Recent content by Our Roost

Well, well! I've played this game and gave up to heated dog dishes that hold 1 1/2 gallon water. I purchased a 55 gallon plastic drum and outfitted it with a spigot and fitted PVC piping from outside to inside the coop with nipple feeders. I fed the drum with rain water stemming from roof of...

School project? This is a very good question not easily answered. Lets say you live in the state of Alaska verses the state of Texas. Climates are entirely different and so are the crops that are available. Common feed for chickens is anything they might forage for and consume. That includes...

So that I am not the egghead here, let me clarify. I said my grandfather raised these birds before they were commercialized. White Cornish breed is what they raised and not Cornish x. Sorry I didn't clarify the time period Cornish x came into play. Previous to the Cornish x. In Europe before the...

How big are your biggest hens and what is there general weight? Going on 6 years of owning birds now for both dual purpose use. We started primarily with 5 breeds of hatchery grown birds and escalated to privately grown breeder quality. It seems each year we experiment with a few new breeds that...

I purchases 4 hens from hatchery 3 years ago and have 1 left. I was surprised at how nice they grew out. Enjoyable birds!

I purchased a 55 gallon drum and hooked up PVC and nipple feeders. The drum fills with rain water running down off the coop roof from a gutter I installed. All was well and I even filtered the water and added ACD for any bacteria. I never thought a 55 gallon drum full of water would freeze solid...

Well, I have a couple of stragglers left and the rest died off. Of 28 hatching eggs I purchased, only 6 lived. I ended up with 5 to work with as one died within first week. 2 roosters had heart attacks within first year and died also. The second season hatching was more promising but I...

Marbled thigh meat in orpingtons you asked me Shellz? Well, my answer to that is a simple yes. Why?, because I mix a good % of scratch with crumbles in their feed!! Orpingtons are a good tasting bird at most any age if bred more for meat than for eggs. That to me means a less restrictive diet to...

Pigeon River? Well, I am now in Scottville and have a pond and also have a small stretch of property on south branch of Lincoln river adjoining my home.. Welcome to BYC. We are downsizing a bit and have some chickens free to a good home if anyone is interested. If you have questions, feel free...

You have keyed on a very important aspect of raising chickens. Spending valuable time from chick to adult can be valuable and rewarding in many ways. I think both chickens and humans enjoy the personalization and bonding developed. There is good harmony within and a trust worthy of investing...

LOL is so correct! Algebra would be easy if X +Y equaled z in the world of chicken colors. Its truly a mixed bag at times. Truthfully there is a few charts out there that can be somewhat helpful or even more confusing depending on specifics. Try the search button with a question.

Ha, chickens are like a box of chocolates in the fact you never know what you are going to get! Hidden traits can always arise from within. If you have a box of crayons and blend 2 or 3 different colors together, (shading), the outcome generally produces a color within the spectrum, but not...

To my knowledge, once a hen becomes broody, it will quit laying. The broody hen will steal eggs and carry them to her nest or even switch nesting boxes if it contains more eggs. In this period of adjusting she will usually settle in to one box for the remainder of the 21 days. Trust she wont...

Roosters have a unique job from birth until death. Protect the flock and reproduce. Hereditary traits can come with the breed you select. Meaning that some were bred for game fighting and some bred for other traits. Some breeds carry a bad reputation attached to the roosters. Behavior as you...

What a waste! 42 incubator spots and only filling 6? Why not hatch 6 sets of 6 with space in between! Her son will then go insane. Ha.