Recent content by Chuckleberry

  1. Chuckleberry

    Unwell hen

    Thank you so much for your helpful and comprehensive advice. I will get on to her case this afternoon.
  2. Chuckleberry

    Unwell hen

    One of my hens has become unwell. She is keeping her eyes closed for much of the day and sits hunched up without moving much (except when I try to pick her up, when she scuttles out of my reach) with her head tucked into her back. I cannot hear any irregularity in her breathing, and she is...
  3. Chuckleberry

    Mixing ducks with chickens?

    Thank you. I'm beginning to feel that we do not need to be too worried about the health issues, though the ducks have only been here a few days and already the area has become significantly more muddy, and, yes, their water gets mucky really quickly.
  4. Chuckleberry

    Mixing ducks with chickens?

    Thank you for that, but what a horror story!
  5. Chuckleberry

    Mixing ducks with chickens?

    I work at a school where we have a fenced-off pets' area. Pupils are able to keep rabbits, guinea-pigs, hamsters etc, as well as a few chickens. Recent additions have been two sheep and a pupil has this week introduced 4 Indian Runner ducks. One of my colleagues has raised a concern that...
  6. Chuckleberry

    No longer laying eggs in the Nesting Box

    Usually my chickens lay in the nesting boxes provided, but I find that,from time to time, they decide to lay 'off-piste', as I call it. I sometimes think that it might be because there is a queue to lay in the nesting boxes, and once they have found a new place they go there again and again...
  7. Chuckleberry

    21 chickens and all of a sudden NONE of them are laying

    A friend of mine says that her chicken have stopped laying and she knows why - they've all got an infestation of red mite, which she is in the process of treating. She said to look for evidence of them around the perches in the coop, where they often form clusters. Hope your problem is...
  8. Chuckleberry

    Heres a Question for ya!

    I thought it might be - again a throw-back to the time before they had been domesticated - an attempt to regain contact with the rest of the flock, who would have wandered on through the jungle while the chicken was laying her egg.
  9. Chuckleberry

    Do chickens perform courtship rituals?

    Ah, thank you. I may get some broodie hens yet!
  10. Chuckleberry

    Do chickens perform courtship rituals?

    About 12 weeks ago I bought 3 black silkie hens at an auction. I was not really wanting the eggs, but I hoped that they would be good broodies and mothers next spring. Two days ago one of the hens began to crow; I have read that silkies are very difficult to sex when young, so I wasn't too...
  11. Chuckleberry

    Cuckoo marans - good mothers?

    Thank you, that's a really encouraging thought. I shall certainly give her a go. She is a large bird, and should be able to cover eggs well, and I don't think she has ever harmed another chook.
  12. Chuckleberry

    Cuckoo marans - good mothers?

    I have a 3 yr old cuckoo marans hen who goes broody 2 or 3 times every year. Next spring I would like to get her to hatch out some eggs, but I was wondering what sort of mother is likely be to the chicks. As my flock is entirely free-range, none of my chickens are aggressive but she is the...
  13. Chuckleberry

    roo or pullet

    I would agree that the buff-laced Wyandotte is a cockerel; I have 5 chicks a few weeks older than yours, and the cockerel is the only one to show any sign of a wattle under the bill.
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