Contamination?

too harsh

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

It's just a different pheasant. Slow roast for a young bird or long simmer on one that outlived its welcome, with Yankee dumplings, herbs and spices. (I can't abide by the hydrated glutinous gobs called dumplings in the South.

We never could keep hens alive. They snuck off to nest, never to be seen again. Probably fox dinner. Henless, the cocks got cranky. When one claimed the sand box and defended it against invading children its days were numbered.

keeping hens

John K Jordan

>>>We never could keep hens alive. They snuck off to nest, never to be seen again. Probably fox dinner. ...

A friend lost all her peahens, suspecting they were coyote supper. They are vulnerable when nesting but if there are several in a harem I suspect one may disappear for another reason - looking for another "family", perhaps for genetic diversity. A friend of mine caught a hen that showed up at his farm.

I found three ways to keep my hens and knock on Bubinga, haven't lost any yet.

- Don't let more than one out of the cage at a time. I do like to let them roam a bit, eat bugs, grass. But if I let out several they will both roam somewhat and I have more trouble getting them back in the cage. If I let out just one, she doesn't get too far from her friends. Also, if I let them out in the afternoon they are more likely to stay closer to the barn. If they are out all day they seem more likely to find a nesting spot and start a clutch of eggs. If any one hen only gets out every three days or so she seems more likely to lay eggs in the nesting box in the peacock house rather than in the woods.

- When I let a one out for most of the day, if she disappeared for a couple of days she was likely on a nest. Both times this happened the nest has never been far from the barnyard. I watched closely and could easily tell when she left the nest for a few minutes to get some food and water. She would fly in and announce her arrival with a special call, strutting around standing tall with her neck feathers all ruffled out - a sure sign of nesting. Did a stealth special op and tracked her back to the nest, tricky since she is very wary. I added some protection from predators by stretching out 50' lengths of 4' fencing to deflect wandering raccoons and foxes away from the nest. This worked and both times the hens hatched chicks.

- A better method is only let them out when it's not egg-laying season. Then they start a nest and lay all eggs in a safe place. This year I'm picking up the eggs as they lay them and incubating. 11 in the incubator, found a new egg this morning I'll save in the fertilized egg storage cooler.

JKJ