decapitate it's victims because it is the fastest way to minimize the risk that the prey will fight back and injure the owl, but usually they will leave the head at the sight of the attack and carry off the body to eat. So, if you found a mostly intact chicken carcass with the head chewed on and brains eaten, it was likely an opossum; if you found a mostly eaten headless chicken carcass, that was likely an owl.
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TripleDeacon said:
See, posts like this are why I visit the chat thread.
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Agreed, that was a very helpful and solid post.
 
Went to grab the eggs from the girls this morning, and every one was frozen solid. Not something I've ever experienced before.
 
The egg and layer hen demand is through the roof at the moment. I've had almost as many inquiries to buy layers as I have for eggs.
 
Back in late winters, I sold the majority of my layers. People were willing to pay a premium, so I struck while the iron was hot.

I ordered 10 more birds, and rather than get them at 2 days old and raise them from chicks, I got hooked up with a local hatcher and picked some up that were 17 weeks old. These girls have lived in an enclosed building their entire life, so they hang out most of the time within the coop. They're slowly starting to acclimate and venture outside, but you can tell they aren't used to being able to run free.
 
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