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I've recently butchered 4 roosters that had a deformed breastbone. The first one I thought "Oh wow, he came out funny! Just a fluke." Then the next 3 I butcher (over the span of 2 weeks) were each prograssively more deformed. The last bird's pectoral process, the big boney ridge that divides...

Just thought I'd share my experience since it's the chick-buying season and, like myself, I'm sure others are reading up on hatcheries. I chose Cackle because of good reviews; plus they had all the breeds I wanted. We ordered 45 chicks; 25 larger brown egg layers (5 each of 5 different breeds)...

I've just gotten my first piglets. Mangalitsas, 2 gilts about 3 months old. I'm trying to research pig behavior and training. They're farm girls, not pets, but I desire all of my livestock to have a functional, trusting, trouble-free relationship with me. I've been doing a lot of reading...

Okay. So I spent 2 years giving ReptiPro a fabulous glowing review for their incubator. Until in its second season it suddenly couldn't heat about 70 degrees anymore. This happened during an $$$ EXPENSIVE CEMANI HATCH, and also immediately after I forked out $96 for two sets of turners e_e I...

Howdy! I've been keeping homing pigeons for a year and a half now with good success. I'm about to move to a property where no livestock has ever been, and want to take biosecurity seriously with this move. I've only had 3 mystery pigeon deaths and I wanted to see if anyone here had any...

Anyone out there have experience with phoenix bantams? I'm curious if the hens have much of a broody streak in them? All bantams I've kept have been broody little boogers, but I wanted to see if anyone had first-hand experience.

I'm looking for more info on breeds that bulge muscle, like the Cornish. I raised some dark Cornish last year and was pleased with the body style for a meat bird and wish to do some breeding experiments. But not strictly with the Cornish. What other breeds are out there that produce...

I've moved and had to sell my flock, but want to restart my breeding programs this summer/fall. So I will be looking to purchase eggs/chicks/birds in late summer or early fall. I would love to take your info and get in touch with you in a couple months! I'm in Montana, willing to travel a...

I moved and had to sell all my birds! :hit I'd like to restart my flock this fall so I can be hatching again next spring. I focus on marans, Ameraucanas, and cemani. I may be getting chicks back from my old cemani bloodlines, but new blood doesn't hurt. Egg color/quality, flock cleanliness...

I just purchased a used GQF 1502 Sportsman incubator, used. It's holding temp nicely and I finally loaded it with eggs. But this is day 3 and I've discovered a perplexing problem! The very bottom tray, at the front closest to the glass door, is literally throwing eggs out of the basket...

I never thought I'd ask this; but I'm doubting myself on my bird's health today! I found one of my 1.5y/o hens dead this morning. A necropsy revealed that her entire abdomen was packed tightly with solid yellow fat, her entire neck was wrapped in a scarf of fat, her crop was empty. Her organs...

Okay, this is probably the first real case of 'mystery chicken disease/illness' I've ever experienced. I brought a new Ameraucana hen + rooster home. They were plump and healthy and merged easily into the flock. A month later I found the hen, Willow, listless on the roost mid-day. I picked...

I feel like I can vent sex chicks confidently. I had someone purchase straight-run grow-outs from me recently, 4-6 weeks old, and he vent sexed them to select pullets. Why have I never heard of people venting older birds? I just purchased 6 straight run lavender Ameraucanas- I swear 2 look...

My hatching-fiend turkey hen sat her first clutch of the year. 12 of 14 eggs have made it to hatch... kind of... She went broody and I put eggs under her April 2nd. (I collect and store until they're ready to sit). She was technically due to hatch them April 29/30-ish. I've been fussing...

I have black copper marans and olive eggers for sale! $10/ea for marans, $6/ea for OEs. The OEs are from Ameraucana/Black Marans OE hens thrown back to a blue copper rooster. Ameraucana, should produce a gorgeous egg! I'm just a backyard hobby poultry keeper. My stock comes from small...

I've been a hatch-a-holic for the last 2 years and am learning more about deciphering the mystery of gender in chicks. I'd like to share my observations and people can add their own to the mix :) These are just my experiences and observations. I've found that I can now pick out 20 chicks and...

Well. I have a turkey hen and a muscovy hen 'trying' to share the same nest of 20~ eggs. It was supposed to be 12 eggs under the turkey but the muscovy decided to mix things up a bit. Though the egg count is going up, there's also evidence of broken eggs and it's just getting crazy. My...

I've done over 20 hatches now, both in my incubator and under broodies, and over 3/4 off my hatches like to start pipping on day 18, if they're not fully hatched on day 18. This is currently happening as we speak, actually... So, I've posted about the phenomenon before and had others share...

My first hen sat 13 of her own eggs this spring. They're hatching as we speak Another hen started laying today, which, by these girls' habits, mean 14 days of laying before broodiness. How many turkey eggs can a hen comfortably sit? I have the opportunity to add to her clutch, but I...

I moved my Ameraucanas from my marans roosters to a pen with my new Ameraucana rooster, so I can start producing pure Ams, rather than olive eggers. They've been with him for about 5 days. I've seen first hand that a hen can retain sperm for up to 3 weeks (thought I would be hatching pure...