About 10 years ago, a buddy of mine here in PA decided to raise him some chickens. He built a basic laying shed, leaving them "free roaming" in his large yard, surrounded by woods. He bought I believe a dozen hen chicks. Turned out 3 were roosters, and none of the birds made it to winter due to the abundance of predators in the area.
When I was a kid, an uncle gave me some fertilized chicken eggs, and a small incubator to hatch them from. They hatched normally, but one couldn't get out of its shell, then gave up. I removed it from the incubator, and slowly removed the shell with tweezers. Kept the chick inside my shirt for warmth a couple hours before putting it back with the rest of the chicks.
Well, turned out the chick having a hard time was a rooster, and I soon learned the term "Imprinting" when it came to birds. That rooster, "George", followed me around like a dog, and took little interest in the other chickens. He would sleep at night in the small pine tree under my bedroom window. He was fearless, and would attack any dog, cat, or person he did not know that came in the yard. After 4 years, he met his fate, pinned down under chicken wire by a neighbor's dog. Even so, the dog still suffered a deep cut on his nose from one of Georges spurs.
Nowadays, I just pay the two bucks for a carton of eggs at the market...
Larry
