Recent content by Gnarled Carrots

Thanks for the reply! I have been through Kippin Jungle's site. They give a great explanation of Rose Comb, Pea Comb, and Single Comb. They don't do a great job of explaining some of the more unusual comb types, though. They also don't delve at all into the Herrée gene, Hm, which is thought...

One of my chickens has a particularly weird comb (double rows of small spikes, much like a Carnation or a Buttercup, but much shorter like a Pea Comb). This got me wondering about what genes might be in the mix. A long way down the rabbit hole later!! there are a couple things about comb types...

Thanks for the reply Ridgerunner! And sorry that I didn't specify. All of the heterozygous forms can be "wonky" and won't breed true. Chickens that are (P/p+ , R/r+) can appear to have a Cushion Comb, especially when they're young. Although oftentimes they'll develop ridges later. It might...

One of my chickens has a particularly weird comb (double rows of small spikes, much like a Carnation or a Buttercup, but much shorter like a Pea Comb). This got me wondering about what genes might be in the mix. A long way down the rabbit hole later!! there are a couple things about comb types...

I've been re-using egg cartons for ages. I even have friends who keep all of theirs and give them to me in bulk whenever I see them. However, I'm getting pretty tired of re-using old egg cartons. I live in Washington where it rains all the time. Inevitably the egg cartons eventually get wet or...

I know that this post is 2 years old, but I just googled whether chickens can eat wheat bran and this popped up. We grind our own flour and are constantly looking for things to do with the extra bran. Making fermented chicken feed with it sounds like a great idea! Thanks for already...

I am definitely talking about a hoop house, but for chickens. The farm that I'm staying on now had a green house fall over during a freak storm a couple months ago and they said that we can have whatever wood and plastic sheeting that we can salvage. I'm thinking about having the top and long...

Love the pictures! Having the sides come up and down is a great idea.

I just moved to the olympic peninsula in Washington state and need to build a new chicken coop. The coop needs to be mobile, so I'm thinking about a tractor style coop. I saw one here in Washington that is entirely open air and am wondering if anyone else has done this!?? It's built like a...

Everyone made it! We even got stuck in the first circle of hell (aka the world's worst mechanic) in Missoula, MT. But we made it. Two cats, 1 dog, and 9 chickens on a truck/ 27 foot Airstream! The thing that helped the most was the watermelons. Every time that they looked hot or we stopped for...

Oh she's adorable! She looks about 2 weeks old. Chickens start to loose their little fluffy feathers and get adolescent ones after about 2 weeks. Newly hatched chicks are more or less self sufficient. They just need warmth, chick feed, and water. You're going to want to get her a store-bought...

I second this. All chickens squat to poop! Some of them will even back up a pace or two, wiggle their tail feathers, and then squat slightly to poop. This is a telltale sign to get them off of your lap! They do it from being chicks to full grown hens and roosters. There is no reason not to...

I was thinking that nipples would be great, but definitely not enough time to train them! I hadn't thought about wetting the feed, but that really might help. Thanks!

How are they doing now? I handled my chicks every day, whether they liked it or not! And most of the time they don't like it as chicks. It can take months for them to really be okay around you. Chickens ordinarily will imprint. When they see their mother for the first time, they see her as...