Recent content by Mossy Dell

I bought a pig notcher but it seems huge for my newly hatched game chickens! Maybe I didn't get the small?

I heard back from Brinsea, a nice rep who emailed and had me call him. He suggested three fixes: —see if the cracked housings can be glued (doubtful), —see if a longer screw can be used to get a bite in the housing (almost as doubtful), or —buy a new top skin for $70 and transfer the guts...

I had this exact problem and decided to lightly lubricate the screws at last cleaning. As a consequence, apparently I over-tightened them. When removing or re-installing the screws after cleaning this year, two housings cracked. See my post just uploaded reviewing the incubator and criticizing...

The Brinsea Ovation 56 EX is the best incubator I've used in decades of poultry raising. The Brinsea is rock solid on temperature control. It's excellent on humidity for most of incubation period and decent to good on late stage humidity. The latter is one of those get-to-know the device issues...

Thanks, Debbie. Seems like between you and Coach my answer is that winter eradication efforts can work. I'll just keep at it . . .

But if they essentially hibernate, they are not feeding. So Ivermectin in the bird's blood does no good, and smothering agents would be less effective. I hypothesize!

Coach, I agree I'm impatient. All the same, do you know if these mites are dormant in winter? It seems a huge waste of time to hit this as hard as I have if the mites do not become very vulnerable until warmer weather.

I'm treating my first case of Scaley Leg Mites, in an introduced bird. I've treated the bird with Ivermectin and coating the legs, starting about 6 weeks ago, and have seen minimal improvement. A key question this raises for me is whether in winter these microscopic mites go dormant and are not...

You may be right. But almost all cockers I've known think roundheads are too smart to be deeply game. They have a distant look in their eye! And it's a widely recognized problem finding steel game Aseels, which is where American roundheads began. But with regular roundheads bred from Aseels many...

Since I've always loved blueface Hatch, but dislike those with pale faces, I love that rooster. And Lanky. Beauties. These would be my ideal free range males, though maybe with 1/4–1/8 roundhead to put a pea comb on them especially if I were north of Georgia or SC.

My experience and what some others have told me: permanently freeranging flocks, of even active competition fighters, can form peaceable existence with enough room for them to claim their own territories. And have heard of one cocker who conditioned cocks in fairly close proximity by discing...

That's your mating, right there: Lanky x Aseel cross. My hunch is the best weights for free rangers not heavily supplemented are 4 lb. cocks and 3 lb hens. Possibly a half pound larger for each. They'd have the wings and strength to run, fly, evade and roost high. A 4.5 lb cock with sharp...

He looks like a cross I made years ago when I had a flock, in southern Ohio, like you are developing. I mated a spangled American gamecock to a buff Orpington hen and got a perfect pullet. By which I mean she was large but sleek, kind of like a very large game hen. Then I mated her to a black...

Gail Damerow, The Chicken Health Handbook: Injectable [1% solution] and drench forms [.8%] of Ivermectin can be given by mouth at rate of 0.25 cc for large breed chickens. Repeat in 10 days to two weeks. I added the percentages. Not sure which matters. But get a small syringe, 3 cc/ml. Down...