Recent content by Erkenstein

Jenks Hatchery. I'm very happy with the Novogens I got from them as well and highly recommend them.

Wow okay! Lucky for (at least one of) them I asked. I was planning to start butchering soon!

Hey Y'all! I ordered five BR soup roosters to fill the minimum from the hatchery, now about 15 weeks old. I'm pretty sure they're pullets based on their legs, no saddle feathers, and non-roostery behavior. Am I right?

Thanks for your insights! It's looking more and more roostery. I have a backup crockpot if it doesn't work out.

Hi Everyone, I'm raising up a set of chicks, including 1 leghorn, 2 copper marans, and 5 novogens. The leghorn is crowing at 6 weeks when I let them out in the morning and may turn out to be a roo. Not clear from saddle feathers yet and it only crows on the ramp, but it does raise its hackles...

How is it today? I had a late hatcher once that seemed to be stuck in the egg position, with it's head tucked in. I did some physical therapy with it by laying it on it's belly and gently moving the neck up and down. Eventually it was okay. Good luck!

Quail are gamebirds. They aren't really bred to be pets, and they change over time. I have a female who decided yesterday that she wanted to attack her male, after 8 months of happy times. It happens. Does your quail have a flock? They do best with other birds. Sorry that it is upsetting to...

Yes if you give them a safe and disease-free brooder they are very resilient. I've hatched out a total of more than 200 this year. I've had to cull a few due to leg issues, I had one drop dead for no obvious reason, and I had one with a leg issue that got smothered in a sandbox. Water, heat...

Didn't realize that was a pic of screen. Definitely want to go with hardware cloth. Not even chicken wire will keep them out.

Last week, I had to cull six birds because a raccoon got under the pen and pulled off their toes :barniethrough 1/2-inch hardware cloth (the smallest you'll want to go to let droppings through). So, it works perfectly for the sides but you'll want to block off access to the underside wire unless...

Quail are better at utilizing calcium than chickens are. If your feed contains at least a couple of percent calcium, they should be good to go. Since they are new layers, I'd just give them some time. Oyster shell on the side won't hurt, but it hasn't been necessary with my birds.

Even during the summer a lot of birds won't start laying until 8 weeks at least. Just give them time and consider adding light for 14 hours a day if getting eggs in winter is important to you.

Sounds like you may have had humidity problems as well as temp problems if they were dried out.

I don't believe there are any. I sex my pharaoh by color at about 2.5 weeks with good accuracy, but that's as early as I think is possible.

As for vertical space, in my experience it should be low enough for them not to generate too much force if they flush (my pens vary from 17-24 inches in height) or on the ground with at least six feet. Mine don't jump much and I try not to startle them. The OP is looking for egg production. If...