No More Chicken :(

I regret to inform that I no longer have chicken in my backyard :( .   I just couldn't win!

Without making you suffer through too much details, in a nutshell, I was defeated by Foxes, Coyotes, Weasels, Raccoons, opossum, Cooper's Hawk, Red Tail Hawk, neighbor's dog and God knows what else!  Yes, it was a loosing battle... just couldn't win!   Those Predators got the best of me and now just lost all my spirit to keep going! You would be too, after loosing one after another almost every night!

But I think the biggest blow was when I lost my prized position, the Chocolate Cuckoo chicken! I worked very hard to breed those beautiful Cuckoos.   I think loosing them what crushed my Chicken Keeping spirit!

After that,  I became more or less numb to the losses until one day there were no more!

I wonder now if I could have saved them if I took some harsher steps!  Probably yes.   but not at the cost of contradicting the main reason I started the whole thing.  Keeping some happy free ranging chicken!

So.... I no longer have chicken!   I miss it often, but probably for the best that I don't reboot this; at least not for a while.   Maybe I will reconsider after putting some major fencing to surround my property.

Meanwhile, if you are keeping chicken in you backyard, HAPPY CHICKEN KEEPING!

Adios!! 

Rufus

Meet Rufus!

Nigel is no more :(

On November 12, around 6PM, I've lost Nigel.   A fox was sighted couple of times near their coop and he took an opportunity to attack the flock and Nigel lost his life saving the flock.  Like he has in the past defended his flock from other predators, nobody could protect him. I am sure he was no match for a full grown fox. Sigh!

Next day we've discovered his feathers near a bush where that animal killed him.  Even though the night before, we regrettably knew, the beautiful Rooster is no more :( ... it was not in his character to not be around his flock and in the coop.  He was gone!

He was a Chocolate Cuckoo Orpington Rooster.   I have gotten few eggs from England and only one made it.  In fact, during my candling, i thought I had 100% loss but left them in the incubator anyway.  I did have some other eggs that I obtained locally, they hatched and all imported eggs were bad. So i planned on throwing them the next day and i noticed a unusually tiny chick hatched from one of those imported eggs.   He looked way different than any Chick i've ever seen.  My boys thought he was a she, so they started to call her "Peaches".   

Well, Peaches started to grow and grow and we started to wonder.   He would often start that mock fighting with his siblings which we will brush it off saying "Eh, just a silly chick" .    Aside from that, he was really good at finding bugs, worms, and other goodies.  He was also very curious and 

He was 

As he started to grow even more, our confidence level started to dwindle.   We soon realized that 'he is not a she'.  My boys and I started to brain storm for a new name.  Around the same time, we happened to watch an animation called Rio which had a character (Cockatoo) named Nigel.  Yeah, he was a villain and all, but we kinda liked the name for an English bird.  So, Peaches became Nigel.

Around that time, I realized Nigel look exactly like his father in the UK.  Until this coloration of his feather, I was somewhat curious how will he look but when I started to notice this cuckoo characteristics , I knew he would look just like his father.

Anyway, I continue to let him free range with other chicken and he was growing up to be a rooster.  Now I did debate if I wanted to keep him or not as keeping "Rooster" in my neighborhood may not be very wise (Residential Area).  However, as more time passes, our attachment toward him gotten even stronger.  Around that time, he and predator had their first encounter.  I was just 10 feet away, i saw a Cooper's Hawk flying down straight to the chicken and grab for a hen, but there Nigel jumped and attacked the Hawk!!  He lost a lot of tail feather but Hawk left with nothing!   I knew he was a keeper!

Well, he was a very good rooster and we will miss him.    I think several Hen he left will miss him more than anything.  He was their protector, and now they are vulnerable. He used to watch out for predators when they could relax and scratch.  Now that he is not out there, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting those hen out without me being there.   Alas, what a great loss!  RIP Nigel!

My floc of 6 doing well (as couple of Hen recovering from Molting stage).   I lost one of my favorite Chocolate Cuckoo hen who just started to lay.  I was pretty bummed about it, but that's life in the harsh world.   "Chicken gotta scratch, Hawk's gotta eat".  Oh well.  I am really hopping that my other Chocolate Cuckoo doesn't become a Hawk Bait.  I would love to see Nigel and her offspring maybe next Spring.  I let them free range which has its downside.  

Two King in one kingdom

I have decided to part with this Rooster.  Even though he look very interesting and his characteristics reminds me so much of Nigel when he was juvenile, I have to part with him as I can't have two roosters in my backyard.

If somebody is interested in a Cuckoo project, this would be the rooster to have ;p

Nigel

                                       

"Chocolate Cuckoo Orpington" Hen.   

                                                 Muave Hen ???  (Choc Cuckoo+Blue Orp)

By the way, what do you think of these two Chocolate Cuckoo Orps?  One appears to be a Hen (above)  while the other one (Left) "hen" maybe a Rooster in the making?   Nigel looked exactly like her (I have some picture of Nigel around that age in this blog).   Difference between these two are their obvious "tail" difference.  As you can see the tail from the one on the left is different

Remembering Lil Bit...

Since dealing with the County code enforcement situation(Oh, I forgot to talk about that episode!), I was keeping the girls and boys in lockdown until I return from work.  Although this may not be a very good solution for them as the are used to being Free Range Chicken, they appreciated the 3-4 hours opportunity to search for worm, scratch under the leaves, taste those fresh veggie or just simply go crazy on their dustbath!  So the other day I let them out and came inside to get a bite to eat.   Since Lil Bit was being super stubborn about getting out of her "Broodyness" I decided to lock the run/coop after making sure she was out.   What a mistake :( ... I bet she was trying hard to get inside and wasn't paying any attention like the rest who where nowhere near.   

We discovered her body right near the coop, her wing was twisted badly, feathers everywhere and very little trace of blood.   My primary suspect is a dog 'not' on a leash.   We are starting to observe people frequenting the park adjacent to our property with dogs not on a leash.  One of them perhaps spotted her or other chicken simply took cover while she fell victim.  I felt even worse since I got her out of the nestbox and made her stay out.  Who knew, that would be her doom!  

She did have a good life otherwise. She was hatched in my incubator and then grew up to be a great little bird.  My Son called her Sally, but she was well known as her other name "lilbit'  .... she raised some 12 chicks, taught them well and raised 100%.   She also had number of funny characteristics that were very entertaining to see.  

R.I.P. Lilbit!