Recent content by TSP

@g0vtmule, that’s the exact reason I put lights up. Molt was over but light of day means no eggs unless artificially stimulated. Took less than two weeks to wake them back up.

I used to grow my eggplants in containers in the chicken yard, but up high enough the birds couldn’t get to them. Eggplant is also a “nightshade”. We had a late afternoon thunderstorm roll through two years ago that knocked over three huge eggplant planters. My birds couldn’t be called smart...

About half my flock is 2 and half 3 years old. My 2 year olds molted and stopped laying this past fall. Even when they were fully refeathered, they weren’t laying. I took two old LED fishtank light fixtures and put them in the coop on a timer because at 46* N latitude, we probably had less...

Northern Wisconsin here. Some breeds do better than others in the cold, but even my huge, cold hardy Bielefelders come in when it’s below zero here. If it’s going to be well below zero, I will even close the pop door at night to keep drafts to a minimum. My coop is otherwise well ventilated...

I don’t know what the “correct” answer is, but I have been line breeding the same rooster to his sisters, daughters and grand daughters for several generations. I have seen absolutely no I’ll effects as of yet…. I really don’t know how long this can be carried on and have been wondering the...

“Zillions of chickens” is what I’m afraid of. I have room for about a dozen when it gets really cold (northern Wisconsin) so I’m going to have to talk to all my chicken keeping friends about taking some babies off my hands. They are so cute though. Once they are moving around, I’ll post some...

Looked this morning 12 chicks, one unhatched egg. If it hasn’t hatched by this evening, I’ll candle it.

I did take a look at a couple of them just as you suggested, in the dark with a flashlight a couple of days ago. Every one I picked up was viable, but I didn’t look at all of them. Last year when I hatched a batch in the incubator, we got 100% hatch. I hatched a batch for a friend this spring...

@JacinLarkwell thanks! my wife is of about the same opinion. Once they’re all hatched and eating\drinking I’m going to open the door and see how it goes.

The main flock is 13 hens and a rooster and they have a fenced in “yard“ 50’ x 50’, but they almost always have an open gate to bug hunt all over the property. The coops are both inside the fenced in area.

Higher but not the alpha hen. as far as catching… Not so much. They aren’t pets and only one of the hens will suffer the indignity of being picked up and held without making an ungodly fuss. When the hens start squawking, the rooster has an anxiety attack and literally jumps up and down at...

No. The smaller coop is walled and she sitting on the nest inside it. I can open the door so she can come and go, or leave it closed. I was kind of inclined to keep the door shut until the other six hatched or at least until I know they are done hatching. I suspect there’s more to come as...

They are Bielefelders by the way. I didn’t think they went broody. This is a first for our little homestead.

A few weeks ago, I thought I was missing a hen. She had been conspicuously absent for over a week. I moved a bale of straw to clean the coop and found her sitting on a clutch of 13 eggs. My rooster is a nice looking guy, but doesn’t get the job done with all of the flock. Some he likes...

Oppenheimer is a beauty. My roo is coming up on his second birthday and just seems to keep growing. My son named him Cogburn. He is about the calmest brute of a roo ever. A question for the Bielefelder faithful: how often have you had a hen go broody? One of my 2 year olds is currently...