The story of how I hatched chicks under a heat lamp....
Our always broody mama hen sat a clutch of 17 eggs, staggered of course. She hatched out 6 on her own and then got off the clutch. I really wanted the remainder to hatch as I knew they were pretty close. I don't have an incubator and I...
I have about 10 fertilized eggs that were under a Broody hen that still need probably one or two days before hatching. She is up now as some of the other eggs have hatched due to a staggered sitting. Is there any chance I can save these eggs to hatch without an incubator or Broody hen? I know...
Starting my 2024 thread! Mostly a photo dump thread but will try to share updates as well.
Kicking off Spring with 37 chickens. Mixed flock of layers. Let's see if I can remember what I have... Maran, easter egger, sex link, saphire gem, orpington, brahma, silkie, australorp ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜...
Don't get me wrong, I love love love my chickens and have zero intentions of being chickenless however... We all know it's not always a ray of sunshine in the poultry keeping world. Tell me about your LEAST favorite aspects of poultry keeping. I'll give you some of mine:
The classic winter...
So we did a thing today..... 🤭
Solar light strip @ $8
Poultry net staples @ $5
Husband labor rate @ free
=
Coolest coop on the block! 😎 I can even switch it to party mode and have a strobing light chicken dance party. :clap
Does it make sense? No. But does it serve a real purpose? Also no...
We don't normally have a hawk issue. They are around but don't seem to come real close to our place & we have never lost a chicken to one in 2 years. Not sure what has gotten into the hawks lately but I have had close encounters with them several days in a row now. I literally had to chase one...
This is my first predator attack on a chicken. We have an outside dog that does a good job at keeping predators at bay (and killing them). However, sometime yesterday something got to one of my hens. Unsure what time this happened but fairly certain it was close to late afternoon/dusk. She made...
One of my apple trees split in half and fell yesterday. 😢 Gathered up many of the apples in hopes I can grab them before the chickens/dog/deer get to them!
We plan to cut the fallen half before winter arrives. Should we leave the upright half alone or go ahead and cut it down? I am assuming it...
My neighbor has given me access to what she calls "corn filings"... This is apparently the fine particles (basically ground) corn gathered from the bottom of silos. They collect as they are empying their corn silos. She mixes this stuff into her chicken and horse feeds. I guess my question is...
I have a broody hen on about 15-20 eggs due to hatch around 5/30. Candled hastily yesterday and all look viable ( 🤷♀️ ). Here's the issue.... A second hen has gone broody in the same nest box. They are both literally sitting on the clutch of eggs, squished up next to each other. There is room...
Mama Fuzz has officially gone broody as of yesterday. She is on a total of 10 eggs. This would be day 2. Starting a thread to hatch along. Wish her luck!
She succesfully hatched 10 chicks last fall & did lovely. This will be her second time broody and we are looking forward to seeing her do her...
Just sharing as I want to keep this post updated with more information as I get it. I live in southeast Iowa & have been feeding an all-flock 16% feed (country lane) from Orschlens (farm/home store) for over a year. I recently discovered we have a local feed mill that makes their own chicken...
This is my 3 month old rooster- I think?
No idea what his breeding is. Hatched from a mixed flock of layers. Dad is either an Australorp or RIR. Mom is one of the following: RIR, australorp, barred rock, silver laced wyandotte, wheaten maran, production red, black sex link, saphire gem or easter...
I've already posted one story about my german shorthaired pointer helping us "rescue" our lost baby chicks. He is such a good dog, I have to share another quick story from last night.
It was well after dark and I had already shut the chickens up in the coop. I was doing a project inside the...
We lost one of our cats yesterday. We are not sure exactly what happened but expect some possible foul play from a neighbor, no need to get into details.
He was from a litter we had last summer and was the only kitten we ended up keeping. He was sweet as pumpkin pie and the best mouser. Grateful...