Goodbye to a Rooster Named Skunk

UPDATE 9-19-2011:  OK, so my mother apparently doesn't know the difference between a hen and a cock, at least not without a long dangling tail for reference... never mind the GIANT comb and wattles. Needless to say, Skunk is alive and I lost a rather young barred rock laying hen to something that killed her but left the body under brush and apparently took Skunk's tail too.






I finally got the chance to head to the beach for some much wanted ORVing. I guess my enjoyment came at the price of my favorite rooster, Skunk.


My mother agreed to watch over my chickens, including the new chicks, while on her vacation at the homestead. Yesterday, she opened their pen and then left. While not the best choice, I sometimes also make last minute plans and leave them to fend for themselves. However, there has been large bird of prey around lately and I've been extra careful in keeping the chickens fenced in during much of the day for their own protection.

This barred rock rooster was found dead under some low brush in the front yard and looked like it had been attacked from the back. Did another skunk really come to finish the job the first one failed to? Was it a weasel who couldn't handle the meal? Did the Northern Harrier kill and start plucking feathers but got scared away? Or was a fox hiding his dinner for later? I'll never know.

Anyway, I was going to put these pictures up of skunk laying down. He loved to lay down everywhere: in the sun stretched out, perched on the porch or in the shaded grass. Only chicken that I’ve had that lies down that much, could be his first skunk attack gave him weaker legs, back and lungs and he likes to rest. He never did crow right since attacked as a youngling. He had the biggest pitched, yet softest voice of all my roos.

A Lone Coyote Attacks in Daylight

Is is weird for a coyote to attack in daylight? 9AM to be exact. Is it also weird the coyote was alone? Should I be worried about rabies?

Luckily my many roosters sounded the alarm and I witnessed a rather large coyote standing on my lawn. The coyote ran into the woods when he saw me. So I began sounding my chicken call and many came running. But the coyote ran right back out onto the lawn in a matter of seconds. So I grabbed a stick and ran at him swinging it over my head and yelling. Whatever, it scared him off.



Then I saw a white chicken running the opposite way of me in-spite of my incessant chicken calling. Around the pond, down the driveway and up the street this chicken went. Very confused I started towards my shocked chicken. Behold a trail of Big White's feathers. Rather, his whole tail seemed to be laid out on the dew covered grass blades.

I saw him down the street ducking into tall grass. When I arrived at his side he bucked softly and must have been in shock to show such extra politeness and slow motion. So I talked calmly to him and carried him back for a snack with his best buddy.

Big White wont be wagging any tail feathers for a while!

Time to fence in the chickens... with a meal so close to being had that coyote will be back.

Chicken Predators
Predator Update: SKUNK
Northern Harrier Hunting my Chickens
Fox and Rabbit

Growing Up Chicken

Check out Hatching Chicks with Broody Hens to see these chicks at one day old.  Also see pictures of their first outing, at 2 weeks, their first dust bath and trying to determine their sex.


I have had two chicks stolen. One by an ermine which I saw attacking my bantam rooster! I haven't seen this weasel for a few years now and never in its summer color. Very gorgeous. The second chick which had become injured and was limping proved an easy target for what I believe was an immature Northern Harrier. That darn hawk circles almost out of plain eye view most of the time.

Anyway here are photos of first outing an then some.

The paint horse loved to shoo away these chickens.

I lost this striped one here which had been the only one I named "Mr. Stripey" gone.. gone...

One proud father.
The black ones are Silky Bantam cross Golden Sexlink. Little Black, as I call him lost quite a bit of feathers when attacked by the mink while crossing our wetlands. Coop in the background...

They are "so cunning" as my Mummi said to me.

Hatching Chicks with Broody Hens

Check out my First Hatch of 2011 and the same hen's second hatch of 2011.
Also check out Raising Day Old Chicks



Red Jungle Fowl Female from The North East India Travelog

"The Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) is a tropical member of the Pheasant family. While the domestic chicken was previously believed to be a descendant of the Red Junglefowl, recent research done by Eriksson et al. suggests possible hybridisation with the Grey Junglefowl.[2]"                     Wikipedia

Jungle fowl of the Phasianidae (Grouse, pheasants and partridges) family "differ from other members of the pheasant family in having, in the male, a fleshy comb, lobed wattles hanging below the bill, and high-arched tail."                  Britannica Online Encyclopedia


Grey jungle fowl

Why am I telling you this? Because I absolutely love research observations of the most primitive ways in which animals have survived and procreated and my dear chickens are descendants of these here.

BROODING HABITAT

An interesting study I found by a Robert A Johnson suggests a preferred breeding habitat of undomesticated jungle fowl in Thailand. Studying these fowl during 1955 and 1956 R. Johnson observed needs of breeding jungle fowl that many homesteaders today know: adequate protection, shelter, water, and limited disturbance.

Speaking of the eastern slopes of the Tenasserim range in Thiland, which reaches a height of 6,801 feet, Johnson states:

"Here, a bamboo forest area interspersed with patches of small deciduous trees and shrubs was the most favorable breeding habitat for jungle fowl I found in southern and central Thailand. Bamboo growing in scattered but tangled clumps, in a rocky soil which has been repeatedly burned over, seems to offer ideal roosting and nesting cover.  And, I believe, an abundant supply of fresh water, with a minimum of human disturbance, is an important factor in sustaining a favorable breeding population."1

What Does This Mean for You?

You will need a coop or densely tangled wad of bushes, delicious clean water, a hen that just loves to lay eggs, a Rooster to help and a routine that keeps you out of their way.

Let me add a little about whom roosters are: caretakers and protectors, bait and distraction, fighters of rank, lovers and flaunters. A beautiful representation of their dutiful spirits...

“Each dominant male led his little group of hens to the riverlet to drink, usually soon after they left the roost in the morning. They remained at the water supply only a very few minutes, and the male often watched from a perch aboveground while the hens drank. After that, he took one or two gulps of water and hurriedly led the group back into its territory by a different trail.”1


Breeding pair by Ujjal Ghosh

What Goes Wrong?

Obandoned nests, wrotten and unhatched eggs, predators. The good news:

“The breeding season appears to be of sufficient length that a given bird may make several attempts to nest. The presence of scattered eggs suggests a high rate of nest disturbance.”1

So if you're like me, forget your duties some-days, forget to close the chicken coop windows and a sneaky raccoon climbs in at night and scares your hen off her nest; immediately place back on nest or if all seems ruined, try, try again.

Here’s how it happened for me:

I got a little relaxed on collecting eggs and close to a dozen remained in two nest boxes for nearly a week in June. (help your hen go broody by leaving real or fake eggs in nests)

Two hens simultaneously decided they would cover these nests and hatched 6 chicks each 21-22 days later. (the required incubation period for domestic chickens) Nest boxes were on the coop floor at this time.



Keeping a feeding routine was very important to me and my hens. Morning and night feedings were a good time to check nests without disturbing broody hens on them.

Some popular opinions online imply that broody hens don't get off their nests more than once a day and for not more than an hour. Also that it is necessary to move them into a cage or keep them away from other chickens so they don't get distracted. I say let the chicken tell you if the setting is correct.

Check out this hatch on their first outing, at 2 weeks, their first dust bath and trying to determine their sex.

Check out these two sites for some more advice. Or ask me anything!
Tips for Incubating and Raising Chicks with a Mother Hen from the creater of the ICYouSee Handy Dandy Chicken Chart

Working with Broody Hens: Let Mama Do It from www.themodernhomestead.us


Before the summary of his article Johnson warns

"Firearms are scarce, at present, among these people. But the opening of roads to travel by jeeps and trucks is greatly increasing the amount of hunting and disturbance throughout the year. It seems unlikely, due to the rapidly changing frontier in a country which has no precedent for conservation concepts, that such examples of breeding populations can long endure."1 ...

1. Habitat Preference And Behavior Of Breeding Jungle Fowl In Central Western Thailand by Robert A. Johnson (1962) Indiana University                Electronic Version PDF (3pgs)