(Semi) newbie here with many, MANY questions!

[Snagrio]

Chickens eat mice ??

I always thought they were herbivores !?!


Kinda reminds me of England a while back when we had mad cow disease.. pretty sure the food manufacturers had started adding meat products to the cow’s dried food to keep costs down ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Nope, they are obligate omnivores. Grains, leafy greens, fruits and veggies for sure, but they'll also take insects and any animal small enough to tackle (yes, even snakes). In fact, they are also cannibals. Even as day old chicks, if one in a group starts bleeding, there's a more than good chance the others will peck it to death. The sight of blood throws them into a frenzy. To top it off, break one of their own eggs in front of them and they'll consume the entire thing, shell and all. I even on occasion give them carcasses from roast chicken and turkey, they completely pick the bones clean.

In short, chickens ain't the cutesy little things you see in media where they just nibble on grass and pellets, they're surprisingly tenacious creatures.

...Although this time it didn't go according to plan. It was already sundown by the time I threw the mouse in their pen, so it refroze overnight to the point where it didn't garner much interest from them. Ah well.

[Zincubus]

Nope, they are obligate omnivores. Grains, leafy greens, fruits and veggies for sure, but they'll also take insects and any animal small enough to tackle (yes, even snakes). In fact, they are also cannibals. Even as day old chicks, if one in a group starts bleeding, there's a more than good chance the others will peck it to death. The sight of blood throws them into a frenzy. To top it off, break one of their own eggs in front of them and they'll consume the entire thing, shell and all. I even on occasion give them carcasses from roast chicken and turkey, they completely pick the bones clean.

In short, chickens ain't the cutesy little things you see in media where they just nibble on grass and pellets, they're surprisingly tenacious creatures.

...Although this time it didn't go according to plan. It was already sundown by the time I threw the mouse in their pen, so it refroze overnight to the point where it didn't garner much interest from them. Ah well.

Interesting... I knew that pigs will eat anything.. I’ve seen documentaries where they’ve said back in the day of a criminal or an ‘insignificant’ died or was killed they just chucked the bodies into the pig pens ..


Guess that meant a few months later they were eating pigs that ate humans !!??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Snagrio]

Interesting... I knew that pigs will eat anything.. I’ve seen documentaries where they’ve said back in the day of a criminal or an ‘insignificant’ died or was killed they just chucked the bodies into the pig pens ..


Guess that meant a few months later they were eating pigs that ate humans !!??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Oh yeah, pigs are even more opportunistic. In the wild they'll truly eat anything that suits their fancy, and thanks to their strong yet maneuverable nose, nothing can stop them from getting to it. Also, due to feral hogs (which are very dangerous, more than most people would think), it's more than possible that people have been killed and subsequently eaten by swine before. Not hunted necessarily, but after killing someone they likely wouldn't have let a perfectly good corpse go to waste...

All this to say, the overriding majority of our non-venomous noodle friends are far less scary in reality in terms of what they can do to you compared to most of the "common everyday" critters folks think of.

I mean heck, even in my own household I'd sooner get bitten by my BP than my green cheek conure. With the former it'd be a few pinpricks at worst, with the latter it'd be a gaping, gushing wound if he got a hard enough bite in. And if I had a bigger bird like a macaw or cockatoo, it's be possible they'd outright break a finger if they were angry enough.

[Bogertophis]

...In short, chickens ain't the cutesy little things you see in media where they just nibble on grass and pellets, they're surprisingly tenacious creatures...

Just consider the much larger prehistoric creatures they evolved from.......

Yet some are wonderful pets too- I know someone (who hasn't been around here much lately) with a pet rooster in the family that loves to be cuddled & that even "purrs".

[Snagrio]

Just consider the much larger prehistoric creatures they evolved from.......

Yet some are wonderful pets too- I know someone (who hasn't been around here much lately) with a pet rooster in the family that loves to be cuddled & that even "purrs".

I miss having roosters tbh. I've had several different flocks over the years (have moved a number of times and at some places we couldn't keep chickens). One was an absolute darling, would sit on my shoulder like a parrot and had this special happy crow he would make only when he saw me come outside.

Then with my current flock there were two, and one of them was similar to the previous flock's male. Calmest thing and would ride my shoulder. Unfortunately both had to be rehomed because roosters are both noisier than a rock concert (despite popular depictions they crow ALL DAY LONG and not just at the crack of dawn) and because if you have a small rooster to hen ratio in a closed space, the hens eventually have their backs very messed up due to the males constantly mounting them, often to the point of bleeding.

On the bright side though, they were spared from the fryer and went to someone who wanted roosters for his flock of 100 hens, so they got to live out the high life.

[Bogertophis]

I think it's a lot like keeping snakes...when you keep an open mind, you find that many kinds of creatures have more personality than what is typically portrayed or believed by most people. It's up to people like us to be "their voice" & their PR (public relations) firm.

[Snagrio]

Even at his size (somewhere above 2 feet or so) it's remarkable how much strength lies within his coils. He had his neck wrapped around my thumb while I've been on the computer, and after a little bit I noticed I couldn't feel my thumb anymore.

[Bogertophis]

Even at his size (somewhere above 2 feet or so) it's remarkable how much strength lies within his coils. He had his neck wrapped around my thumb while I've been on the computer, and after a little bit I noticed I couldn't feel my thumb anymore.

I know...it's easy to underestimate how strong these little "noodles" can be.

[Snagrio]

Something I've never thought about before was to check out Facebook marketplace (I've only looked through Craigslist up to now). I'm blown away from the selection, like, wow. So many nice PVC enclosures for less than ordering a new one, sometimes even entire stacks of them at a discount, and no waiting half a year for one either.

And if I get a stacked setup then that's setting up for the future.

Going to wait until all my aquarium business is finished (just at the cusp of adding new fish to a quarantine tank I've set up) but definitely going to keep a close eye on the place to see if a good deal pops up within a reasonable driving distance.

[Zincubus]

Something I've never thought about before was to check out Facebook marketplace (I've only looked through Craigslist up to now). I'm blown away from the selection, like, wow. So many nice PVC enclosures for less than ordering a new one, sometimes even entire stacks of them at a discount, and no waiting half a year for one either.

And if I get a stacked setup then that's setting up for the future.

Going to wait until all my aquarium business is finished (just at the cusp of adding new fish to a quarantine tank I've set up) but definitely going to keep a close eye on the place to see if a good deal pops up within a reasonable driving distance.

That all sounds fascinating .,

You should start a new thread showing your progress and purchases .. like a visual diary we could all share. ?!?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro