My newly arrived Barnevelder was pretty timid at first as well. She would stick to her Barred Rock Sister. But now, the Barnevelder is most friendly bird I have. Anybody who even comes near her gets the egg squat. After scooping her up, she loves being carried and walked around as long as...
I have had three Welsummer Hens, usually, they start laying later then most other breeds. I think my last hen started around six months. Strangely, they won't do the egg squat until about nine months, I am not sure why. That being said, mine have always been really friendly and who doesn't...
I did that with a broody Cuckoo Maran once. Hatching the eggs broke her broodiness. My Chicken Mama was very protective of her kids. The other hens were fine with the new arrivals and infact one hen even snuck a couple of her unfertilized eggs into the nest. If you decide to keep her for...
To update this thread, as of today, my oldest hen is now a 8 year old Amerucana. She doesn't lay eggs anymore but leads the girls out of the coop and down into the run in the morning. She also makes sure everybody is up inside the coop at night. So, she is a great den hen.
My new arrivals...
My first flock was Jersey Giant and a pair of Rhode Island Reds. The Jersey Giant was a great hen: she was a good layer and very friendly. Unfortunately mine developed arthritis/osteoporosis when she was 3.5 years old. Sadly, we had to have her put down by a friend of mine because she was in...
Well, we finished grieving and decided it was time to get more ladies. Unfortunately, the chick market is very competitive right now. I ended up purchasing three pullets: Barred Rock, Bardelever, Speckled Sussex. they are about three months old. I paid more than I wanted, but right now, it...
You could try putting her with a nest of ceramic eggs. The thinking is that the hen will try to peck the eggs open to eat them. After a while, she will just give up and think the eggs are all too hard to break. I have never had an egg eater, so I don't know if this works but it is worth a try.
1) Yes, the A-frame has wire mesh, so lots of seeing time. Plus, I will let them into a corral protected by hardware cloth which should allow maximum interaction time without actual touching. I was going to use a 30 day period in the chicken regardless for quarantine time.
2) Yes, the...
A local farm has some eight week chicks for sale for a very reasonable price. My main flock is down to three elderly hens, thus I was thinking of purchasing three pullets from this local farmer and putting them into my small a-frame starter coop. My questions are as follows:
1) At what age...
Yes, a stressful event can cause the hens to stop laying/start laying messed up eggs. My eight year old Barred Rock was having health problems in the coop. Once she died, the remaining hens stopped laying for nearly a week. A predator attack will cause a much bigger disruption. Give your...
Well, my Barred Rock amazingly survived for more than a week after I started this thread. During the last three days, she was so weak, she became unable to roost on the board. Even after I physically placed her on the roost, she was unable to keep her balance. Thus, I placed her on the coop...
I was wondering, for folks in this forum, what the age of the oldest hen you have kept? My oldest hen right now is an eight year old Barred Rock. Sadly, her health is failing and she probably won't make through the weekend. That being said, she has been a great bird since I broought her home...
He is definitely a mix. He's too blonde to be a Black Copper Maran Rooster. I would say a French Wheaton Maran. That been said, the missing feathers on the feet eludes to another breed present in his bloodline. That being said, he is a very handsome man.
My Welsummer, hatched on February 2nd of this year, squatted for me today. She's been busy practicing nest building for the last few weeks. at first, I was wondering if it was a ruse. I guess she isn't too young to lay after hearing about your GSL. BTW, when I picked up my lady, I could get...
I thought I'd pass along that Wilco is opening a new location in East Vanccouver WA/Camas location:
http://www.wilco.coop/news/wilco-to-open-new-store-in-east-vancouver-wa-2
So for those of you, like me, who are in the east side of town, we now have a new place to get our feed supplies...
Other advantages to heritage breeds that might not have been mentioned are: For us in the northern latitudes especially, Heritage breeds are much better at resisting cold weather as compared to commercial leghorns. They can sometimes be broody which is great when you want to raise baby chicks...