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Dave in PA 
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Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: Mars/Wexford PA
Points: 2616
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Posted: 12 May 2022 at 3:04pm |
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Yep, we lost a chicken yesterday, found her in the pen. The other hens were going crazy, that is why the wife went out to look. So now we have 7, started with 12. I can't remember when our son got them, but I think 5 or 6 years ago??? Dumb question here, how long is the life of a hen chicken?? I guess I could google it! We did lose 2 in the past few months.
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klinemar
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Michigan
Points: 7933
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Posted: 12 May 2022 at 5:38pm |
 Funny you posted about your chickens as my Dearly Beloved took this picture of me and my last surviving chicken. My daughter bought 6 for my birthday 7 years ago and she is the last one ! Still lays eggs although she molted back in March and looked rough for quite awhile. But she is all feathered out and acts like a spring chicken!
Edited by klinemar - 12 May 2022 at 9:01pm
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LouSWPA
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Clinton, Pa
Points: 24021
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Posted: 12 May 2022 at 8:54pm |
 Dave in PA wrote:
Yep, we lost a chicken yesterday, found her in the pen. The other hens were going crazy, that is why the wife went out to look. So now we have 7, started with 12. I can't remember when our son got them, but I think 5 or 6 years ago??? Dumb question here, how long is the life of a hen chicken?? I guess I could google it! We did lose 2 in the past few months. I suspect foul play. Ok, all joking aside, any signs of a break in? I have lost plenty of chickens, finally, put up game cams. Racoons! and once they discover they are there, they are relentless . They also would not leave my wifes bird feeders alone. I eventually won that battle though, put the feeders hanging eight feet from a steel pipe! If the other hens are squawking I doubt they re dying of natural causes |
Edited by LouSWPA - 12 May 2022 at 9:12pm
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I am still confident of this;
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27
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klinemar
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Michigan
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Posted: 12 May 2022 at 9:04pm |
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Chickens can get an impacted egg.I lost 2 hens from that. I have a good pen that raccoons can't get into.
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LouSWPA
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Location: Clinton, Pa
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Posted: 12 May 2022 at 9:21pm |
klinemar wrote:
Chickens can get an impacted egg.I lost 2 hens from that. I have a good pen that raccoons can't get into. Ya, I was more replying to Dave, he said he had lost 2 or 3 recently. I know about the impacted egg, although I never experienced it, on the other hand I never had hens last very long, longest i had was about two years, before the coon got them. They'd (coon) do a lot of damage to the coupe too. kinda sucks because they got to be pets, they'd fly up and set on my shoulder when I was oui in the yard |
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I am still confident of this;
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27
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shameless dude
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Joined: 10 Apr 2017
Location: east NE
Points: 13611
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Posted: 12 May 2022 at 9:55pm |
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we also can't keep chickys very long, longest was about 1-1/2 years. coons will get them eventually, when they do come, they will get one every other night. foxes are crafty at getting them too. also...when coons get bored, after they have made their nightly kill, they will kill the rest in the coop or pen just for entertainment. foxes will do the same. usually if the foxes figger out the chickys are out during the day, they will sleep at night and come for them in broad daylight. they like to dig under a pen fence too. usually coons will go over the top of a pen. and yes...a coon can unlatch a door. i love rhode island reds, but they just don't last very long!
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Ray54
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Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Location: Paso Robles, Ca
Points: 4346
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Posted: 13 May 2022 at 11:36am |
How long a chicken lives depends how much you want it.  My wife is not a bird person something about feathers. But spends a lots of time and money feeding hummers. They even land on her as she puts more food out. 
She cares for all animals even if she does not want to be friends with them.
She felt my mothers chickens needed more freedom as the house and pen is small. So after my mothers stroke she took charge. Had to turn them out before she left for work as the rest of us left them penned until afternoon so all eggs where in the nest boxes.
But she was counting the days until the hens where gone. So here comes the oldest kid with chicks, cause his "chick of the day" said they where so cute.
Mother was not to happy with "her" eldest. One of that batch lived 14 years as she counted every day. Most times chickens are lucky to get 5 or 6 years old.
Racoons are real pain if you want to keep chickens. The pen had chicken wire overlapped by a foot or 2 and they learned to slip between. Even caring a chicken off. So you tie it together.
Edited by Ray54 - 13 May 2022 at 11:42am
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shameless dude
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Location: east NE
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Posted: 13 May 2022 at 1:28pm |
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the last batch of chickies i had were also turned out in daytime, locked up at night, and for a little added protection i strung a hot wire around the top of the outside pen, it was placed about 5 inches out from the top of the pen wire. the very first night we heard horrible sounds coming from outside....yes we heard the noise in the house! i ran outside and found a coon in between the hot wire and the pen fence, it was getting a good strike each time the fencer zapped! dunno why it stayed there...maybe the shock? i took my .22 and finished it off. heard a few other rucuses after that thru the year, and on thru the years they figgered out how to get them...one atta time til gone. haven't replaced them yet, maybe if i build a regular coop?
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Dave in PA
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Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: Mars/Wexford PA
Points: 2616
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Posted: 13 May 2022 at 2:25pm |
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Out of the 5 we lost, 2 were egg bound we think, This last one, no idea for sure. The other 2, rather not say, but stress related. For the record, the birds are in a pen, wire fence, with a roof. The coop is enclosed and attached as well. No predators can get in.
Edited by Dave in PA - 13 May 2022 at 2:26pm
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klinemar
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Michigan
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Posted: 13 May 2022 at 8:13pm |
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Local man raised Pheasants to release. When the Pheasants got old enough to fly a family of Great Horned Owls came for dinner. Mother Owl would swoop low over the pen scaring the Pheasants into flight where they got their heads stuck in the netting. Then the young Owls would land and chew the Pheasants heads off! I don't believe he raises Pheasants anymore!
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