Chicken adventures

The girls took about six weeks off from laying eggs, but are quickly ramping up production now.

I let them out of their pen to forage in the yard recently. Maybe they'll help with the weeds if I do it more often.

A hawk managed to kill two of them (one of the Black Japanese and the Speckled Sussex) while inside their pen. Fortunately the chickens then learned to take cover when they saw/heard birds overhead. One time I heard a flock of crows making a ruckus nearby and looked over to see the chickens had run against the fence line to take cover.

I bought two Hen Saver aprons to protect the Black Sex Link and the Easter Egger, whose backs and wings had gotten shredded from the roosters. They look great for the first few minutes, but they don't actually stay in place very well.

The old rooster got sick enough that I was finally given permission from the landlord to put him out of his misery. The Black Australorp rooster has taken his place, and is keeping the Blue Cochin from mating with the girls whenever he sees him starting up. However from what I've seen, the Australorp is pretty hard on them all on his own. The girls used to sometimes crouch for the old man. This guy does a sneak attack, grabbing the feathers on their necks/heads and crushing them down to the ground. He's twice as large as the hens, even the female Australorp.

So far it seems okay - between having one less rooster, the sort of helpful aprons, and now molting season, the girls are looking much better. We'll see if they continue to look okay later in spring. If needed I'll dispatch one of the two remaining roosters, too.