Recent content by Cherry Bird

I'd never hatched chicks before. 21 days ago I started 13 eggs from my hens in an incubator. About a week ago I had a hen go broody. I took 7 of the eggs and put them under her. Hers started hatching last night/this morning. The ones in the 'bator weren't hatching. I took 3 of those eggs and put...

I've got eggs in an incubator on day 10. I've also got a hen that is acting broody. Can I take the eggs from the incubator and put them under the hen? My concern is that maybe hens have some way of knowing that eggs are supposed to hatch in 21 days and maybe she won't be ready when these hatch...

Day 8 today and I candled all my eggs. Some of them have a wiggley eye (good) and some of them the eye spot is drawn by gravity to the bottom of the egg and it is not moving. I can only see it if I hold the egg and the flashlight upside down over my head and look up. Is the not moving eye spot...

Thank you Miss Lydia and BarnGoddess01! I will keep them in a window sill where it is a few degrees colder and the shape of the window frame will let them set at an angle.

I've got 1 (very mean) welsummer roo and 1 hen and several BOs. I want more welsummers! I get one welsummer egg most days. I'm collecting them and keeping at room temperature. 1) How many eggs can the BO sit on? 7-10 seems what most folks do, yes? 2) How long can the welsummer eggs sit at...

I've got a silkie (pullet?) and a welsummer cockerel and they are fighting at 7 weeks of age. Does this mean my silkie is male? Thanks for your thoughts.

You could always change the name to Freddie Mercury - if he has a great crow I like it!

I guess we'll shorten his name from "Anna Mercury" to just "Mercury." Thank you all for your wisdom. Incidentally, what do the chicken factories do with all their unwanted male chickens? Or maybe I don't want to know.

Meet Godiva (left) and Anna Mercury (right). Is one a cross breed? Is Anna a roo? Thanks! PS-The Silkie is Snowflake and not in question. Yet.

That ramp looks more steep than mine. But just a touch. She isn't old enough to require a haircut yet. I'll just have to work with her, I guess. No, I don't need a roo, thanks. My neighbors would also have a "come apart." And I don't blame them. I get aggravated at the neighbors that allow...

How old is your roo?

MANY THNKS for the hints and comments.

I have 7 chicks that are 1 month old. One of them is a silkie. At dark, all the birds go into the coop except the silkie who sits under the coop (I have a tractor with run under the coop) and trills or chirps quietly. I try to sweep her out with a broom but she won't budge. She just lets me poke...