Recent content by gaillardia

1 Lucky Dad, I have 5 acres and my freeranging girls never stray more than 50 feet from the house. They like to be under the shelter of the trees surrounding the house. They won't fly away, so no need to clip their wings. The stress of moving to a new home can cause them to stop laying for a...

Congrats!

Quote: X2. The dark one looks like my Black Copper Marans.

I can usually tell which of my chicks are roos by their behavior. The cockerels are just more aggresive from the get-go. Also, the roos just stand more upright, even when very young.

My young girls kept sleeping in the nest box, which then gets poo on the eggs. At night, I went in and moved them to the roost. It took about 3 or 4 nights of doing this to get them to roost. Give it a try.

So cute! My Australorp is 18 weeks old and I can't wait for her to start laying. Her comb and wattles are red, but she isn't squatting yet.

Racoons are very crafty and might get to them if they sleep outside. If you go out, after dark, and put them on the roost inside, they should get the idea after a couple of nights. I have chased off a bobcat, a bear, and coyote, recently, and was glad that my girls were locked up when each...

Mine have all started to squat for me, about a week before they start laying. You will know the squat when you see it. Reach your hand out to them and it will happen when they are in laying mode. My girls free-range and they always come back to their box. I had two girls lay their first egg...

I living in the country, so I am legal. Many of my neighbors have chickens, as well. Those of you who live in cities prohibiting chickens should fight the good fight. Good luck.

Chickens are precocious and tree swallow babies are not. They rely on their mother to feed them, well after they have learned to fly. Try to put it back in the nest or get it to an animal rehabilitator. The hen just doesn't have the means to care for the tree swallow chick, other than provide...

My Cami comes to her name. It make me smile every time.

Quote: That is so awesome! It makes me want a silkie.

My Americauna started laying at 23 weeks. The waiting is so difficult.

Thanks for the encouragement. I do think he is one tough chick. The automatic egg turner was still going, and I was still running the humidity at 50%. I am keeping my eye on the other dark one. Funny thing is that this morning, I marked this egg and the other with a sharpie, because I wanted...

Ok, I just came home from running errands and heard chirps in my basement. I looked into the incubator and there is a chick! I set my eggs two weeks ago tonight. I am guessing the woman who sold me the eggs let some start. That explains why I could not candle two of them. They were solid...