Recent content by Householder Homestead

Huh... good to know. I'm learning new things all the time about chickens. His sons, who have been living in the main coop since 8 weeks old, have yet to challenge him. He's a good rooster. Not aggressive to people at all and is a gentleman with his ladies. Unfortunately most of the cockerels...

My chick flock of 9 that a coyote whittled down to 7, hatched out the week of July 22-28.. All but 1 are roos. But NONE of the roos have crowed yet. I'm home most of the time and can hear Papa bird no problem with closed windows, so I'd definitely hear if a newbie was singing the song of his...

Question. Do you have to do egg withdrawl when treated with IVM?

I'm hoping to be able to source some Swedish Black fertile eggs come spring. I'm not looking to have chicks overwinter, but come spring and either slip them underneath a broody hen or pop them into the incubator. I'm hoping to make a contact now so I can buy some fertile eggs come spring. I like...

Dang… I was really hoping Speckles was a pullet to keep my beloved hen alive in her chicks. To my untrained eye it seems like I have a flock of 9 cockerels that hatched out the last week of July. It would seem that my rooster Sir Richard has some strong boy swimmers.

Can anyone tell what gender this chick, Speckles is? Father is a blue laced wayndotte and mother was a Swedish Black. We lost the mother to a damn hawk when this chick was a week out from hatching. I'm really hoping it's a pullet, but my gut says cockerel. I'm trying to decide if my flock is big...

Hi all. I just had a chick hatch with what I think is a hernia. Am I correct? It was pipping for over 36 hours and the last of the clutch, the first one hatched out Friday with day 21 being Sunday. Most of the shell was gone on the top, but it hadn’t broken through the membrane so I made the...

Can you use isopropyl alcohol if one doesn’t have rubbing alcohol?

A friend of mine sent me this picture of an egg she collected this morning. I’m as puzzled as she is as to what happened. There’s no signs of an egg being laid on top of the other eggs ie white/yolk. Anyone else have this happen?

Is there anyway to tell an egg is fertilized without cracking it open? I have 12 hens and 1 rooster and see him getting it done with several, but my 2 biggest girls brush him off pretty much every time I'm out with them, so I'm not sure their eggs are fertilized. I'd rather not spend the time to...

I guess that's a possibility, but I feed them out in the run, not the coop, with less poop. And I tried a bowl, all they did was knock it over and went to town on the spilled feed once it hit the ground. My birds free range in a fenced in area, tilling my garden beds for me until spring, when...

I accidently stumbled upon feeding my chickens that way. I started to ferment their food a few weeks ago. They barely touched it in the trough I had. I went clear out the trough after it had been in the coop overnight and accidently dropped it on the ground. A freaking fight broke out over the...

Her egg is the one on the far left. She is a snuggler with people, esp my 10 and 7 year old, but tends to be a bit standoffish with the rest of the flock. She's also been one of my most faithful layers. And a great forager. She is completely black, from her comb/waddle to her feet/nails to her...

My birds will hardly touch the fermented feed when placed in a trough, but toss the whole jar onto the ground and holy crap! A fight breaks out over the feed. I make sure to pour it onto the ground spread out so everyone gets chance to have some.

I'm wondering that as well.