have you got names for the chicks yet?
On the Mow's got depression issue, do you think it's connected with her lack of access to the field, or laying ss eggs, or her rank in the flock, or something else?
But it wasn't meant to be an overview of the RSPCA; it was focussed on one thing it does that it shouldn't. Scandals taint a whole organisation, even if they touch only one small part of it. The reputational damage can be enormous.
This sounds just like Venka, and it happened very frequently throughout her first year. On the rare occasions that Hafod 'lays an egg', this is usually what she lays, and has been the case her whole first year of laying (she'll be 2 in August). They are not related.
fwiw, this doesn't sound...
the last of the pullets has gone broody, as has Janeka. Luckily Idris has just left jail, so they can go in it :rolleyes: I hope this rash isn't going to continue all summer long...
there are a lot of factors involved besides the time left to cool, e.g. developmental stage of embryos, ambient temperature, even nest material (how heat retentive it is etc.), so I am not going to second guess it, rather, just let nature take its course. If Fez's hatch fails, there are several...
I believe that until day 14 of incubation, the embryo behaves like a cold-blooded animal, so while the long chilling will slow development, it may not be fatal. After day 14, it's developing into a warm-blooded animal, and henceforth such a long spell of cooling would probably be very damaging...
Spoke too soon. This morning I found that Fez spent the night in the wrong box; eggs cold. None were added, so she was not chased off by a late or early layer. So I assume another hen just gave her enough agro to drive her off the eggs at roost time. I lifted her out for breakfast, and then...
I managed to catch Fez doing her pinball wizard act yesterday :lol:
This was going to be a photo of her dustbathing, but the shutter took too long to flip :lau
so what are you offering them at the moment?
we find that true through winter, so that the first spring cut is like a normal one, and areas near the house barely need any cut at all (because they hang out there more often during the winter so that grass gets more nibbled). But it doesn't hold...
It's a combination of things really. First, the space here is finite, so I have to be very choosy about letting any of them sit. Then I want to give every hen that feels the urge the chance to raise a brood, so those two reasons together mean they have to take turns. Typically a pullet would be...
Idris has gone broody, again :rolleyes: Quite apart from the fact that Fez is already sitting, Idris is not 1 till August, so it's back to jail for her :(And Maria is building herself up for it too; one of the youngest and the oldest may end up sharing a jail cell :hmm
I would regard their desire to be close to the broody as good, though in that precise roosting position they could poop onto the nest, which would be bad. So I'd try to set up something where they can be close, without being able to contaminate the nest with feces.
Only a single % or 2 in most cases; or was yours a scratch bag where 5% or thereabouts of oil was added?
And of course it depends on the type of grain. This is a useful comparison of nutrient values for lots of different grains and pseudocereals, though they're for cooked grains...