Recent content by Thistledown

I have an 11 month old banty frizzle who has been well until about 2 months ago, when she started to lose feathers. At this point she has no rump or tail feathers (although still has feathering around the vent with no signs of diarrhea) and is missing feathers on her sides, and some on the back...

My oldest girl just started laying at 4 months. She's not quite regular yet, but she's trying!

This is Snap. I've referring to this little guy as a fellow for months, mainly on account of his very long hackles. He's six months old.Now I have a banty roo who's 'come of age' so to speak, and he is all over Snap all the time. I'm wondering if I've made a mistake, or if this banty is just...

*sorry, broody not brooch :)

My americauna hen recently collected a clutch of 17 infertile eggs from her coop and began to set. Not having the guts to try and break her, I purchased a dozen fertile Dorking eggs and switched them while she was out of the nest. She sat on them for a few days, then began kicking them out of...

I lost them all. I waited til day 23 just in case then opened 3. They were all the same - reasonable amount of moisture in the egg ( no shrink wrap, etc), chicks in position, but all still containing a fair amount of yolk. I can't figure it out - everything seemed to be going perfectly! What a...

I wondered if that might be the case. Also I just read on line that very large breeds might take an extra day to hatch.Too bad I didn't read that before opening the incubator! Thank you for the advice!

A while back I tried to hatch out some of my Cochin eggs in my homemade incubator. (i had tried some dorking eggs previously and killed them all) By day23 there was no action at all, so I shut the thing down and surmised I must have had the humidity too high. I was too disheartened to do an...

I've had numerous reports of Fox sightings near my place. Fingers crossed he just as dumb!

Thank you!

Phew! Thanks so much for your fast responses. The ordeal is over. I moved the brooder to the kitchen and indeed the other chicks peeps got a response from him. He was stuck under the dishwasher, which I had to remove before extricating him with the help of kitchen tongs, a flashlight, a spatula...

In an unexpected and unfortunate incident this morning, my 2 week old Silkie escaped the brooder. The door to the room was open, so he could be anywhere. I have been on my hands and knees with a flashlight and locked up my cats. Has anyone had this happen before? Is there a way to lure in a...