Thanks for the input. The bigger issue is the overmating of hens - we only have 11 girls and one is a tiny Old English Game bantam.
We tried saddles, even the "smalls" were too small. And for the OEGB, I just cringe every time I see the much bigger rooster on her itty bitty frame. She's...
One black, one silver-laced bantam cochin male. Originally purchased as chicks from TSC 2 years ago, were unsexed. Too many roosters for our small flock of hens, need to move them somewhere else before winter hits.
The only other chickens in the flock were from mypetchicken 4 years ago...
Hi all,
I haven't been active here in some time, especially as our chickens have been pretty smooth sailing while the rest of life has been crazy. We have our original group from mypetchicken that is now 4 years old, and then the flock is rounded out by the TSC chicks we added 2 years ago in...
This gets confused a lot and incorrect info propagates like wildfire on the web. When I ordered from MyPetChicken 2 years ago I had called and they explained they use Meyer's hatching facilities but have their own breeding stock. MPC doesn't pack the chicks themselves, that's why the sender...
Sounds cute - much nicer than our silkie roo who's now 2 years old and sounds like he's being strangled when he crows. Not a very melodious boy, but now we have 2 bantam cochin boys growing up. They're 13 weeks and one is crowing and trying to mate the little OEGB. The joys of the TSC bantam...
We bought 2 game cameras when we got chickens so we could see what came poking around. Cabelas has some pretty inexpensive options as well as fancy ones. We've seen a lot of wildlife and also use them to keep an eye on the driveway etc when we're gone. Might be helpful to figure out what's...
Ha. My DH likes to park at the WAY far end of any parking lot, so no jerks can open their doors wide and dent his precious automobile. And yes, it lives in a garage when not ferrying us around.
We should have gone for brown paint - and made the roost further from the wall. It was a premade...
Well, yes, I suppose.....it just took us a while to get over our nice clean coop getting all the dripping poo marks on the walls etc. Like a new car getting dings on the doors....
But yes, that is one BEAUTIFUL coop.
I wish I had peafowl just wandering around my yard. But then it'd have to be a nice big estate to isolate the screaming......
Maybe the rescue can go wander the estate at Westbury Gardens in NY.......first place I ever saw peas and they looked so appropriate in that grand setting.
Hope...
Both were from my local feed store in CT. Not sure where they got their chicks, actually.
I've never followed the EE threads as closely in the past because I didn't have my own, but it seems to me that somehow there are a lot more of the black/white varieties this year. Right, or am I...
This is our second 10-week EE. Same issue...I think we're in the clear except that darn tail. I feel like they can't BOTH be boys since we just got 2 from the pullet bin and they both have it, but we all know life isn't fair.
The comb is similar to what I just posted....single-row pea...
So this is my 10-week-old that I posted earlier. Pattern and comb still say pullet to me, but the tail is more curved than I've ever seen on a female. A quick search told me it's possible given the mixed heritage of EEs (though I didn't find picture examples), but what do you guys think?
That's a lot of comb for that age, and it's quite red. That plus the patchy patterning says cockerel to me.
Plenty of more experienced people on here. I've been subscribed to this thread for a long time and only in the past few weeks has it become easier to figure out what helps those folks...
In terms of saving money by getting pullets or laying hens......for us the coop/run construction ended up being the most expensive aspect of getting a flock started and thus the feed costs of raising babies paled in comparison!
If you absolutely CAN'T have roosters and wouldn't be...
Goodness, now I'm going to worry that our bird feeder is really just going to be a way to "feed" songbirds to the hawks.... : )
I do like seeing hawks and they do need to eat, but I'd rather it not be my nice birds. Wr have a gazillion chipmunks roaming the yard. Cute but we could stand to...
Not sure - all my shocked brain managed to process was that the head was solid brown. As it was flying off I was busy trying to call the dog back and see where all the little chick-monsters were. I'm thinking maybe Red-Tailed - I'd heard them screeching in the air in the days prior.
They're not together full-time yet, but my plan was to use Flock Raiser (I think that's what many use?) amd give oyster shell free choice. My hens have never been great about eating oyster shell so we'll see how it goes. Doubt the babies would really try to eat the big Purina pellets now...