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I have 9 hens and one rooster. One of the hens, a two-year old Buff Orpington is sick or injured, but I don't know which or what is wrong. Symptoms follow. shakes her head as if to clear the cobwebs listless weak, walks slowly, can't get on roost passed out yesterday, appeared dead, but...

Here is a picture of my BCM chicks at three weeks. They were hatched in my home-made computer-controlled incubator from eggs collected from my 11 month old chickens that were also hatched in the same incubator. When these two first hatched, I tried to wing feather sex them, and thought that I...

I needed to add some shade to my chicks' run, and looked for shade cloth, but everything I found was in narrow rolls and rather expensive. Finally, I decided to check Harbor Freight, and found what I needed. They have four sizes; I bought the 10' by 12' size, and put it over the run today. It's...

Last year, I bought some BCM eggs; some were dark, but many were not. Ten eggs hatched, but I had no idea which chicks hatched from the dark eggs. After some trading and selling, I was left with three BCM pullets and one rooster. This spring they started laying, but only one hen is able to lay...

My Marans chicks hatched on June 17, 2014, and they finally began laying this week. The first egg was on January 14, 2015, 211 days later. It was a double yolk, and was not very dark. The second egg came yesterday, and was a single yolk, and much darker. Both eggs are shown in the first picture...

I just had my first scrambled eggs from my 7 month old RIR's. I know you know, but I just have to brag on how much better they are than "store bought" eggs. Fluffy, bright yellow, and oh-so tasty. (Not to mention, unbelievably expensive. )

Attached is a picture of a BCM cockerel/roo that was hatched on June 17, 2014. That makes him just over 21 weeks old. I would like the comments and opinions of those of you who are knowledgeable about Black Copper Marans. I am interested in what you think about him with regard to breed...

I have one roo and 10 pullets; all are between 18 and 22 weeks old. For some time, there has been one pullet who has been at the top of the female pecking order; in fact, I named her "Boss Hen." But yesterday at dusk, another pullet (Chicken Picken) decided to be the last one in the coop, and...

I have 11 chickens that are from 10 to 18 weeks old. (See the picture.) They are good about going into the coop at dusk, and they all are able to climb up to the roost pole, which is about 8-10 inches above the poop board. Usually, six of them get onto the roost pole, but five insist on...

Thursday, I went to the coop about 6:30 pm, and found one of my 11 week old Marans roosters lying on his side convulsing. I picked him up and he struggled weakly in my hands, and then died. A small amount of blood was coming from his mouth, and there was another small amount on the ground where...

My question is in the title. I don't think that the breed of a rooster affects the color of the egg, but I wanted to ask. I have some RIRs, buff orps, and black copper marans that should start laying in a few weeks. The roo that will be with them is a BCM. My expectation is that the egg color...

I don't understand how 1/2" hardware cloth along the bottom of a fence provides protection from raccoons. What prevents them from climbing to the top of the hardware cloth, and entering the run just as they would if the hardware cloth wasn't there? I can see how it would prevent them from...

I recently bought four buff Orpington chicks about five weeks old. They were from a flock of about four hundred, all of which were free ranging. (No exaggeration...it was chaos.) After I got home with them, I noticed that three have legs and feet that are more or less white, but the fourth has...

I have 10 BCM and 3 RIR chicks about 6 weeks old. The RIRs are all pullets, but four of the BCMs are cockerels. I plan to keep one of the cockerels, but am not sure how and when to choose him. The largest of the cockerels is very mild mannered, but the second largest is aggressive toward me...

I have 10 BCM chicks and 3 RIR chicks. I wanted to put leg bands on them when they were very small, but had trouble getting the right size. Now, they are six weeks old and I finally got some bands to fit. Yesterday, I put an orange band on one of the BCM pullets, and the rest of the flock went...

I built a nipple waterer from a five gallon bucket. My chicks love it; in fact, they love it too much. They keep the bedding wet in a large circle around the bucket. When one goes under the bucket, it pecks and pecks...far too much for drinking. I think they are playing in the water. Has anyone...

I decided to move my comments about the chicks hatched in this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/891222/setting-20-french-black-copper-maran-eggs-may-28-2014-join-up to here. The 10 chicks were two weeks old yesterday, and made their first trip to the yard. They had a blast. When it...

Has anyone ever tried to train a small flock to enter a transportable cage in order to be moved from the coop to a forage area and back? I know it sounds far out, but I think it could be done, and my coop and forage areas are not together. Here's what I would like to happen. I go to the coop...

I haven't hatched any eggs in a couple of years, but my new coop is under way, so I am setting eggs tomorrow. My incubator is home made, and has a thermostat and heater that I designed, as well as a custom egg turner. It only holds 20 eggs, so that's what I have. The guy I got the eggs from says...

I am finally getting around to building a new coop. It is 4 by 8 feet, and I hope to have 8 to 10 pullets and a rooster. As you can see from the pix, it is on quite a slope, and fencing a run is going to be a challenge. It is built on skids so that I can move it if that becomes necessary. The...