Recent content by Jake1297

Yes, don't worry about it. You should see what my hens do to the eggs that they are sitting on. Makes me wonder how any of them hatch. Case in point, last spring one rolled out who knows when. I found it and it was cold. I took it and wrapped it in a towel and set it on the floor near the wood...

I've hatched out many Silkie eggs and some come earlier than 21 days. I also don't use an incubator anymore. I have found that the mothers do a better job and the hatch rate is higher. When they are a few days old the mother starts taking them out to explore. The only thing I do is make sure...

I don't use any artificial light in the coop. I remember when they were young they were growing out their larger feathers, just didn't know this was a type of molt. As for being older and molting, hasn't happened yet. I have about 50 chickens. More than half of them (RR Bard Rock, Cochin) are...

When do chickens molt? Do all chickens molt? Reason I'm asking is I have been raising chickens for 5 years now and never had 1 molt. I have nine different breeds. So, is this normal?

Instead of a bucket heater you can also get a heated water bowl for a dog. It is much cheaper, around $19. I have three in my coop and never have a problem of frozen water. They also hold about a gallon of water each. Look for them online.

I have two roosters that always got along great. Until the other day. Long story short, they fought, one has an eye that is now closed most likely an injury. I've read on BYC to use Tylan 50 eye drops. I have also read to put it in his drinking water. I know Tylan 50 is water soluble. Question...

Nice new format. ( sarcasm ) I'm looking for the forums. Where are they?

I have used heated dog bowls in my coop (two of them) the last few years with no problems. I had them setting on top of the shavings but the chickens, during their scratching for food would send shavings flying into the water. I have since placed them on top of bricks to pick them up higher than...

I have moved from incubators to letting to broody chickens do the hatching. The success rate has increased to 90% - 100%. I had one chicken sit on three guinea eggs and they all hatched, and another chicken sat on four guinea eggs and they all hatched also. It's funny to watch, the guineas are...

Is it ok to reuse the feed the chickens drop on the floor by sifting out the shavings etc.? It seems my chickens waste as much as they eat. I was wondering about scraping up the food around their feeder and sifting out the shavings. I did it once and they ate it like they usually do. Just...

I had a chick out of 18 last year that I think was incubated upside down. He has a crooked neck and can just about see behind himself it is so twisted. It leaves him at a disadvantage on the other side. Out of that hatch we got 8 roosters, we gave away 7 and kept him (he's a rooster). He is a...

We have cold weather up here, raising and lowering is what I do. I bought a thermometer at Walmart for $6 that is used for cooking meats. The probe is on a cable. I set that on the brooder floor under the light and when the proper temp range hits and stays I mark the height for the heat light, I...

Skippy, My coop is big enough to house the new ones. I'll just make their own private fenced section so everyone can see each other. By the time they are big enough to go out they will be used to everyone and should all get along. Of course option two is: I have been thinking of building...

I set 14 eggs this morning. 6 Silkies and 8 Cochin. If these all hatch and I'm doing my chicken math right: Lets see I started with six two years ago. Hatched a few last spring, and several more this spring. So, 6 + a few + several = 46. That's the way chicken math goes. I went from 6 to 46 in...

I forgot to mention, I had on cochin that pipped and zipped about 1/4 way and gave up, after checking it looked like he/she didn't have enough humidity and was stuck and couldn't move enough to get out. I had a EE that started zipping and after 6 hours I was thinking he may have the same...