My chickens freeze for a few seconds when I tap their beaks. Is this normal? Do y’all’s chickens do this as well?
I just tap the beaks softly and they stop moving. Their pupils dilate/undilate(?) as well.
Beautiful roo! Jersey giants grow a lot bigger than normal breeds. Plus roosters usually grow bigger and faster than hens. So he’s probably not abnormal or anything. You could definitely breed him, but make sure the hens can handle the weight, because he’s so big. It’s really up to you (and his...
Hello— I have a hen, got bumblefoot few months ago. I did the mini surgery, but it didn’t go so well. Didn’t manage to get all of the stuff out, and wrapped it up, stuff like that. It’s been maybe 2 months, I think; it’s gotten worse. She’s mainly standing on 1 foot, limp/hopping, and getting...
It’s not easy to teach a chicken something, and you can’t really force her to be “fully” broody. Maybe you can get some fake eggs for her and hatch some chicks in an incubator? You can slip them under her at night and she’ll probably care for them. If she doesn’t, you’ll have to raise some...
I actually have 2 broodies that I separated, but one pecks the other, even though they are sisters. They were already broody for 3 days, but I got tired of having to move them to get the unmarked eggs. I’ll see what I can do.
So I've looked around and everywhere it says to separate your broodies so that there is not a staggered hatch and all that stuff. But everytime I do it my broodies decide not to brood the eggs! They do their fast "bok bok bok" in a nervous way, like they want to return to the flock... It is so...
Don’t feel bad! Just go on with the lockdown and wait and see. Life’s pretty strong, so they should be fine. I have a turning incubator that didn’t turn properly, but I didn’t know. Still 3 chicks hatched perfectly normal.
Chickens don’t molt until they are about 1 1/2 years old. Since they free range, I would think they built an egg elsewhere. I free-ranged too, and they would build nests in shrubs, grass, everywhere. I’d find only a few eggs in the nesting boxes and a so many as a stumbled across some secret...