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Six is not enough for them to heat up a shipping box so some hatcheries look at the weather forecast and include a heat pack if it is to be cool. Each hatchery has its own policies so only they actually know why they did what they did with that heat pack. From the time those chicks left the...

I looked up the Scratch and Peck Feeds Organic Chicken & Duck Feed 18% Layer Mash, 40-lb bag The photo shows a mash as being cracked grains. You just can't trust anything in advertising. With cracked grains like that they can still pick out their favorites and leave the rest which means they...

If she is your only hen laying soft shells it is probably not that calcium is not available for her. If you have other hens laying good eggs it is certainly not a flock problem, it is an individual hen problem. If she chooses to not eat a calcium supplement offered her instincts could be...

I suspect NatJ got that about the fat reserve from me. I mention it a lot. I can't remember where I first got that. I may have read it somewhere but I suspect it was from a Poultry Science professor that specialized in egg laying and reproduction. I've butchered enough pullets, hens...

NatJ brings up some interesting points. It is always more complicated than the most simplistic answers. But the simplistic answer is that if you make going broody a capital offense where they literally lose their head for going broody and use an incubator to hatch eggs in a few generations you...

It is not free ranging but I use electric netting to give my chickens over 2,000 square feet to roam in outside of the coop and main run. It stops dogs, coyotes, foxes, and such. I know that coop meets the suggested 4 sq ft per chicken you often see on here but it is small for integration...

I'll copy what I wrote earlier and explain it some. Do not expect the hens to snuggle the chicks or keep them warm. What happens with mine is that the chicks form a sub-flock and avoid the hens so they don't get pecked. About the time my pullets start to lay they are accepted into the pecking...

A 4x6 for 3 chickens gives them a lot more space than many chickens have. :thumbsup

I personally don't like to treat for anything unless I see a specific reason to treat. I don't want to contribute unnecessarily to treatments becoming ineffective. In your circumstances I would not criticize you for doing that. I think it is a reasonable precaution. I think you have a...

What are you quarantining against? Marek's can spread on the wind from a great distance. The further you are from the run and other chickens the safer you are but there will be a risk. If you brood the chicks in your house and change clothes so you don't track in the virus you can get a...

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined. We all do these things differently. I let my hens hatch and raise chicks with the flock. When I give chicks from the incubator to a hen that is also with the flock. Some people do not. Both ways can work but your individual circumstances may favor...

There are plenty of people that will tell you that a 4x6 is good for six chickens. With adequate access to a run they are correct, though it might be a little tight for integrating new chickens. I personally like them to have more room than the bare minimum. I find the tighter I crowd them...

With that heat source they could handle much colder temperatures than that straight out of the incubator or from the post office. Those temperatures are fine since you have a heat source for them. You probably read something on this forum that has you concerned. We often say things like the...

What are your goals with chickens? Why do you keep them? What do you want to happen? I think that is the first question you need to answer to yourself. Then you can plan how to get there. My goals are to raise them for meat and play with genetics. I keep dual purpose chickens, not meat...

No. They need calcium for the eggshells. It does not have to be oyster shell. They can get calcium from some of the plants and some of the creepy crawlies they eat. If your native stone is limestone they can get calcium from that. For some of us they get so much calcium from those sources...

There is no way to judge how safe it is. Some people can go years without a problem, some are wiped out almost immediately. It is somewhat like driving a car. You may go years without an accident or somebody may run a stop sign and hit you next time you go out. Something may take one...

A poultry science professor said the most common cause of a broody dying was roost mites. She stays in the nest and they suck the blood out of her. It might be a good idea to check for roost mites. I've never had them in my flock but I do check occasionally.

How cold do you get at night? I don't know what criteria that Google articles use, but to me the temperature is what determines how soon you can put a chick outside without heat. A six-week-old chick should be able to handle temperatures down to freezing with little to no acclimation. A...

When do pullets lay their first egg? When they are ready. Where do they lay their first egg? Where they want to, not necessarily where we want them to. When do brooder-raised chicks start to roost up off of the ground. When they are ready. Where do they sleep when they start to roost...

Broody hens have been doing this for thousands of years without human help or intervention. It is possible to get a hen that does not have the correct instincts but that is really rare. I trust my broody hens to know more about being broody than I ever will. They are living animals so you...