So I just picked up some pretty awesome chicks today! Svart Hona (Swedish Black Hen) BLRW mixes! I wasn't sure what they would look like, but at 4 weeks old I can already really see the feathers. I got a boy and two girls, one of the girls is solid black except for her tongue and toenails, and...
My mallard/pekin mix drake is my friendliest duck, but he gets aggressive when I try to take the eggs off the nest. He gets between me and the nest and bites my fingers as I try to remove the eggs! This is the only time he does this. Is he protecting is potential future babies? If so, do they...
Stupid, stupid, stupid me. I have a beautiful gamecock that I named Thomas. I knew he would fight, so for a while now he's been staying in our garage bathroom with a window to see his friends without getting in a fight and killing them. My plan was to breed him with my three largest hens and...
I posted an article from my blog a couple days ago, a guide for buying chicks from feed stores, and some people asked that I write a part two, a guide to choosing healthy chicks from feed stores. So I did! http://backyard-barnyard.blogspot.com/2016/03/feed-store-chick-buying-guide-part-2.html...
I noticed a lot of people on a facebook group I'm in having some trouble with chicks at feed stores and not being sure what they have. I decided to write a guide on my blog about feed store chicks! I hope it helps some people! I'm just going to post the link here because I don't want to...
I have one little duck that is not taking too well to the cold. A few days ago, I checked on her and noticed her shivering. It was cold and a little snowy, but still above 20 degrees so I thought it was a little odd. I picked her up, and she was soaked to the bone! I brought her inside and got...
Winter got a bit of a late start this year where I live, and last spring's chicks have so far got to happily free-range through the normally chilly months. Until today.
She stood there for like 10 minutes looking at the sky
Then attempted to escape by flying on the roof. She failed to escape...
Two days ago I noticed my White Rock pullet was missing. I searched everywhere for her, and found no trace, not even a pile of feathers. I had seen a Red Shouldered hawk buzzing around the day before, so I assumed the hawk got her. I chalked it up to another unfortunate fact of free ranging...
Our cat caught a starling, and when we took it away from her we found that it was still alive. As I was checking it over for injuries, I noticed some bumps that looked akin to fowl pox on it's face and tail; big red boils on the body and yellow bumps in the mouth. I was not about to release a...
I am so disappointed right now. I had 40 eggs in my incubator, hatching some for myself and some for a friend, and last night my digital thermometer started to die and was reading 20 degrees F off. I was confused as to why the incubator was all the way on and reading 90 degrees. But it was...
I traded with a friend for this hen and her single chick a couple months ago. All my friend knew is that she is a game, he wasn't sure on her actual breed. Any Ideas?
I'm pretty sure her chick is male, I can't wait to see what he'll look like!
Many people have beautiful, store bought or hand-built coops that are painted, with flowers all around them, and look like a pretty little addition to their garden. However, I want to see something a bit different. I want to see some makeshift, yet efficient housing for chickens! Those of you...
We bought 6 white rock chicks about 3 months ago. Two died young, we gave one away, and two (a cockerel and pullet) were killed by a dog last week. The remaining bird, which we thought was a pullet, is being nursed back to health in our extra shower. But today, I noticed what sort of appears to...
I hatched a single ringneck pheasant a little over a week ago, and I noticed something wrong with her left leg about two days ago. It appeared splayed and she was completely unable to stand or walk properly! I used a Band-Aid to brace the bad leg to the other leg so she can at least stand and...
Sorry for the quality of the pic, I had to use my phone.
This little chick hatched out with an unabsorbed yolk sac. I put him in the cup and decided to keep a close eye on him and maybe it would absorb, but he managed to wiggle around and bust it. My mom and I carefully sterilized a piercing...
We got some adorable bantams (two need some special care. I couldn't help myself) from TSC and I would love to figure out what they are!
I am pretty sure these two are silkies. They have six toes instead of five, and the one had curled toes, which is why it has a homemade brace.
This...
...must be your own
2. It must be submitted before May 12, 2015
3. You must be willing to give an email and mailing address if you win (for prizes!) *note* if you win and wish not to give this info, your project will still be first place, but the next runner-up will receive the prize!
4. Project...
A little over a month ago I noticed that my one year old rooster's toenail was dull and short. I figured he had just broken the claw and that it would grow back. However, looking at it today, it's still short, brown, not growing, and accompanied by swollen tissue.
Next to the healthy toe for...
I was driving down the road with my mom the other day, and we were a bit angered by the sheer amount of garbage that is just thrown out by the road and into creeks. So then we got the idea, what if we did something with all this garbage? We don't want to just stick it in a landfill, so why don't...
I know there are a million questions on here about frostbite, but I'm not completely sure what to do or what will happen. I have a couple of chickens that have gotten frostbite from bitterly cold temperatures for my area, especially this time of winter (-6 last night). My little hen just had a...