My friend has meat birds getting a large hole on the side of their butt and then dying? Like it looks like the skin split open and its insides were coming out but nothing got into the pen. She says this is the second one and another is laying down. Not wanting to walk. Just kind of blah acting...
Thanks for the replies. I'm doing this as a favor for my neighbor and they asked me. I could only tell them that I thought breeding a hybrid they would most likely have more traits of the original breed. I've never dealt with these breeds before. We'll see, one just hatched a little while ago...
I'm incubating some eggs for my neighbor. They are from his black sex link hens and Dominique rooster. What traits should they have? Can they be sexed at hatching or will they have different traits?
I had a similar situation with a Silkie egg that the hen abandoned. I resisted the urge to help until it hit the 18hr point and then I just chipped a little spot next to the hole the chick had already made. Two hours later it completed hatching on its own. I keep reminding myself that this is...
Most of my flock are heavy breeds and I felt much the same when I got my three. I only got them because my grandkids wanted "Easter eggs". They were flighty and stand offish. Now that they've all grown up and started laying they've mellowed out a lot. I give them treats - they love grape leaves...
We're in Calif now and planning to move to Middle TN by Summer of next year. Are there any areas more "chicken friendly" than others. My husband is a city guy so I don't want to force him away from all civilization so I can have my chickens and a goat so I'm looking for an area to meet both our...
1. SD
2.SD
3.D
4.SD
5.SD
6.A
7.D
8.A - I don't think they are near as healthy as home grown but given what the American public eats you could do worse.
My answers to 7 and 8 are based on my family's eating habits until we started raising our own. Since we started raising ours
my family won't...