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Just one season's breeding experience here. I hatched 30-some eggs from my herd of about 25 chickens (including 2 bantam and 2 standard roosters), from eggs collected 11 - 12 days after I sold a poor-tempered rooster. One chick was clearly from that rooster, all the rest not. (edited for clarity)

One of my roosters -- large single-combed -- is frostbitten and will lose all the points. One hen, with a small but fine-tipped single comb, is losing two points. All the other smaller-combed birds are fine. I don't think there is moisture build-up in the coop as the bedding remains bone-dry...

18" snow (it killed our new snowblower) -11 F -28 F windchill Kinda feels like a contest here. . . . except the prize is being the coldest. brrrr Husband is out checking on the chickens, bless him. House won't get above 63 F, but that's where I like it anyway.

As a suburban child I was never exposed to anything "icky" like offal until some open-minded neighbors invited me over (with my mom's permission) to serve me chicken livers. They probably had a bet on whether I'd eat them . . . The chicken livers, fried in butter, were delicious. Sorry, Mom.

I think everything looks great -- except that curtain. :-)

Bugs. I bet there will be bugs. Or grubs. (waiting eagerly)

I knew my hens had northern fowl mites when I got itchy arms picking up their eggs.

I find feathers and ash (burned feathers?) in layer mash here. Is that a good source of protein or an unintentional addition?

I about had a heart attack the first time I fed my flock scratch. Rock-hard baseballs protruding from their chests. Scary. But it was all of them, not just one. Is your hen bigger on one side of the chest?

I'm curious about what makes a Minorca look different from other black breeds. I looked up images of Minorcas and most of the hens looked (to my beginner's eyes) like plain black hens. Then I found this one: Minorca show winner. Now I get it. Totally different shape. Off to look in my APA SOP to...

Thanks! My flock are roosted for the night by 5 p.m. at the moment.

Clarify for a newbie: I though using lights was solely for increased egg production when sunlight is scarce. Does it also help in the breeding endeavor? Beyond getting more hatching eggs from your hens, of course.

Those are some of the prettiest birds I've ever seen.

Libraries rock. They rock even harder when they have an extensive interlibrary loan system. You might be able to get books from anywhere in your state, and often (I LOVE MY LIBRARY!) the whole U.S.A. And when you are into chickens, it is especially valuable when university libraries are...

From the little I've read from the time period, it seems to have been SOP (standard operating procedure, not the more usual meaning) to refute others' arguments quite strongly, sometimes almost to the point of ridicule, while laying out your own.

Don't know a thing about Leghorns, but that rounded line from chin to belly looks amazing.

Yes -- you nailed what I'm trying to see. First I see a brown dog. Then a big brown dog. Hey look, it has a broad snout. Short tail, yada yada, but look at the expression in its eyes . . . and the whole dog gives a sense of weight, almost density, like it has rocks for bones. The back, the bum...

I'd love more detail on what makes hackles good, bad, or excellent -- not even getting to color yet. Gotta say it: if you have Knight and Day, you have to have Dawn and Dusk.

The The list is a great idea -- it does seem like there are more ways to ferment than there are chicken feathers after a molt. Nice to be able to have a bunch in one spot se we can see what best suits each person's chickens and their set-up.

There's a detailed description of "add nothing" fermentation on the Natural Chicken Keeping blog: Fermented Feed It begins with "What the heck is fermented feed and why on earth would you want to give it to chickens?" And then tells you what, and why.