Recent content by hschweitzer

I would love to get in on the lavender cochin project! We have some gorgeous millefleur hens, one black hen and 2 lavender orp roos. What do you do when you cull? We have been selling extra roos and hens, but still can't bring ourselves to terminate anyone, except the meat birds! What do you all...

New to the breeding world, we have 2 lav orp roos and 7 hens, but we have a black cochin hen, what happens if you cross the black cochin with a lav roo? I am so curious!

Maybe if the hen is not as nervous she will lay eggs better than average?! I can hope :)

I have 5 hens and 3 roos, all 4 months old. The group of them together is flighty as all get out, but we brought one hen home from the farm and put her with our super-sweet and sociable hen mixture here at home, and she is settling down nicely. She comes running with the others now when I walk...

I hatched 5 hens and 3 roos, they were all together, and are 4 months old now. They have always been flighty, even though they lived inside the house in a playpen with a super sweet and friendly silkie surrogate mommy. My kids handled them a lot, but they are still flighty compared to the...

We have 2 angora girls, 2 Netherland Dwarf girls and 6 hens with 6 peeps all together in a 7 x 7 shed, with a 10 x 30' run. Our entire backyard is also fenced, and we open the gate on the run when we are around and let everyone out to play. They all get along wonderfully-- no pecking or...

Does anyone here have experience with NE Ohio 4H? We have chickens, rabbits and alpacas, and would love for the kids to get involved...

I am in NE Ohio, we have lots of rare breed chickens and I'm wondering if I could get the local 4H groups interested in them? All the chickens at the fairs around here are leghorns with the occasional barred rock. It would be great to see some cochins, silkies, auracanas, marans and penedesencas...

I love that big tractor! How many birds do you keep in there? Is it really 2 feet/bird, or is that a bit much...

Does anyone know a good way to keep the cornish x chickens clean and happy for the 8 weeks they are with us? We just did our first group of them, about 25 birds, and kept them outside, but they are SO MESSY, and end up laying on the ground and getting dirty and wet. Our next group will be closer...

Thank you so much for the descriptive and very educational guide. I am about to process for the first time, and the only part that I balk at is the actual killing, and your method is very quiet and kind. Thanks for taking the time to photograph and write up all the steps, it helps so much!

She didn't seem to notice or care that her lay only lasted a few days, or that she ended up with 13 babies, he he he. Gotta love the silkies!

I had a bunch of eggs in an incubator, and coincidentally one of my young silkies went broody a few days before the hatch, stealing all the eggs everyone else laid. I brought her in and let her lay on a few of the almost done eggs, and when the first one hatched in the incubator, she took it...

I have yet to save one once they went all "dropsy" on me. My stepdad is a vet, too-- so I've tried all the meds, even high-end expensive ones-- to no avail. It seems to be worse after a weather change. Not necessarily cold or hot, but when it fluctuates--maybe they can't adjust well? On a...