Recent content by Martha444

  1. Martha444

    Questions about "purebred"

    Thanks! In hindsight I'm not exactly sure where my confusion was coming from. Perhaps I was conflating peoples preferences with breed definitions.
  2. Martha444

    In pursuit of Mr. Right

    This is our process. We raise our home hatched cockerels and pullets together. We take quite a bit of time observing them together and when the guys start getting their testosterone you can tell pretty quickly which ones are dancers and which ones are rapists. The hens eventually will start...
  3. Martha444

    The mama hen…is a rooster?

    We have a pet rooster in with our waterfowl. He's got a lot on his mind about nests. He has semi adopted the duck flocks and I will find him resting on a duck nest occasionally. He figured out pretty quickly we liked to find the eggs and would point out covered nests and errant eggs for us, and...
  4. Martha444

    At wits end with biting chickens...

    I have Barred Rocks. I hand fed, hand treated, and handled/pet them all as much as possible since they were babies so that I didn't have to chase them down or deal with struggling birds when we needed to treat them. Almost all the hens will bite and hold onto the fleshy bits of my hands when I...
  5. Martha444

    Mystery condition

    Thanks littledog, It's kind of a cruel twist of life that I get more attached to the sick and injured ones - I have to spend so much more time tending to them. Her life was kind of sad, but she helped me understand something important going on in our birds that might make future generations...
  6. Martha444

    Mystery condition

    Update: Frizzie's condition progressed quickly after this post, even with pasture and high protein organic feed. She seemed to get more and more uncomfortable, and without any hopeful remedy we decided to kill her. My best guesses as to what happened to her are: 1) We've only had to treat...
  7. Martha444

    Mystery condition

    I had two chicks develop this condition this year in two different "cohorts" - incubation batches. The first chick got so bad we had to cull the poor feller. I did some more research when the second one developed it. There is an itchy flaky skin condition on face and feet with yellowish crusty...
  8. Martha444

    Sponsored Post Nestera Coop Giveaway! Total worth $1595

    A 25 year warranty makes me feel confident they are putting out a quality product. Looks like a great place to put my extra Roosters during down time!
  9. Martha444

    Female duck has a bald spot behind her neck because of overmating? options?

    I thought I would reply to my own statement. I'm a new duck owner and didn't know that they would grow back feathers in areas that become damaged. The blonde girl grew back just enough coverage to get her through the winter, though it was not as nice as her original layer.
  10. Martha444

    Questions about "purebred"

    I bought some barred rocks from a hatchery. I'm interested in having them for my own food but also to help maintain a valuable heritage breed into the future. I'm hatching extra chicks to sell into the local area and I'm wondering what "pure breed" means exactly. I obviously do not have show...
  11. Martha444

    Meet the Inflation Chicken

    And with Easter coming up...
  12. Martha444

    Are people buying chicks in your area?

    I'm in NE Tennessee. Tractor supply sells out of chicks, ducklings and turkeys by the weekend here. Anecdotally, I've heard the most people asking about turkeys. This is a largely rural area with a lot of farms. I'm having a hard time selling my chicks and ducklings for slightly less $ than...
  13. Martha444

    Tennessee State Law Selling Eggs

    How do you sell natural eggs? People want "dirty" eggs. Do I have to set up a "hen share" like people do with cows?
  14. Martha444

    Tennessee State Law Selling Eggs

    Lol! This was posted in 2014...silence. Thats what its like doing farm stuff in east Tennessee. It's 2023 now and still same. I'm trying to figure this out now. The official guides to selling eggs are the usual mostly true, but not fully true, bull**** you find in all states. However, its much...
  15. Martha444

    What color is the inside of your coop?

    Raw wood and white. I think the lighter the better so its brighter in there in general for their health, and so you can see the color of their poops and see when or where someone has become bloodied. I plan on starting to do old fashioned whitewash this year too.
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