Recent content by Ridgerunner

Read the first post in this very long thread to get a good explanation of sex links. Sex- linked Information | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens There are two requirements to making sex linked chicks identifiable at hatch. The results have to show up and you need to be able to...

You can see a difference in tone of eggs laid by the same hen but not the basic color. A blue or green egg is blue all the way through. If you crack the egg and look inside you seed the blue shell. Green is just brown deposited on top of the finished blue shell. A white or brown egg is white...

My test to see if a hen is broody is what she does at night. I've had hens show all kinds of broody behaviors during the day and not be worthy of eggs. If a hen spends two consecutive nights on the nest I consider her a committed broody. What do you want to happen? If you want her to hatch...

I don't like McMurray's description of the Jumbo Cornish Cross. I consider it misleading. In the 1950's the Cornish Cross was developed as a fast growing meat bird and soon took over the commercial market. They did start breeding Cornish and White Rocks but that did not make the Cornish...

:thumbsup Oyster shell so they have the calcium they need for their eggshells. Mine get grit from the soil. Other than that I give them a lot of room, make sure they have lots of fresh clean water, and let them catch all the bugs and other critters they can. If I thought they were deficient...

Other than appearance I don't think breed means much of anything. What traits the breeder selects for when deciding which chickens get to breed means a lot more. If they know what they are doing the breeder decides which flocks lay well, how they typically behave, and how healthy they are...

How were they acting? Were some standing around all fluffed up and looking miserable? Or were they running around as normal. If they were running around they are not in bad shape. It may not even be Coccidiosis, but continue the Corid in case it is. What were you feeding them? Some...

:thumbsup First they internal pip. They break into the air sac and learn to breathe air instead of living in a liquid world. Then they external pip, knock a hole in the shell so they can get to fresh air. Then they absorb the yolk and dry up blood vessels in the membrane surrounding them...

I'm coming in late so I have the advantage of better information. At that age they can handle those temperatures as long as they are out of breezes and rain. It's probably the first time they have been in total dark. After a few minutes (maybe 10 to 15 minutes the first time) they should...

You never know until you try. It could be as easy as putting them together or it could take time and effort. As always, the more room they have the more likely it is to be easy. Even when they are adults it is not always hard. A lot depends on the individual personality of the chickens...

Chickens are always shedding bits of dry skin and bits of down. It is worse some times than at others but it is always there. Another source of irritation can be their scratching. Bits of bedding or dry dirt may become airborne. Plus they are always pooping. If they scratch the poop after...

A few years ago there was a thread on this forum where a guy had a free ranging flock with a rooster that was no problem at all, even with kids playing outside. Then his 5-year-old son started chasing the hens for fun. It was so cute, that little boy playing with the hens. The rooster...

Is that seed still in the original bag or packet so you can identify it? Some seeds are treated when you buy them. Corn, for example, often is treated with a fungicide so it can wait for the ground to warm up enough to come up. I think I'd contact the company that bagged the corn and ask them...

Without adding lights, some pullets will continue to lay through their first fall/winter all the way until the next fall. Some don't and may molt and stop laying eggs their first fall/winter to start laying in the Spring. What causes them to molt is that the days get shorter. They evolved...

I don't worry about size. There are plenty of cases where a bantam dominates a full-sized chicken. It is the spirit of the chicken that counts much more than size. A mature chicken will always dominate an immature chicken regardless of size until that chicken matures enough to stand up for...