Recent content by beetandsteet

I don't even worry about humidity until day 18, and in mine it always stayed around 30%, even in the winter when the air is dryer. The instructions that come with the incubators are wrong, throw them away. There's nothing wrong with the air cell being a little on the bigger side; the humidity...

Ditto on pp's suggestion to order closer to where you live. If you're in Texas, Ideal poultry is a nearby hatchery, and they're the only hatchery I've ever ordered from. I've had great success with their chicks, and the one time a chick arrived dead, they reimbursed me no questions asked. I...

Roosters mature sexually slightly before hens, but 8 weeks old is definitely pushing it.

Haha Trouble looks like a fierce mamma! Yeah I didn't think they went broody either, but Pancake is proving me wrong. Hatch date is this weekend, I'm hoping the eggs are okay with the cold front that blew in last night. They're tough little ones, they have already survived a lot! Mamma and her...

They don't look like quitters, because I can see good veining in the eggs. The chicks may just be in a different position--you'd be surprised how their position determines how much you see when you candle. I'd say go ahead and prepare for lockdown, and see what happens. And double check the...

I've never heard of chickens reproducing asexually, that's pretty interesting! I can't see much from your pictures of the eggs... All your chickens look like hens. One of the ways you can find out for sure if you're getting fertile eggs is to put them in the incubator for a few days, and then...

Jumping into this thread--I have a broody Sex-link hen who's a week away from her babies hatching! I separated her from the rest of the flock and put her in a dog kennel. I cannot wait for those cute little fluffies! :love

Just for safety's sake, only take on healthy chickens and always keep new birds separated in quarantine for at least 2 weeks and monitor for any signs of disease. You don't want to end up like I did earlier this year and have to euthanize your whole flock due to a respiratory disease brought in...

Mamma hens usually lose interest in their babies when they are between 5 and 6 weeks old, so this is normal (it's kind of like she's "weaning" the babies). If the chicks are fully feathered, they should be alright without heat, but definitely monitor--if they're shivering or showing signs of...

I have a 5 1/2 month old sex-link hen who's been sitting on eggs for a few weeks now. Surprised me as well how quickly she went broody! I made sure she was actually serious about brooding before I gave her any fertile eggs to hatch.

Hi! I have a 6 year old barred rock hen. Just this morning, I noticed she is sneezing every now and again and sounds like she has mucous in her throat (not just the normal sneezing from dust). Other than this, she seems to be okay. Eating, drinking, red comb/wattles, no discharge from eyes/nose...

Grade, unbroken youngsters usually go for around $200-500 here, there are a lot of unwanted horses around where I live.

I went out and looked at her this afternoon. She lives with several other horses, including the most gargantuan senior Percheron I have ever seen. The lady who owns her rescues horses from auctions. I felt very comfortable that I would not be cheated on. She is much smaller in real life than in...

She does have some weird characteristics, they don't throw horses around between auctions for nothing

I agree, no round pen work for awhile (I don't even have a round pen currently--next up on the shopping list!). She is behind on basic training already, and we would have to start with simple things like standing for the farrier (she has a hard time doing that now) and trailer loading.