I logged in to ask a similar question. I gave my Cochin broody hen 4 chicks, 2 Brahmas and 2 Welsummers at the end of August. At 11 1/2 weeks she still clucks to them and shows them food items during the day, and at night all 4 of them try to get under her wings on the roost.
Last week I went...
I wanted to start some new chicks this fall and luckily my Cochin hen went broody just in time. She sat on fake eggs for a few weeks and then I took the eggs and gave her 8 2 day chicks. After an hour of wondering what was going on, she accepted the challenge and has been a great mom. I'm...
My matriarch just died a couple of weeks ago. She was 12 years old and had been in good health even laying an egg every couple of months (very distinct olive color). In the last week, she just seemed to give up, eating very little and lying in a divot in the ground most of the day. My flock...
I counted back, I have a easter egger hen that is in her 12th year. She lays greenish blue eggs, and every once in a while I'll find one with the others in the nest box.
I have an Easter egger who seems to seek out being held. She will jump up on top of the coop or the low door of the food court to be near what I'm doing. And when I scoop her up, she sits calmly in my arms and lets me pet her feathers, massage her comb and scratch her beard.
It's probably good to remember that chickens are omnivorous too. My hens found a rat or mice nest in a pile of bricks and joyfully snapped up the pinkies and swallowed them whole. Not a pretty sight if you love little newborn animals, but it does keep the rodent population down (which is also...
I'm betting YOU eat chicken. Does that make you freaking evil? Are your chicken eating friends freaking evil?
If you don't take into consideration natural prey drive in the animals that you take on as your dependents, that is YOUR issue. You are not a responsible owner.
My dogs have NOT...
teach them how to use a water bottle with chicken nipples. Graduate to a bucket with chicken nipples or cups.
Water should never be on the ground in a pan. Dirty and lots of extra work trying to keep it clean.
20 Gal Galvanized trash cans are just the right size for a 50 lb bag.
Also, I had an old metal step trash can that I wasn't using. I took the plastic bucket out and it is just the right size to hold my large round galvanized feeder. I set it up right next to the 'food court' and it's easy to...
I've done it both ways, and much prefer the plates or always-on heating pad. Since I keep the chicks in my bedroom for the first two to three weeks, and I'm a light sleeper, I'm VERY aware of them at night. With the lamps, believe me, they are awake all night, running around and peeping...
Lamps keep your chicks under light 24/7. If you have them inside, they will be peeping and running around all night long, which is not good for your sleep either.
Plates allow them to sleep the through the night and be more active during the day. They also teach the babies about cooping and...
Unless they are really dirty, I never wash them. And I don't store them in the fridge.
I store them in a fifo egg box on the counter. You put new ones in the top and they roll down to the bottom opening so you are always using the oldest first. It holds 2 dozen and is fine unrefrigerated...
Now a days you can get a small heat plate for around $30, and you can get an always on heating pad for $18. Amazon.
The heating pad can be used for lots of things, so it might be handy to have one on hand for next time.
Two days ago, the new coop was move in ready (with more ventilation added). At 9:15 pm I went out to move the chicks from their brooder coop to the new coop. Which went fine. They are used to being moved from small brooders to bigger and bigger brooders, then to the small coop so they let me...
Here you go.
https://www.amazon.com/Keter-237831-Elite-Outdoor-Storage/dp/B07V1ZD51H/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2R25GWKHHLFPH&keywords=keter+trash+can+outdoor+storage&qid=1685646744&sprefix=keter+trash+,aps,184&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.c3015c4a-46bb-44b9-81a4-dc28e6d374b3&th=1
All one long URL. Not...
It would be easy and cheap to drill in another 6 vents. And I can always open the big doors for instant ventilation all day . We have cool nights in the summer here in Oregon- even if the days get to 100 degrees the nights are in the 60s so heat build up and humidity usually aren't a...
I now have 5 more 10 week pullets and ran out of room in my last Rubbermaid mower shed (nine hens) and - Since the last mower shed worked out so well, I built another - and this one is even better than the first. Love it.
I started out with a $300 KETER Patio Store 4.6 x 2.5 Foot Resin...
They are standard Easter egger, cochin, and Novogen browns. Just 8 weeks. And the pellets are pretty average looking, like my rabbit food, and layer pellets. They have grit and have been eating grass and weeds and blackberry leaves as well as scrambled eggs and one ate a small snail when I...
I'll have to mix my new chicks with the hens soon. They are 8 weeks and have been outside with a fence between them and the hens for 3 weeks. The hens try to steal food, but don't seem to try to peck the chicks through the fence. And I have a really excellent cochin rooster who keeps everyone...