Hi,
I have a question in regards to leg/beak color in my Austra white chicks and I'm hoping someone can help????
These chicks are about 3 weeks old, and I was reading that there is a sex link (of sorts) with this cross. I've looked at my chicks, and the ones with more pronounced combs...
I found it!! The old book is called "The chicken-growing, egg-laying, feather-plucking, incubating, caponizing, finger-licking handbook" by John Festus Adams.
There was an old book I rented from the library once, and I cannot remember the name of it, only that the title was like a mile long, lol.
If I remember right, there's several ways you could tell who's laying and who's not. In addition to what Cowgirl71 said, the vent of a bird who is laying...
Ha! I wish I were more You tube savvy and had a high speed connection, lol.
My Australorp roo keeps watch over our kitchen window and crows every time he sees us. He cocks his head sideways and listens to see what we're up to, and then crows at about 1 gajillion decibels. He's become so...
Omg Tala! Thank you for posting the pics. Awesome!!
Did your hens look like these guys when they were chicks? Looking at your hens, I'm thinking these ones will change color very little, if at all. Good to know the egg color. Do you find they lay as well as the WLeghorns?
Thanks
-Kyah
I'm SO excited!!! The chicks are hatching today! Yay!!
They look yellow, but they appear to have a few dark feathers on their backs. (???) Maybe they'll look different tho, when they dry off.
I'll post some pics later today when I move them to the brooder...
Do you think they will lay...
I've wanted to have a broody hen for many years and finally, last weekend it happened. (YAY!!!)
When I went out to gather the eggs, my cochin was all hunkered down in the nest; puffed up and picked at me when I took the eggs out. That's not like her at all - she's usually super friendly...
We used to have a squirrel problem here too. I leave the barn open on nice days to air it out, and the squirrels were going in and chewing holes in my feed bags. They liked to dig up our flower bulbs too.
I had some snap traps I'd bought from Walmart - I think (?) they're called tomcat rap...
I sure hope someone can tell me who is who. Maybe I do have all roos, I don't know.
These are not the best pics; it's really cloudy today, but here goes:
This is a Cochin X Aussie cross (#1):
And #2
Here's a pic from their backside:
This is the one that I think(???) is the roo...
I have 5 young Australorp chicks hatched on Feb. 22 and I still don't know what sex they are. I have looked all over the internet, and all over this site and I'm still not sure. There is one that I'm pretty sure is a roo, and I've tried comparing the others to him, but I really stink at this...
Thanks for the advice.
Hopefully they will inherit australorp personality??
I sure hope so. The Australorps are so gentle and laid back, but the leghorns are still a little flighty, even though I spent a lot of time with them when they were small.
I'll go ahead then, and put the roo in...
Hi!
Is this a good cross for home egg production? The roo is a black Australorp, and the 6 hens are white leghorns.
We did hatch out a few chicks from the Australorps; here's a pic of them when they were a few days old......
But what about a Australorp / Leghorn cross? Good idea or no?
We have a Little Giant incubator and set 15 eggs yesterday. I'm having trouble keeping the temp regulated though. Mostly at night because the house cools off when the fire dies down. It's been insanely cold here lately. Anyhow, I phoned the feed store and ordered a forced air kit, hoping it...
Sorry about your hens. I know how that feels.
We have a lot of predators here, and I learned (the hard way) that I have to make my coop extra secure. As much as I'd love to, I cannot even let my hens out to free range at all.
My coop is a remodeled tack room from when we had horses...
If you see one rat in the daytime, there are at least 100 more. It's insane how quickly they reproduce.
We had a war with rats 9 years ago when they tore an old barn down up the road. They migrated here, to my barn. They destroyed the garden, chewed holes all through the barn, pawed the...
I ignore my roosters. I pretend they don't exist. If I want to walk somewhere, they either get out of the way or they get stepped on or kicked out of the way. As a sidenote, they always get out of the way. If you watch the head rooster, the lower roosters always get out of his way. IF they...
Thanks so much for the advice, I really appreciate the help.
It's so helpful hearing what works for different people.
I just don't want to mess up and do anything that might turn this fella mean, if I can help it. I'm already very fond of him, he just doesn't know it, lol.
I actually...
Good morning,
I just bought a small flock of black australorps, 5 hens and one rooster. They are all young - 4 1/2-5 months old and seem very docile and laid back, roo included. And I'd like very much to keep it that way.
My experiences with roosters is limited, as I've only had a few...
Bobcats are bad news. I had one a few years ago. The snow was really deep and it was starving. It busted into the coop, and killed every chicken I had.
The thing was still in there in the morning when I went out to do the chores. I thought it was strange that I didn't hear the hens like I...