So I have these two silkie hens that are bonded together (one is blind in one eye, and the other takes care of her as needed.) I do not believe either hen has laid any eggs yet, but one of them has been sitting in the corner of the coop pecking at the frame for the past two weeks or so. She...
Update: I kept an eye on her, and put her by the heater. She looked like she was getting better for a bit, but she rebounded, and ended up passing away later that day.
She looked like she was getting better, but all of a sudden, she looks worse than ever... She's more puffed up, and her eyes are closed... Any other suggestions? (I've been giving her a few drops of Corrid straight a day...)
We live in the northwest corner of Washington, in Kitsap County, and most snakes aren't much wider than a pencil or a pen, which is why I'd be shocked if they took the egg... The egg was a standard sized egg, so that would be at least 4 times as big around, if not much more. I used to love...
I believe the only snakes in my area are garters, and they don't get anywhere near big enough to eat an egg in my experience... I'm thinking the eggs disappeared during the day, as the coop is pretty well locked at night (cement floors, small wire covering every hole, that kind of thing), so...
This may be in the wrong section, but one of my Broody hens started out with four eggs. She was supposed to have her eggs hatch sometime in the past week, and she had three eggs when one of her eggs broke, bringing her down to two. Since the broken egg about a week ago, her remaining two eggs...
Update #2
The Asil's last egg is missing. I have no idea what happened to it, but it disappeared just like the last one. No sign of chick, egg, shells, or anything else. The nest was dry, too! Is the Asil eating her chicks when they hatch?
The next nest over has a Japanese bantam broody, and...
I think, with banty roosters, the chances of the boys injuring hens is greatly diminished, as they don't have the weight to do much damage. Yes, they can still pull feathers out, but I don't think they can dislocate their legs, either (that was a big problem with one of our rhode island reds...
That is a definite concern, though it will depend on your birds. I currently have six roosters to 22 hens (I was sold a flock of 4 hens and 2 roosters, but it turned out that there were 4 roosters, and 2 hens), and, though my boys fought pretty roughly when the birds were added, they all seem to...
I've been dipping her beak in the water a few times a day, but I'll try giving her some concentrated corrid too. I was thinking of the VetRX to help slow the illness to a point where she could get over it with the corrid, as it took one bird a day to pass away, and the one on VetRX survived 3-5...
So I just bought 6 birds from someone, and one of them, Aurora, has spent most of the past two days sleeping. A few of the birds have wings that are slightly lower than they should be, but they seem fine besides that... I bought four birds from the same person about two months ago, and I lost...
I think, with six hens, they probably would fight, yes.
I've had banty roosters with standard sized hens, and the roosters were able to breed with the standard hens. (I've had all the eggs from my younger standard sized hens be incubated, and only had two banty roosters).
If the roosters are...
Update: One of the eggs has since gone missing (no sign of egg, shells, chick, or anything), and the last one hadn't pipped when I checked on them yesterday...
So I currently have 4 nesting boxes, and 3 broodies. One is going to have chicks any day now, and the other two are about 10 and 15 days away.
Looking at my birds, I have about 14 birds that could go broody any time, including the ones that already are... There is one that sometimes sits on a...
You can definitely one rooster with six hens, but I probably wouldn't put two roosters with them. The roosters could start fighting over the hens, and either do damage to the hens, or one rooster could possibly maim/kill the other. You should try to keep 5-6 hens per rooster, but as long as...
I could be wrong, but I might open up the nesting boxes for her, and see what happens. Also, how long has she been listless? Are there any other symptoms of anything, such as puffiness?
I might cut back on how many eggs you give them, as I could see that being an issue. Someone asked a few weeks ago whether you could feed a chicken with only their eggs, and obviously, that isn't the case, but I think, if they eat too many eggs, that could be harmful too. Eggs are good for when...
Personally, if you plan to give the eggs away, I'd keep the Easter Eggers for entertainment purposes.
I'd also keep the barred rocks, if you want pretty birds that lay well.
After that, I might keep one Buff Orpington, and one Rhode Island Red, as they might lay well, but they aren't the...