Recent content by old1953

  1. old1953

    6 Little Chicks in TN

    I wouldn't worry. Chickens are very tough creatures.
  2. old1953

    I found baby mice!!! What should I do??

    I lived through a plague of mice in West Ky about 30 years ago. They were everywhere. If you left a cap outside overnight, there was a nest in it by morning. If you laid down a tool, you'd likely pick it up and see mice run away. They were building nests in tobacco plants, in barns, in...
  3. old1953

    3 chicks disappeared at once?!

    Snake is a good guess.
  4. old1953

    6 Little Chicks in TN

    Could soak the feet in a bit of epson salt water. Don't let her drink it!
  5. old1953

    Need help with duck

    Ducklings with those problems either recover or they don't, but usually they don't. While you can carry them feed and water, and they will grow, they'll eventually just die from not being able to move around. If they do manage to get some leg movement going, they can recover. It's pretty...
  6. old1953

    Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

    I wouldn't give that one much chance. As to what's to do about the legs, they either recover or they don't. Usually, they don't in my experience.
  7. old1953

    Tell me why you keep Roosters...

    Because the roosters stand out, and that's the reason why, so the egg layers will be taken last. The roosters are taller/bigger, they have more colorful feathers and they make a lot more noise. Plus, they get aggressive in protecting the hens. All that means a predator who takes only one or...
  8. old1953

    Tell me why you keep Roosters...

    One fertile rooster should be plenty for a flock of 15 or 20 hens.
  9. old1953

    Tell me why you keep Roosters...

    If a predator goes after the flock, chances are pretty good he'll take a rooster and leave you the egg layers.
  10. old1953

    Will broody hen adopt chicks?

    With raccoons it's very simple, bury a 36 inch wide cage type heavy wire at least a foot in the ground all the way around the yard, run an electric fence wire around the top of the yard and keep it hot, enclose the top of the yard pen in either plastic netting or chicken wire, make sure the cage...
  11. old1953

    Thread formerly known as Hatch day is today

    I have used that bite and hold reaction to examine eggs. Just let them bite your hand and then raise it until they have to stand up to keep the bite going. Takes a bit of a steady nerve to ignore an angry goose that's really trying to hurt you, but it does let you examine the eggs easily. I...
  12. old1953

    Natural Hatching w/ Broody Hen - I think I'm doing it wrong! :(

    She should be fine, when she's got a nest full enough to suit her she'll just flatten out and stay there. Just try to keep the rest of the flock from swarming in and laying more eggs under her. Unless it gets so hot she knows the eggs won't survive, she should stick to the nest. I've seen a...
  13. old1953

    Comment by 'old1953' in item 'American Game'

    So how did the chicks make out?
    • old1953
    • Review comment
  14. old1953

    Comment by 'old1953' in item 'Giro Gamefowl'

    That's why roosters are so colorful, so predators will take the standout bird and leave the rest of the flock alone. I've had a hawk drop into a pen I was standing about 30 feet away from, and snatch a colorful rooster right out of the middle of a group of hens.
    • old1953
    • Review comment
  15. old1953

    Natural Hatching w/ Broody Hen - I think I'm doing it wrong! :(

    Yes, it always seemed to me that it was perhaps three days from a free range hen going broody to her vanishing for a month. And we always seemed to be short of eggs for those three or four days. I suppose you could call them the flocks' designated setters. With really free range hens, you...
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