Recent content by DuaneC

For the record, I feed my hens on Purina Layena and generally don't supplement other than table scraps and occasionally recycle egg shells. We only use less than 10% of our eggs, so the proportion of egg shells to hens is lower than it would be if you were giving them back the shell for every...

Are you sure? It seems to be too round, etc. I've had eggs before that looked like another piece of shell stuck to it, but it looks more like a shard. Here is a picture:

I have an Ameraucana that has just recently started laying eggs. Two days ago, in fact. On the eggs (blue-green in color), I have found small clumps of little round balls (also blue-green in color) in one or more places on the egg. They look like they could be nits except that their color...

Ok, it seems the overwhelming vote is that this is normal, but ol' Henry looks like he's having a stroke! I was pretty sure it had to be some kind of semi-normal activity, but I don't ever remember seeing it in chickens when I was young. I guess I was too busy playing to pay attention. I...

I have a barred rock rooster that has exhibited an unusual behavior and I've only seen it when he's been around the 'ladies'... And no, I'm not talking about that... I have uploaded a 5 second clip to YouTube so you can take a look and tell me if this is something I should be concerned about...

I guess my concern was timely. I got my first white egg today!!! Keep hope alive!

Woo Hoo! Thanks! I've been looking for white eggs for a week now. Maybe I'll start getting some. We're hoping to have an Easter basket of eggs with all the different hens we've got, and white eggs were the missing component!

So I've got several white leghorns that are all the same physical size, but they may be as much as 2 weeks apart by birth. They were all born mid-April to beginning of May, so that would make them 20-22 weeks old roughly. I have 7 right now, but had 20. They all had small combs as they became...

So, we were out in the coop this evening selling a couple of our spring chickens when our 21 week old rooster decided to mount one of the hens - right there in front of everyone, almost at my feet! My 7 year old exclaimed, "Look, Henry's trying to get a piggy back ride!" Much to my chagrin...

I've got a Silkie-ish Roo too (he's a cross). If he can handle the bigger girls, I think they'd make some cute chicks!

Thanks for all the comments. I'm glad to find that others have mild ones too. I read a couple of articles that claimed that they were aggressive, but that hasn't been my experience. My 3 older girls get along ok with everyone, but they are definitely bottom of the pecking order. When I walk...

I bought 4 BR pullets and one turned out to be a roo. We call him "HENry". We noticed early on that his contrasting colors were brighter and he developed a comb earlier and it was redder. About the time his wattles really started coming in, he started having "roo" feathers develop along his...

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If you can see my avatar well enough, that's the roo in question. If you can't make out the pictures, perhaps you can take the following description and venture a guess as to the crossed breed. Here's what I see as typical Silkie characteristics (in no particular order): - Black Skin - Blue...

Of course, we were more concerned with what our plan was for the hurricane when the quake hit.