Recent content by Allsardane

My rooster is still getting the hang of his teenage hormones. He is with 10 ladies, 3 of which are banties. This morning he grabbed the bantam frizzle cochin and tried to go at it. She was making particularly distressful noises so two of my hens, a blue andalusian and an egyptian fayoumis...

It's a matter of "if you make it easy for them to stay there all day, they will". If food and water are in the coop and the mean ol' rooster is outside, why leave? Mine are 17 weeks now and the rooster is the same way. The first 10 minutes every morning now involve him trying to catch every...

Get one of those feeders that require the chickens to step on a lever in order to access food? larger wild birds will still be able to get to it, but the smaller ones (and the mice) will be less capable. https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=56638-building-a-treadle-feeder...

Edit- Just noticed this thread is a few months old and no other advice was needed. Sorry. Keeping the post up though, but I don't think any other responses are needed since the OP mentioned she went ahead and ordered already. Wheeeeeeeeee! Edit finished Ordered 33 from McMurray to arrive...

@Dobieslady If they are all arriving at the same time and the same age (chicks), you might not have to worry. They all look about the same at a day old. My flock is- (all 17 weeks old) Cockerel Jersey Giant Pullets- (in order of size) Easter Egger Wyandotte Orpington White laced Red Cornish...

Quote: Heh. My Aunts new husband did that to get rid of moles. He might have been a little too enthusiastic though as the gas explosion ruined about 1/3 of the landscaping in his backyard.

I'm with JusticeFamilyFarm, I have 1 jersey giant cockerel with 6 smaller/bantam pullets and 9 larger breed pullets on an acre of land (free range). They are all about 16 or 17 weeks old. 4 days ago he started crowing and now every morning and every evening he chases his girls around trying...

With respect to the fact that I know nothing about Andalusian breed standards, I am quite please with how pretty my bird from McMurray Hatchery is. Purchased two Blue Andalusians, one is blue and the other is Splash. Got the sex right as both were female. McMurray probably will not work for...

After they all observe one of their own getting picked off, they get pretty good at watching the skies. I was out feeding mine some aging bananas and didn't even notice the bird of prey. It apparently had been sitting in a tree waiting for them to be distracted. Bananas provide a pretty good...

I have a "cool kids" section, a partial rejects section, and an outcasts section. The majority of my birds, the cool kids, all roost together on one side. The white laced red Cornish and one of the two blue andalusians balance precariously on a roost I had made for the bantams to have a place...

Maybe it's that we feed them a high protein starter? When my chicks were about 3 weeks old, I took a claw hammer and did my best "scratch in the dirt and find worms" impression for them. They loved eating worms out of my hand when I did this. Seven weeks later I'm getting the "Good Sir, do...

Well. Technically this is correct but it still relies completely on the law of averages. Ignoring any genetic abnormalities (and if you ignore that the x and y chromosomes are differently sized in humans), you are guaranteed that you share exactly 50% of your genes with your mother and exactly...

I know everyone has a different opinion on this, so I think what works best is what your chicken's are telling you. I have 20 chickens. At 3 weeks old I put them outside in upstate new york in their coop with two heat lamps that overlapped so they could huddle in the light of both, in one, or...

Ha! I'll tell Ms. Frizzle that she was named after you. These birds arrived at my house on Monday the 28th of March which makes them about 7 or 8 weeks old. And no, McMurray does their best to ship, but they have no control over whether or not our local post office staffs on Sunday. I...

Hey Gender Detectives, I ordered from McMurray and lost 30% due to no postal workers on Sunday and a very cold day, but the survivors have been loving all of the pampering and accommodations that have been rained upon them. I swear they eat better than I do (don't tell my wife)... Anyway...