Recent content by SLWyandotte

how cold can an egg get and still be viable? the chickens have a heat lamp above their perch but the nest boxes are on the other end of the coop. some of my girls lay a bit late and i gather their eggs in the morning. it is getting down into the 30's here at night. i know the eggs that freeze...

some breeds of meat birds lay eegs. just not very many and they rarely go broody from the research i've done. the most common meat breed the cornish x is a cross of a few meat breeds that grow fast and large. they actually out grow their ability to breed before they reach breeding age. they just...

well in theory a rooster won't crow unless he can lift his head, so attaching a string from his foot to his head or high neck would prevent him from lifting his head and stop the crowing. it's a theory and not sure how you would attach the string, or if it would be comfortable for him to wear.

carry a broom or something similar. when he gets uppity Give him a good smack with it. establish that you are just too big to attack, and when he does it just hurts and accomplishes nothing. running from him just encourages him. an open handed slap to the head works too. i broke mine from...

i went out to feed the flock this morning and both my roos were bloody from their combs to their shoulders. they are both SLW about 8 1/2 months old. Big Boy has been the dominate roo since they started breeding while White Wings was the second most dominate roo out of 11 roos from the batch...

is it normal for a new broody hen to be a bit confused about exactly what to do? my lead hen went broody so i let her spend 2 nights with no eegs. last night i gave her 4 eegs. this morning i went out to feed the rest of the flock and she stood up off the eegs and just stood there like she was...

ok i usually mark my eggs with a pencil with the date they were laid. it doesn't effect eating them, but will it effect them hatching? i know a marker might so i use a pencil. will the pencil lead hurt them?

a thick band of powered garden lime will keep out snakes. it gets between the belly scales and burns them. they stay out of it. its good for your plants but not the best for animals. it's not toxic, but it is caustic enough that if it stays on the skin for a while it will cause a chemical burn...

ok i have 12 hens that are just starting to lay. i had 1 nest box and when i got 6 eggs in one day i added 2 more. unfortunately i went to check for eggs a few minutes ago and had 3 hens trying to share the same nest box. the first box is a large milk create about 18"x24"x12" so it could...

Random compilation of ideas from this forum. Paraphrased and cited ideas. i'll edit it to add as i read through the forum. i know it is a bit common sense and chaotic but i'm compiling as i go i may organize it later. hope it helps by consolidating everything in one place. use pre-fab chain...

incubation for a chicken is 19 to 21 days. 19 is usually under a hen and 21 is usually in a bator, can go till 22. if you have a brooder set up your heat lamp and see what happens of help the little fellows out. i have a feeling you don't want to let the die. but if they get cold they will. if...

depends on what you can do. you could put them in an incubator. and see what happens. or you could help them out of the shell and see what happens. maybe try to give them to momma. or you could let nature take it's course.

if they are hatchery birds i would guess that it is mutation caused by inbreeding. the more inbreed the more mutations. another consideration is the number of chickens hatched each day some 1:10,000 or something will be deformed regardless of any outside effects. thats evolution even if most...

didn't know where else to put this. if a hen is given insufficient calcium, will this cause her to have weak bones. i know in mammals that a calcium deficiency in the blood and muscle will cause the body to cannibalize the bones for the required calcium causing weak bones. but will this happen...

could be depression or grief, for lack of a better term. chickens are very social animals. could be the heat. could be going into molt. could be going broody. could be just a phase. could be a combination of any of them.