I have a scissor beak chick for the first time and I am beside myself about what to do. She hatched on March 13 and looked normal at that time. When she was about 5 days old I noticed that she had developed a very slight misalignment in her beak. It was just barely noticeable, so I didn't think...
I'll put chicks that are two weeks old and over in a dog crate in the yard for an hour or so at a time when the weather is nice. The big girls would hurt them if they could get to them, but they're safe in the crate. I leave the plastic tray out of the bottom so my babies can learn to scratch in...
I'd love to think I was lucky enough to get 7 out of 8 pullets. I was planning on keeping 1 CL roo so that would work out perfectly! I guess I'll have to watch and wait on the maybes to see how they look in about eight weeks.
So, I thought it would be nice to have an autosexing breed and got me some cream legbar eggs. Now, I'm still not absolutely sure I'm reading their markings correctly. None of them have an obvious yellow dot on their heads, but most of the "girls" don't have an entirely clean V shape on their...
Never heard that it's toxic. I have wisteria all over my back fence. When it blooms my girls love to hop up to grab the purple flowers to eat. No ill effect for them.
If the biggest problem is when they go to roost, I'd get a squirt bottle and spray her when she goes to stop them from getting on the roost. It will probably take a few nights (or weeks...) But they need to work out the pecking order.
It sounds like normal behavior for the lowest chicken. Once...
For continuos reading on temp and humidity I've been using this bluetooth model. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R586J37/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_QxLLEb2780YTB
It's helpfull in troubleshooting what went wrong when you can get a read out for every minute of the day.
They can lose moisture through the shell. For hatching humidity needs to be at least 65%, but I usually keep mine at 75-80. If it is a late hatch due to low temperature they may be just fine. If they're moving that's a good sign.
Have they pipped? You need to get the humidity up fast. This late in a hatch I would be concerned that they are shrink wrapped. Put a warm, damp rag in with them to help keep the membranes moist.
I'm a terrible meddler when it comes to opening the incubator. Most people on here would be horrified how often I open it during "lock down". I take chicks out several at a time after three or four hatch. This is generally a frowned upon practice. The good news is that my babies hatch anyway.
I...
It seems unlikely but it's definitely possible that fertility could be the issue. I do have a couple of older hen that the rooster pays no attention to (they don't like him either). Have you tried cracking some fresh eggs into a dish and looking for the bullseye to see what percentage you could...
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2016/06/16/how-to-grow-a-chicken-without-an-egg/#.XLDrtehKiHs
I can't believe I've never seen this before. It's possible to "hatch" chicks in plastic wrap suspended in cups so you can watch the development live!
I think I have new...
We added a roo this year to a flock with 2 five-year-olds and a 7yo who had never had a roo before.
The roo was broody hatched from a purchased egg and grew up in the flock. That may have helped. The 7yo still rules the roost, but the older girls do tolerate him. He's about 9 months old now and...
We've had a broody hen succesfully hatch 7 biddies this week. There were a few obvious duds that we pulled out yesterday and a couple more she would'nt give up yet. Today she pushed both out of the nest. One candled as dud the other was completely opaque. I felt like it might be good so i put it...
It depends on the chicken. We have some that have never gone broody once and also one that wants to hatch another clutch as soon as her biddies are 4 weeks old.
I think hatching would be amazing for the kids to watch!
Check facebook for local places to buy eggs. My area has several active hobby farmers and chicken pages that always have lots of breeds available from local breeders. These groups are also going to be extremely helpful when you have to...