Recent content by PicketFarmer

  1. PicketFarmer

    Half-broody hen

    We actually just hatched one chick today from an incubator, and two other eggs look like they're ready to hatch. I'd thought about introducing them to the broody girl, but wasn't sure how she'd take to them. I've read some horror stories about trying to get hens to bond with newly hatched...
  2. PicketFarmer

    Half-broody hen

    I have an almost mature hen (11 months) that I'm pretty sure is going broody. She's extremely protective of her favorite nesting box, clucks to her eggs, pecks at everyone (but me) whenever they check for eggs, started plucking her chest feathers, and I'm pretty sure she's stopped laying. The...
  3. PicketFarmer

    Possible Broken Toe

    Yesterday, I went out to check the girls and noticed that one seemed to be limping. When I picked her up to examine her, I noticed that one of her toes was bent backwards. She acts perfectly fine, though she is definitely hesitant to walk or run (unless I'm trying to pick her up), and has a...
  4. PicketFarmer

    Do you feed your roos layer feed?

    Everyone I've talked to says that layer feed is perfectly fine for roosters. There's enough calcium for the ladies, but not too much to hurt the roos. My chooks have been on layer feed for a month, and the rooster acts just as happy (and randy) as ever. We also give them crushed eggshells for...
  5. PicketFarmer

    My hens won't eat anything other than regular feed

    Oddly, our chicks hated watermelon when we tried giving it to them around 2 weeks. We tried worms, blueberries, and woodsorrel (clover) before that, and they loved them, so when we read that they love watermelon, especially seeing how great it is for chickens during hot summers like ours, we...
  6. PicketFarmer

    Keeping chickens off treadle feeder tray lid

    Actually, our rationale was to keep the food from getting wet in the pouring rain and chickens raking food out, but pests like rats and squirrels was a consideration (cockroaches still get into the feeder, but the chickens eat them up, making them a non-issue). Aside from the tray lid issue...
  7. PicketFarmer

    Rooster of the week!

    Meet Richie. He's an 11 week old Barred Rock, and is truly the cock(erel)-of-the-walk. He's also still a big kid: he's friends with all the girls, but still pecks at them when they get too close while he's in my lap or getting treats; he's territorial and protective of his flock, but still...
  8. PicketFarmer

    Keeping chickens off treadle feeder tray lid

    I recently got a Super Handy treadle feeder for my flock (11 barred rocks, 11 weeks old) and have been training them for the past couple of weeks. They're on the lower training bolt, with the lid half closed, but seem to be ready to take the training wheels off. However, I've noticed a lot...
  9. PicketFarmer

    Official BYC Poll: Crumbles, Mash, or Pellets?

    I've only ever given the girls crumbles, and never really considered what goes in it, since I figured that all factory feeds contain relatively the same amount of vitamins and nutrients that they need. That said, I've left food out when it gets wet, and they actually seem to prefer that (mash)...
  10. PicketFarmer

    Helping a chicken detox

    We never intended to start them on medicated feed, which is why we switched off; we ordered the chicks non-vaccinated, but neglected to ensure that the first bags of feed didn't have any medication. Oh well, lesson learned. An update on Prudence (I figured she deserved a name since she had to...
  11. PicketFarmer

    Helping a chicken detox

    We just switched over to Purina non-medicated crumble feed less than a week ago (were previously feeding medicated feed, also crumbles); according to the hatchery guys, they should still have enough medication left in their systems from the previous feed to protect from bacterial infection and...
  12. PicketFarmer

    Helping a chicken detox

    After a few hours of isolation and observation, and researching a bit more (mostly on this forum), I now wonder if she had heat exhaustion and was severely dehydrated. When she did excrete, it was very watery and green. According to another thread on this forum, watery green poo is likely due...
  13. PicketFarmer

    Helping a chicken detox

    So we have a sick pullet. It's our first one since we got these chicks, and we got some good advice from the hatchery and mypetchicken, but I wanted to ask for a few tips here, if you guys have any. This morning, we noticed one of our pullets acting very lethargic. When we offered mustard...
  14. PicketFarmer

    How Many PET Chickens Are In Your Flock?

    Funny thing is, we're also looking at getting rabbits, but I have no problem using them for meat; not the buck and doe, of course, but their kits are fair game. The way I see it, by the time the first litter is ready for market, either as pets or as meat, the doe should be almost ready to birth...
  15. PicketFarmer

    How Many PET Chickens Are In Your Flock?

    We ordered 11 chicks 9 weeks ago, initially intending them just to be little egg and meat producers. I certainly wasn't planning on making them pets and thought I'd have no problem slaughtering them when the time came. Cut to 10 days later, when the first chick (who we found out is actually...
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