Recent content by PaintedDreams

Thanks everyone who posted meaningful advice. Dufus, you crack me up. We seem to think a lot alike. The last snake that was in my hen house didn't fare so well. He was chasing my week old chick around the 55 gallon barrel (cut in half) we had for Momma (the one who died last week) and...

Lost one of my best broody hens last night because she wouldn't leave her nest. Found her in a strange position in her nest this morning with no eggs under her. Took her to the vet this morning (I work there) to ask him why he thought she died. He said he was 100% sure that a snake swallowed...

I have a little banny hen who is being broody for the first time. The problem is that her comb is pale and her feathers are dull. Just a few days ago my husband and I watched as she took a dust bath and was acting just fine. I don't know whether her condition now is due to being broody or...

I have a roo (who is the son of my late roo) who is not very nice to the ladies! He doesn't court them just chases them around and jumps them whenever he has the urge. He is so unlike his dad who was the kindest roo I've ever met. That makes me mad, but I know its just nature. But recently...

Not really looking for advise...just have a story to share. My 8 year old daughter is an avid animal/chicken lover. So when she saw the sign at TSC that said "Chicks and ducks now here" of course she begged to stop. We had a few extra moments so we ran in and were happily playing with the...

I don't have any current pics, only from when they were little peeps. I will definitely get some and post them when I figure out how. How do you tell for sure if they are hens or roos? I am apparently not a very good gender guesser as I had a pair of "male" rabbits in a pen together for a...

Ok I am so confused. I have a chicken pen full of what I thought were all hens. 4 of them we hatched out this summer and the other 8 are definitely hens. Our daddy roo died this summer after I had given all of the chicks that I was sure were roos away. I kept 4 of the chicks that I was sure...

Thank you all for the kind words. I guess I just felt silly crying because so many people raise chickens for meat and not as members of their family. I have a small 12 acre farm with many, many family members. I become very attached to all my critters so our farm is more of a petting zoo. I...

I am very sad to be writing this and actually feel a little silly crying as I do so, but our very first rooster died on Friday. He was only 1 1/2. The heat got to be too much for him and took its toll. We tried to save him (even took him to the vet) and he did rally before he passed. We...

Our newest hen's name is Hillary Fluff...my daughter named her. We also have: Lucy (BO) Ethel (EE) Lucky (EE) Raven (Black) Puffers (EE) Ruby Jane (RR) Crystal Camo Peep (Dom) Checkers (Dom) And now we need to come up with 2 new names. 1 for our peep (I think its a hen) and 1 for our new rooster...

We tried hanging our chicks upside down by their feet. By this method we decided we had 5 pullets, 1 roo & 1 unknow. I am going to try the scruff method and see what I come up with. Big but though Iswear 1 of the "pullets" was trying to crow and they are only 3 weeks old. Anyone have a roo...

I agree. I have hatch EE eggs 3 times in the incubator and not once have I been able to see anything when I have candled.

I was so excited Monday morning when I looked into my incubator and found 7 very healthy looking little peeps. Still have 5 eggs in there, but I don't think they are going to hatch. Still gonna give them another day or so just in case. YEAH!!!

Going into lock down in the morning. Can't wait for the hatch!

I have 5 chicks hatched on our farm 3 weeks ago. I took a close look at them tonight and noticed that 2 of them have bigger combs than the other 3. I have only had chickens for a year, but we started with 6 chicks and by 3 weeks I had guessed that 3 of them were roos and I was right. I am no...