I butchered a batch of mutt cockerels this week, just skinned and took out the breast, thigh, and leg. After cooking, I realized one of the birds had a very long keel bone without any of the usual cartilage at the end. Wondering if anyone else has seen this? Now I wish I knew which one, but I...
Long story short-ish, I had a very confused broody, off the nest for 2-3 hours at a time, even laid a few eggs while setting. But I let her keep some eggs, which she abandoned morning of day 24. I decided to crack them open and see when they quit and one peeped at me!! After a very rough...
I dispatched a young OE rooster today, earlier than planned but he had injured himself pretty significantly. Short story he was trapped in a small space for anywhere up to 14 hours (that's been fixed) and in his struggles created some open wounds and covered himself in feces. Due to the...
I purchased these guys as straight run EE/OEs, the breeder had a golden cuckoo marans and an EE rooster over EE and cuckoo marans hens. They are ~8 weeks old, she couldn't remember the exact hatch date. I'm thinking 5 cockerels and 3 pullets, if I'm really, really, really lucky. Hard part...
Thought I was doing everything right, nice solid coop and covered run, free range during the day on 1 1/2 acres inside 6" chain link fencing, tons of trees and brush for cover from hawks. Assumed I might loose a bird at some point to the hawks, but I lost 2 hens and a pullet yesterday...
Wondering if anyone has one of these? I saw one on Craigslist for $150, called the seller and they say it's in good working condition. I can't find any info online so must be an older/discontinued model, but from what I saw of similar models, this seems like a really cheap price.
I bought 5 chicks (4 different breeds) from a local feed store back in early April to augment my layers, started getting suspicious at about 4 weeks, and have now confirmed 3 of the 5 are cockerels!!! And these were all sexed pullets, no SR. With those odds, I may as well just hatch my own...
After doing a bunch of reading and looking at all the pics in Opa's thread about his new design, I decided to take a crack at building my own set of roll out nest boxes. I have a sweet little EE who lays 5 large/jumbo green eggs each week but has become an egg eater, if this means I don't have...
So I know it's really early to tell, but I'm very suspicious about this chick. 7 days old today, larger than the others by 15-25%, the wing feathers are noticeably shorter than it's hatch mates and the comb is noticeably larger/wider... Supposed to be a pullet, but I'm wondering if it's a...
I have a 6 day old columbian wyandotte chick, weighs 1 3/4oz, right in range with the other chicks of same age, Cackle hatchery. She has what appears to be a pelvic deformity, on palpation it doesn't feel like a tumor, feels just like the other chicks pelvic areas, but "hanging" low. With...
I have two 1yo birds, and ameraucana roo (not so nice) and an EE hen (egg eater), who are destined for the butcher block. I've never butchered before, so plan to at least dispatch and pluck to get the experience. But is it worth the effort of cleaning completely and cooking birds at this age, or...
I bought a couple mottled javas locally and the pullet has spotted shanks. I'm just curious what are the genetics behind this, is it linked to the mottling gene or... She will be egg laying eye candy in a mixed flock, I'm just trying to further my knowledge of chicken genetics. Did an internet...
I have a mixed flock of hatchery girls, all just 1yo, and all lay a light brown egg. My black sexlink lays the darkest egg, and that is still just a light/medium brown So imagine my surprise when I went out today and found this in the nest box...
I was even more surprised about this though...
Looking for some Partridge and Columbian large fowl Wyandottes - missed the standard spring opening for ordering from places like Urch/Turnland. Can be day old chicks (SR is ok) or started birds. If started birds, would prefer trios. I'm in Central Oregon, so would need to be within driving...
Not sure if this is the right thread for this, apologies if it isn't, I just didn't see one that really fit the topic. Anyway, I have a Black Ameraucana cockerel with these odd indentations/crimping on his tail feathers. At first I thought it was just damage (I got him at ~6 wks of age and he...
Saw this posting on my local Craigslist and got confused! I didn't think the BBS genetics worked this way. I thought Bl (blue) was dominant, if they are both "visually black" wouldn't that mean they can't carry the blue gene and there is no way to get blue/splash offspring? Maybe I'm missing...
When I got this Ameraucana I was told it's a blue cockeral but with the comb development and black spots on the feathers I'm thinking it might actually be a splash pullet? S/he hasn't started to crow or lay yet, and the comb is pretty red, but it just changed in the last month (s/he's ~ 41/2...
I have a happy little rainbow flock of 15 pullets (3 EE, 2 BR, 3 BO, 3 SLW, 3 LB, 1 blk sexlink) and one cockeral (Gold Campine), all currently ~7 weeks old and raised together so no drama. Currently in a large coop with covered run (we have hawks), but I plan to free range the gang daily on...
New to all this and still trying to figure it out. S/he is just over 6 weeks, supposed to be a pullet. Hoping for some reassurance. I've read the tips/hints post and to me the color and comb say pullet, just not sure with those tail feathers.
The neighborhood roosters were crowing this morning and my 5 1/2 week old Gold Campine Pip (short for Pip Squeak) decided to try to joining in. It was adorable, a little earlier than expected, but I knew he was a roo so no surprise.