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  1. NatJ

    Green eggs and beards rooster selecting

    It's great to hear that it's going so well!
  2. NatJ

    Why so few eggs???

    Is there any chance that they are hiding their eggs? Or eating the eggs? Or something else is eating the eggs? (Snakes, rats, dogs, etc.) Have you tried looking at each individual hen to see who is laying? https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/...
  3. NatJ

    Enrichment for baby chicks??

    Good point: yes, it will definitely be covered in poo!
  4. NatJ

    Enrichment for baby chicks??

    I tend to go for the same things I would offer adult chickens, and let the chicks practice the same skills they will use as adults: Lots of space Things to scratch in (bedding, clods of dirt, and so forth) Things to sit on (pieces of board or bricks or anything else handy) When feasible, trips...
  5. NatJ

    Feeding late at night instead of early morning?

    If you are just trying to provide extra calories, it doesn't much matter whether you provide starches, fats, or protein. Any of those can work. If you are specifically considering the heat produced by digestion, protein will generate more heat than starches. When broiler chickens are raised...
  6. NatJ

    Six different breeds 2 weeks old - pullets and/or roos?

    What I really meant was, Why are they calling it a "Black Rock" if it has white barring? Most private sellers do not have the correct pens set up to produce any kind of sexlink chick. And some people think (wrongly) that if they breed a male and a female of some kind of sexlink, they will get...
  7. NatJ

    Six different breeds 2 weeks old - pullets and/or roos?

    Sometimes yes, but they do not breed true. So either the seller has a pen set up to produce black sexlinks (one color of rooster, a different color of hen), in which case that chick would have to be male because of the barring. Or else the seller has "Black Rocks" (black sexlinks) that they...
  8. NatJ

    Six different breeds 2 weeks old - pullets and/or roos?

    In that case, it is a bit puzzling how a "Black Rock" chick comes to have white barring. A Rock that is black with white barring is typically called a Barred Rock. I wonder if the seller mixed up an egg somehow? Or if a different rooster got a chance to mate with that hen?
  9. NatJ

    Stray Rooster

    I do not think the rooster in the first post of this thread is a Splash Rosecomb Bantam. The picture in the first post shows that he is colored blue, not splash, and that he has a single comb not a rose comb. I do not think he is a bantam either, based on some of the later photos that show him...
  10. NatJ

    Grubterra

    I read it in the first post of this thread: So that is the question the other posts in this thread were trying to answer: whether BSFL can be used instead of oyster shell. Offering some BSFL as a treat, while also providing oyster shell, is not a problem. But it is not what this thread was...
  11. NatJ

    Why is my 4 week old chick so droopy?

    Is the rest of the brooder noticeably cooler than the area under the heat lamp? You can check that with your hand, even if you don't have a thermometer. Yes, it is okay to treat for coccidiosis.
  12. NatJ

    Help my rooster is trying to mate with my ducks

    Female birds lay eggs even if a male does not mate with them. Mating determines whether the egg is fertile or not. For a chick or duckling to grow inside the egg and hatch, the egg must be fertile (a male mated with the female before she laid the egg), and then the egg must be kept warm in an...
  13. NatJ

    Six different breeds 2 weeks old - pullets and/or roos?

    How did you decide which chick was the Barred Plymouth Rock and which was the Black Rock? I see that both of them are black with white barring.
  14. NatJ

    I Think a New Laying Pullet Is Laying Almost Only Popped Eggs?

    Can you "separate" her where the rest of flock can still see her and interact with her? A dog crate inside the coop or inside the run might work well for that. That way you can see what eggs she lays or does not lay, but she is not really away from the flock, so they will not forget her or fail...
  15. NatJ

    Chicken morphine?

    The topic comes up fairly regularly here. You might see if any of the suggestions in these threads are helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/real-talk-please-best-euthanization-method.1578281/ https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-euthanize-a-chicken-humanely.1561319/...
  16. NatJ

    Cleaning molted feathers to make a cat toy

    I can't think why you would have to do any more :idunno Unless your friend mentions a particular concern.
  17. NatJ

    Cleaning molted feathers to make a cat toy

    If the feathers look clean, I might just show them to her and ask if she thinks they are acceptable this way. If the feathers have obvious dirt or poop on them, of course cleaning would be a good idea. But if you were picking up feathers like that, I don't think you would have said you were...
  18. NatJ

    Roosters

    What egg color do you want? If your current hens are BCM and Olive Eggers, they should mostly be laying dark colored eggs (dark brown from the BCM, dark green from the Olive Eggers.) Using a rooster from a dark egg breed will likely produce daughters that lay dark eggs (olive or dark brown)...
  19. NatJ

    Weening Adult Ducks onto Less Food (by Volume) and Free Choice Feeding

    Animals seem to act differently if the food actually runs out, rather than being available all the time. So having it really free choice for a few days (yes, even if that means 8 quarts in the morning, or something equally ridiculous) may make a difference in how they act. Then again, if they...
    • NatJ
    • Post #8
    • Forum: Ducks
  20. NatJ

    Weening Adult Ducks onto Less Food (by Volume) and Free Choice Feeding

    Did you already try giving it to them free choice? Or are you saying that you have been giving them limited amounts for a week and they are still acting starved? Hmm, definitely some reasons to be concerned!
    • NatJ
    • Post #6
    • Forum: Ducks
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