Yes, you read that right. See, it started like this:
A local guy who has a pretty good chunk of land here at the foothills of the Appalachians had a garden for his family along with a few chickens. Big white chickens, stayed in a coop at night, you know, your normal chickens. But they were getting pretty old, and someone gave him a couple of chicks which were black. Did you know that white chickens and black chickens will not hang out together? Me either. But somehow these chicks did well enough that they survived, partly because they can fly. I've seen chickens buzz the ground for a few yards before, but I mean these can get about 6 feet off the ground and travel a hundred yards or more. So they don't stay in a coop, they roost in trees. Or wherever else they feel like it. So if you can locate the nests you can collect eggs, but some of the nests have never been found so they are multiplying.
It will be interesting to see how far they spread. For now they pretty much stay around his place. All the old white chickens are gone now ( predators got them) so it's just the black ones. They are beautiful really, iridescent green and blue plumes and bright red combs. But he is having a problem with a few roosters in particular which have no hens and are harassing the others. So he has invited me over to take out just the offenders (which he can evidently identify) without hurting any of the others. We're talking 22 head shots. On chickens. Should be an interesting challenge. He doesn't want them full of shot since he plans to clean them and eat them, and you can't get near them. He's tried box traps, they won't go near them. You can't get within about 30 yards of them. They part like water and if you chase them they fly away.
A local guy who has a pretty good chunk of land here at the foothills of the Appalachians had a garden for his family along with a few chickens. Big white chickens, stayed in a coop at night, you know, your normal chickens. But they were getting pretty old, and someone gave him a couple of chicks which were black. Did you know that white chickens and black chickens will not hang out together? Me either. But somehow these chicks did well enough that they survived, partly because they can fly. I've seen chickens buzz the ground for a few yards before, but I mean these can get about 6 feet off the ground and travel a hundred yards or more. So they don't stay in a coop, they roost in trees. Or wherever else they feel like it. So if you can locate the nests you can collect eggs, but some of the nests have never been found so they are multiplying.
It will be interesting to see how far they spread. For now they pretty much stay around his place. All the old white chickens are gone now ( predators got them) so it's just the black ones. They are beautiful really, iridescent green and blue plumes and bright red combs. But he is having a problem with a few roosters in particular which have no hens and are harassing the others. So he has invited me over to take out just the offenders (which he can evidently identify) without hurting any of the others. We're talking 22 head shots. On chickens. Should be an interesting challenge. He doesn't want them full of shot since he plans to clean them and eat them, and you can't get near them. He's tried box traps, they won't go near them. You can't get within about 30 yards of them. They part like water and if you chase them they fly away.