Recent content by Buffbrahmabantam

  1. Buffbrahmabantam

    How to Recall Free Range Chickens

    I totally agree with this. This works for us.
  2. Buffbrahmabantam

    How to Recall Free Range Chickens

    These are all great ideas. Other treats that work well for us include peanuts, eggs (scrambled or hardboiled, yolk especially) and cheese - anything from hard shredded cheese to ricotta (scoop into little dishes). I feed these things only as treats in situations like this to avoid making them...
  3. Buffbrahmabantam

    What about butchering extra roosters for others?

    I think it is a great idea! I hope it works out for you. I remember when we got our first roosters and were newbies it was so intimidating to think of butchering and I would definitely have paid someone! We had to figure it out ourselves and have butchered many roosters since then, and quite a...
  4. Buffbrahmabantam

    Bringing coop up to snuff, vents and roosting bar

    That coop is tiny. Chickens need a lot more room than that to be anywhere near happy and healthy. Do they roam during the day? If they roam during the day, could you get the a shed to sleep in at night an lay eggs?
  5. Buffbrahmabantam

    Seeking advice on how to keep mites at bay

    As far as rats, you want to keep a continual trapping system going to control them. Don’t wait to control when you notice a problem. I happen to be a wildlife biologist and have a lot of experience with animal control! We live in rural, natural areas so I can’t speak specifically to Norway...
  6. Buffbrahmabantam

    Seeking advice on how to keep mites at bay

    I’m not super experienced with mites but recently did the following for northern fowl mites we saw crawling on eggs of a broody hen. First, I gave her a bath in the kitchen sink with a flea shampoo for dogs and cats. The active ingredient is pyrethrin. It is fragrance free, which is a big deal...
  7. Buffbrahmabantam

    Roos, gone, hen is "crowing"

    I’ve never had roosters any length of time but have had two hens that crowed so my hens’ crowing wasn’t related to getting rid of roosters. One did it frequently. The other I’ve only heard crow a handful of times in spring. Fun fact - singing by female songbirds has recently been discovered by...
  8. Buffbrahmabantam

    Meyer Hatchery - great hatch from shipped eggs!

    I wanted to leave a five star review for Meyer hatchery. We had better than 90% hatch rate with 28 shipped eggs - a mix of easter eggers and buff and BBS orpingtons. Our chicks hatched out bright-eyed and trouble free. We can't wait to try ducks from Meyer next spring! I value reading others...
  9. Buffbrahmabantam

    Pros and cons of silkies…

    Interesting. We once by mistake hatched some chicks that the seller in hindsight thought were silkie/Easter egger crosses (they were freebies from us buying appleyard eggs, and we all thought they were call duck eggs, until they hatched, LOL). Long story short, one of them we felt we had to cull...
  10. Buffbrahmabantam

    Pros and cons of silkies…

    After years of thinking silkies were weird looking things that I’d never want to own, I’m now really intrigued by them. They keep coming up on google searches when I search for calm chicken breeds. They are kind of cute, in an odd sort of way. Can you all offer opinions on silkies that you’ve...
  11. Buffbrahmabantam

    Advice? Expected hatch rates

    Of course I have to factor in that about half will be roosters…
  12. Buffbrahmabantam

    Advice? Expected hatch rates

    Thanks for your replies! I was agonizing whether it would be too much if I ordered 4 times what I eventually want to hatch - essentially assuming 25% hatch rate. Now I wonder if that is not quite enough. I have 28 incubator spaces so maybe I’ll just get 28 then and fill up all the spaces. I only...
  13. Buffbrahmabantam

    Advice? Expected hatch rates

    What should I expect for a hatch rate for buff orpington eggs shipped from Meyer Hatchery? For some background, I’m pretty experienced at both chickens and hatching. I have had chickens and ducks 10 years and raised a brood in the incubator most years. But I’ve only gotten local eggs before...
  14. Buffbrahmabantam

    Baths??

    I’ll also give them a few treats and tidbits during the blow dry. Tiny bits of cheese, peanuts, stuff like that. I hope it makes the process more pleasant for them. (Yes, my chickens are spoiled :))
  15. Buffbrahmabantam

    Baths??

    We occasionally have chickens with poop streaks on their bum feathers and I give them a butt bath in the kitchen sink with warm water, a little fragrance free shampoo, towel dry, and then blow dry while they stand on a towel next to the kitchen counter. I alternate between cool and warm air on...
See more
Back
Top Bottom