Recent content by sakana

I have two chickens in Seattle. I don't use a light in the coop and there isn't a heater in the coop. Will my two be OK (ie warm enough) without supplemental heat? We're in zone 8b, we will get a few hard frosts over the winter and occasionally snow, though it never lasts. The coop is well...

Well, according to my McMurray poultry catalog, Australorps as a breed are very early layers. They must be right about that because my two started laying at about 5 months. From their catalog: "Pullets mature early and many will be in production between 5 and 6 months of age. They are quiet...

I'd use a large pin and prick a hole in the bottom of it and drain the egg out of the shell...I wouldn't expect an intact egg not to rot, but then again, I've never tried it.

Well, we've been enjoying our eggs from our new chickens, George & Rita! Since laying their first egg on August 20th, we've gotten 53 eggs. That's almost 4 1/2 dozen in a month. Since I'm trying to keep track of our eggs, I made up an egg log. I don't know if anyone else is interested in it...

Well, since getting our first egg on August 21st, George and Rita have taken turns laying, so I've gotten an egg a day every day since then (except for the 25th). George is now averaging 1 3/4 ounces per egg, and Rita's last 4 eggs have each been exactly 1 1/2 ounces each. Today I actually got...

Cracked it open! It was pretty small so used it in a coating for chicken tenderloins. Beautiful bright yellow yolk, though!

First, thanks for all your replies to my post under "what sex is this" - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=14017 The poster who surmised that the chicken I suspected was a rooster was more likely a hen close to laying was correct! The egg is pretty small, but in my...

First, thanks to everyone who attempted to identify the genders of two new chickens. Also thanks to those who posted to my query about how best to build a pitched roof on my coop. In that post, it was suggested to me that my chickens shouldn't be eating a lot of hen scratch, that they should get...

We have two approximately 5 month old Australorps. I am suspicious that the chicken on the left in this photo is a rooster. Any thoughts?

Thought I'd post to say that we did make a couple modifications to the "tractor" as shown. We added 4 ventilation holes in the coop near the top (two on each side) and covered them from the inside with hardware cloth. We also placed a perch in the "run" section - and now that's where they seem...

Greetings all - First let me introduce myself as I just signed up for the list. My name is Elizabeth and my husband & I brought home two Australorps in April. We built our own chicken run, tractor -style. We are neither carpenters, nor particularly handy when it comes to building things. That...