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I have a three year old hen that is acting broody. She is clucking and ruffling her feathers. The rooster, who is otherwise is a very nice guy, beating her at every opportunity. And he is smart, when he sees that I'm watching him, he does not do it, but the minute I turn the corner, he is on her...

I have a crazy idea: can I put spent plants from my garden into the chicken coop, on the floor, for them to compost it? I have deep litter on the floor, wood shavings. But because I don't spend enough effort to maintain compost pile properly, thought chickens might help me a bit. Yes? No?

I have a Hova bator with the fan. Temperature is stable at 99.5. Humidity around 65%, and 75% for the lockdown. Using an automated turner. First batch - 4 ducks out of 12 eggs. Now (day 28), 1 duck peeped but died. The rest are not even peeping, that's out of 8 eggs. Eggs are from my peckins...

Guys, I think I have a broody ! A hen has not left the nest for two days, and it looks like she is sleeping there even during the day. I have never had a broody before. What do I do??? Should I put water and food next to her? Or let her manage it herself? And after (and if) she hatches the...

Found a dead hen on Sunday. Then another, young rooster, died in front of me (separated from the flock), bleeding through the nose or beek. I put them on Duramycin yesterday. So far no more deaths, but two chickens bleeded on the roost at night, I found blood on the roosts. They are both hardly...

One of my hens started sitting longer in the nest. When she comes out, there is no new eggs. So she does not lay an egg, but just sits there. I would actually like her to try her hand at rearing chicks. Any way I can encourage her to sit? She does not sit 24x7 and goes on the roost at night.

Out of 12 eggs zero ducklings! Last candling, three days before hatch date showed 4 live and moving ducklings. One tried to hatch, but died. Today is day 28 and no movement or peeping. I used Hova 1588 with the fan blowing all the time. Temp was around 99.5 and humidity at stable 70% for the...

We had a bobcat attack, he grabbed the duck by the neck, but dropped her when I ran out there. The duck survived, but is sitting in the pond all day and not eating. I saw her drinking water from the pond, so I know she can swallow. Not sure she is not eating because she cannot swallow dry food...

Day 20 Day 21 Some observations: a brooder got very crowded with 'older' chicks, new chicks, egg shells and eggs all over. I had to remove 8 chicks that were dry. I thought the cover was up for only a few seconds, but I suffocated (shrink wraped) two eggs in the process So, what should...

Eggs are in a lockdown, day 19 today. Of course I look through the incubator window all the time;) Once in a while I hear chirping. Can a chicken chirp inside the egg???? I see no cracks or anything.

On the road to self-sufficiency, I am incubating some BO chickens with the intent to keep the roosters for meat and sell pullets, at about 3 months old, when I am able to tell them from the roosters. The reason to sell the pullets and not eat them, is that, they are just too sweet and nice, and...

The mods moved my thread from here to chicken stories. Maybe it was not relevant, but I think it was. I will try to incubate some eggs from the fridge, well right now they are moved to the counter and I am turning them. I will get a Hova bator within a week possibly, but could go to Tractor...

He was such a great guy! He was from my first batch of BO's and hens selected him from other roosters. When hens started laying he would spend hours with each hen, comforting her and finding her a nest. I kid you not, I saw it with my own eyes! After they layed for a couple of months, he started...

My cayuga laid her first, or at least the one I found, egg two weeks ago. Since then - nothing. What could be the problem? I searched everywhere in the duck pen, no eggs hidden.

So, here's my Cayuga, laid one beautiful tasty egg about two weeks ago, and since then nothing! I built her a "nest" from a tote, and she goes inside there, she even carried some feathers and straw inside there, but no eggs. I am checking around in the shavings where she sleeps, but there is...

I processed a few cayugas, and it was a hit or miss experience. Some of them dressed nicely, but most had these black quills that are impossible to remove. So I would spend like three hours just plucking a duck. Is pekin easy to pluck? Any other suggestions?

Got this mystery chick from McMurray. It's 4.5 weeks old now. Dominique? Boy? Girl?

I want to gradually switch my duck flock over to a white or lighter feather birds. Have been reading about different breeds, and Anconas interest me. What are your experiences with them?

Need ducks that are (in order of importance) : 1. Broody 2. Not flighty 3. Light feather color 4. Not too scrawny 5. Reasonably quiet Thanks!

After the rooster was culled, he rested for a full 48 hours in the fridge. We did not brine him. I roasted him in the oven for 3 hours at 350. I used minimal spices because I wanted to taste natural chicken. Here's my report, and DH agreed. Rooster was soft, not hard at all. But chewey...