Recent content by zowieyellowflame

My experience is that I have success with it if the chicks accept the mama and they will if they are tiny and don't know any better. Generally if they are very young she will take them when she has eggs or golf balls. (we frequently trick a broody!) But she won't take meat birds and I doubt...

We had a hen sitting. It was her first time, the eggs were abandoned once or twice and they got cold. I assumed none would make it but on hatch day, there were 3 pips. After an entire day I ended up helping a tiny bit. I just broke a tiny piece of each shell and noticed the membrane was very...

Hello, I have a 3 yr old hen that I raised from an incubator. she always has been a bit special to us. We call her red, she is a rir mix. when born she had spraddle leg which I successfully fixed with bandaids. She is normal except that she lays just a tiny egg about once every 3 or 4 weeks...

Hennie is doing better tonight. we took away her food besides 1.5 hardboiled eggs with about 4 tbsp full fat greek yogurt and 2 tbsp olive oil. Her crop is now half the size. Her crop feels squishy. You know those stress balls that you squeeze and it holds its shape for a moment.... like...

I gotta tell you..... in our colder climate, I don't think worms are a problem here. I have gone to the feed stores and the vets around here and when I ask for dewormer, people look like I have 3 heads. I am not neive, I bet we do have worms but likely to less of an extend to you guys in the...

Awww!! He was a nice looking fella! After some time, happy memories will replace some of your sadness. "Don't be sad it is over, just be glad it happened." This is a quote I have printed on my dogs box of ashes. Just a reminder that it is so nice to have them when we have them! When they...

I have a regular brown egg laying hen (Hennie) that just suddenly took ill yesterday morning. Here is some info.... Housing... insulated coop with access to outdoors on decent days, which is about 5 or 6 days per week. bedding... shavings and straw, straw mostly for nesting boxes. cleaned...

Thanks for that info! It is great!

Ring neck

Hello! I am going to try raising heritage turkeys this time. I sometimes see ads where someone is selling a breeding pr of turkeys that are 3 yrs old. Will a turkey hen go broody at that age? At what age does she "retire"? Are there any signs that they are old?Are old, "retired" hens and...

Hello, How easy are pheasants to raise? Do they breed and raise young ones well? At what age will the pheasant begin to breed? Do they need a large area in the barn and a large area outside? Is it practical to raise them for meat or do people usually just have them for ornamental appeal?

Today we butchered our first big turkeys. (we did 1 a few weeks ago due to leg problems but he was small) I had a bright idea of washing them in cool water before scalding them because I wanted them to be cleaner. NOT A GOOD IDEA! The feathers all seized up and it was much more difficult to...

I just googled turkey beard broad breasted white and on their white chest is a black patch, so yup! I guess it is a beard! Thanks everyone!

Mine played kickball with a empty gallon jug in the yard. There wasn't a lot of umm... structure to the game.... but it was some sort of a game. When they were small in their little pen, I suspended a small pop bottle from the screened ceiling and they would poke it, just to see it bounce...

Oh my God! I can't believe you have snakes that kill turkeys!