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  1. NatJ

    Coop to yard

    I had been assuming chicks that would grow up to be laying hens, and I had been assuming they would live there for a long time (a year or more.) I'm pretty sure a dozen laying hens would kill everything in that amount of time. But meat birds spend the first few weeks as little chicks who don't...
  2. NatJ

    Coop to yard

    So you want to use your whole yard as a run? That might work. Some points you may want to consider, if you didn't already think of them: The fence needs to be secure enough (keep chickens in, keep predators out.) The chickens will most likely kill grass and most other plants in the yard, and...
  3. NatJ

    Things you wish you could say

    Maybe it's a matter of which part of the pants were tight? Or maybe the person should have worn a different pair of pants for now, and saved that pair until after the baby weight was lost?
  4. NatJ

    Baby chicks are dying

    He needs to be warm. If you can't get him warm, nothing else will help. I see you are already using a heating pad and a blow dryer. A heat lamp is another option, or a hot water bottle, or anything else that can get the chick warm without burning it. A chick's body temperature is supposed to...
  5. NatJ

    Best practices for ethical meat birds raising

    If you are keeping a laying flock and want it to be sustainable, you will probably have a rooster and hatch chicks. The young pullets get raised up to become layers. But half of the chicks are males. And you have to do something with old hens eventually. So I would start by butchering those...
  6. NatJ

    Heat stroke and obesity advice needed

    If you want the hens to lose weight, I would completely skip the nuts, mealworms, black soldier fly larvae, and scratch. All of those are high-calorie treats. I would expect the vegetables and fruits to be fine. They are mostly water and fiber, which would not cause trouble. (Maybe not give...
  7. NatJ

    Hoop height calculator?

    I did a google image search, and put in any terms I could think of. Kept changing them until I got the picture I recognized ;)
  8. NatJ

    Please help will this baby have a chance of surviving?

    Honey should be fine. The basic idea is to put something sweet in a dish of water. So molasses, honey, sugar, something like that. If she is eating her normal food and drinking plain water, she will probably be fine without having a dish of sweetened water. But having it available might help...
  9. NatJ

    Number of coops

    I agree with the other posters who suggest one large coop. Do make sure there is lots of ventilation for the summer time, and quite a bit even in the winter time. A common rule of thumb is to have one square foot of ventilation per chicken all year long, with more in hot weather. That adds up...
  10. NatJ

    Number of coops

    Where do you live? (Which state in the USA, or which country if you are somewhere else in the world.) Climate can make a big difference in what is the "best" way to house your chickens.
  11. NatJ

    Please help will this baby have a chance of surviving?

    Neosporin sounds like the right stuff, so no need to go looking for different ointments if you already have it. Probably any kind of molasses that you may already have on hand. Put molasses in water for her to drink. Or put electrolytes in water for her to drink. Either way, make sure she...
  12. NatJ

    Buff Brahma x Fibro Egger

    In that case, if a chick has partial light feet and partial light beak, it is more likely to have the Brahma as father, but I don't think that is entirely certain. I've read about fibro chickens producing occasional chicks with bits of light on their toes. If the EE has black feathers, any...
  13. NatJ

    Buff Brahma x Fibro Egger

    I'm mostly thinking of the skin all over the body (which is black in Silkies and Ayam Cemani and a few other fibro breeds.) The genes that cause black feathers can cause some black or dark color in the feet and the beak, even when the chicken has the genes for "light" skin. If the chicks have...
  14. NatJ

    What will my light sussex rooster produce over my black copper maran hens?

    Light Sussex rooster with Black Copper Marans hens: chicks should show almost as much black as Black Copper Marans have, but they should have silver (white) instead of the copper. The "white" may be a bit yellowish or dirty-looking in places, but definitely not a bright copper color. Size and...
  15. NatJ

    What would a black copper marans rooster over a Delaware hen look like?

    Yes, the barring from the hen will pass to her sons. Her silver color will also pass to her sons. So the male chicks should look like Barred Silver Birchen (change copper to silver, add white barring.) Daughters should look pretty much like Black Copper Marans (yes copper, no barring). For...
  16. NatJ

    Houdan Roo mated with several breeds, outcome?

    With a Houdan rooster and that set of hens, I would expect most chicks to have 5 toes, crests on their heads, and black feathers. If you find any chicks with white barring, they have a mother with white barring (example: Barred Rock), and they are males. Some colors of hens would produce...
  17. NatJ

    Cream Brabanters

    Crested chickens especially have trouble when the crest covers their eyes, so they cannot see well. Brabanters should not have that problem, as their crest is supposed to stand up and not flop over their eyes. So Brabanters might be okay in your flock. Or they might get picked on a bit because...
  18. NatJ

    Buff Brahma x Fibro Egger

    With a Buff Brahma rooster, chicks should have feathered feet and pea combs. I would expect the chicks to have light-colored skin (white or yellow), despite what their mother has, because Brahmas have a dominant gene that blocks the expression of the fibro in the skin. If the hen's feathers...
  19. NatJ

    Hoop height calculator?

    I don't know about finding it on BYC, but there is one I've found several places on the internet: https://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4860656 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1156935537680311/posts/29052493204364503/...
  20. NatJ

    Question on hatching several species in same incubator...

    That is 3 species, not 4. Standard chickens and bantam chickens are all the same species. Yes, even Silkies. So hatching those two should not need any adjustments. Regarding how long they take to hatch, and your idea to set eggs on different days so they all hatch together: I would expect the...
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