Well, I put my two new roos in the coop last night. I've had them in lock-up where they can see the hens, but not contact. Last night, I put them in with the hens, then let them out this morning. I went in the house for a while, and when I come back out, there was a battle going on. They...
Okay, so granted, I just got the nest boxes set up this week. They've been hung for weeks, but I haven't had them set up for the pullets. Now, we had our first little pullet egg, and it was laid right in the middle of the door into the coop. Now my question is... will she figure out what the...
Okay, I got this chick with a batch of Red Rangers from the feed store. It was supposed to be a Red Ranger, but its not feathering out like the others, and its not growing like the others. I did get 5 Golden Comets, but I can pick them out from the Red Rangers, and there are 5 of them. This...
Has anyone raised the naked necked broiler? I know S&G has them available, and they are also raised in and around Winston-Salem, NC for Joyce Foods. I hear they are really good gourmet birds. I'm not talking about the Turken, which is a heritage breed, but the broiler used in the Label Rouge...
Well, I took the plunge and got 13 Red Rangers from Mt. Healthy Hatchery (who the local Southern States got them from). They ordered a straight run for us. Here's some pics.
Here's the new brooder setup. The box on the front is the door. The old one looked like this:
I like the new...
Okay, so we've just gone through some wet weather the last few days. It was pretty today, so I let the girls out of the coop. I was just wondering, is it okay to let them out of the coop on a rainy day? I wouldn't want them to get too cold with the water on their feathers and all, but I don't...
Okay, I ordered my broilers yesterday from Southern States. They get their birds from Mt. Healthy Hatcheries. We ordered 12 Red Rangers from them. Anyone have any experience with this breed? The site says you grow them out to 12 weeks.
Also, I'm considering a 4' x 4' tractor to put them...
I have to work tomorrow morning, which means I have to get up real early. Tonight is their second night in their coop. The wind is up and its cold. So at 1045 pm, I decide that I want to put some plastic or something on the chicken coop to cut the wind down, as our coop is just some pallets...
Typically, when will a Silver Laced Wyandotte Rooster start crowing. I suspect one hidden among my flock (really dark comb, and wattles starting to come in). They are 7 weeks old tomorrow. One other thing about this chick... the feathering is darker than the rest of them. Most of the rest of...
Does the Buff Cornish breed actually exist, or is it a figment of someone's imagination? I know you can get chicks from Ideal Hatchery that are sold as Buff Cornish. Has anyone raised any of these? Are they really Buff Cornish, or something else marketed as Buff Cornish?
Are there any...
Spunky is an Ideal Poultry "Americauna". She is currently 5 weeks old. When she was younger, she reminded us of a pigeon. Her head was a solid dark brown making her eyes stand out. Now, she looks like a fiery red-head. She's still a spunky little chick, ergo the name.
How did she get the...
In another thread, Beekissed mentioned fermenting whole grains and feeding it to broilers as an alternate way to get them to slaughter size. It would be nice if Beekissed would expound on that here. Following is part of a post that he put in that other thread:
Quote Beekissed:
I'm very...
I took my little girls out in the sun today for their first forage in the grass. I made a ring in with some chicken wire attached to metal fence posts, put their water out there, then set them out to forage for a couple of hours. At first, they clung to the edge of the mesh, looking around...
Okay, all the others have a flat spot where the comb is supposed to be right now. But one has a little yellow single comb sticking up. This is an Ideal Poultry bird bought from the local feed store. I have 7 of them (plus 7 Americaunas and a Sex Link), and this is the only one with a comb...
Okay, back when we got our chicks, we got one out of the "black sex link" box. It was a brown chick. We named her Suzie. She is now 3 weeks old (give or take a day). Here she is in all her glory.
Behind here are 3 as yet un-named Silver Laced Wyandottes, and one Americauna, who we've...
Okay, I have 15 chicks that will one day be full grown chickens. What size coop will I need to build in order to house them if they are going to be free-range without a run? I've been trying to do the math myself, but its boggling. I thought about an 8x12 coop, but that might be too much for...
In the future, I would like to add turkeys to my backyard flock. I've decided that I would like the Chocolate, given its history down here in the South. I know it really don't matter if you're just raising meat birds, but I haven't really been able to find what I'm looking for with my...