This is a picture of my 19-20 week old Buff Orpington in the front, next to my almost year old Buff Orpington hen in the back. Could this be a rooster? I just noticed today how different it looks than my other two Orpingtons. I haven't noticed any crowing yet, but there are several roosters...
Hi all,
I'm new to owning chickens and we have a lovely backyard flock. I am hearing that there has been an instance of Bird Flu in a neighboring MN county among a commercial turkey flock. How concerned should I be? We've been letting them free range our property. Should I keep them contained...
The girls went outside today for the first time! It's been frigidly cold, but today warmed up to about 50 degrees. They are just over 5 weeks old. They were hesitant at first, but quickly started pecking and scratching the ground and I think they thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'm glad I found this thread. We have 12 chicks in the brooder in our unheated garage right now. They are 4 weeks at this point- 5 weeks this coming Friday. Our weather has taken a drastic cold turn lately with lows in the single digits and highs in the teens and 20's. I haven't been able to...
Cautiously optimistic right now! I dipped the chicks beak in some sugar water a few times over the last several hours. It's now eating... But not drinking that I've seen. And she pooed. So I suppose that's a good sign. Still very sleepy and slower than the others, but definitely more active...
We brought home 12 one and a half week old chicks from our local farm store yesterday. They were all fine and active yesterday and up til this morning. I noticed one of the Buff Orpingtons was acting very sleepy and not very active. She is quickly going down hill at this point. Not eating or...
We've got 2 refrigerators and a chest freezer but after we store all of the produce from the garden, we are really short on space come fall. We will need to invest in a second chest freezer I think. Unless I dehydrate and can more of the produce... But usually once fall hits I'm just sick of...
Hubby drew up a plan tonight for a large chicken coop with a division so it could hold 15 laying hens and another 15-25 meat birds and a shed for riding lawn mower and garden tools. It's BIG, but looks like it would be really convenient and efficient.
I think to start we'll just be buying...
I am trying to convince hubby we need a coop 8'x10' for 15 chickens. He thinks it's way too big. We live in MN, winters get verrrrrrry cold and lots of snow so I'm thinking more room is better. Am I on the right track? I'd love to see pictures of your large coops if you have up to 15...
This sounds amazing. We don't have any outbuildings right now. They tore them down before they sold the house... Would a portable chicken tractor work to house them overnight or when they are not free ranging? Is your property fenced at all? We have no fence... a pond/marsh area on one side...
I don't want to get in over my head for our first go round. 25-30 seemed like a good number to start with, but I suppose we could do 1 flock and then another in the fall. We live in MN, so our warm weather season is pretty short...
I'm paying $3-$4 per pound for organic, free range chicken...
Oh man, I think my husband would have a conniption. He's been a really good sport about the chickens, excited even! But everytime I come to him and say..."So honey, I was thinking...." he has a darn near panic attack. lol
We've gone from 32 sq ft of garden space to nearly 500 sq ft and...
We recently moved from an anti chicken city to a "country" home on a 5 acre lot, 3 of which is wooded and 2 is grass around our home. I'm thinking it is entirely feasible that we could raise both chickens for eggs and meat with the amount of space we have. How much space do you have for your...