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  1. Mrs. K

    To Rehome or not? Help please!

    I would be wary of the bantam birds. Polish often have a weak skull, where a peck can kill them. Some people can get bantams and full size birds to get along, but a lot of people report creating a separate flock for them. Add clutter, multiple feed bowls set up so that while eating at one bowl...
  2. Mrs. K

    Thinking about buying this hen but concerned about its feathers

    I agree with the idea it is molt, but molt could hide a lot of sins. Generally I am not a big advocate of quarantine as it is nearly impossible to do well in a traditional backyard, but I would do it in this case. Molt does cause a lot of problems. You didn't ask, but I don't think adding two...
  3. Mrs. K

    New chicken mom here with a quick question about integrating new chicks

    The thing is, you have basically doubled your flock. The question is, how much space do you have? A couple of things are possible: they will ignore each other, the littles will be a sub flock until they begin to lay, at that point they will be one flock. The older birds will terrorize them...
  4. Mrs. K

    Should I change out deep litter bedding before winter? Because it could cause too much moisture?

    There are going to be many ways to do this, as there are people doing it. People worry about heat, and the idea that the deep litter is adding heat to a coop in South Dakota or Iowa is going to be minimal. And really, chickens do not need added heat. They produce heat, more than enough heat...
  5. Mrs. K

    Is My Australorp Being Sneaky or I Am I Just Overly Anxious? How Do I Know When She Actually is Laying?

    Generally when you have given up all hope, then two weeks later they lay... I have found about 4 weeks after they have reddened up, and 2-3 weeks after they start to squat. So in my opinion, she is close, but it could be a couple of weeks yet.
  6. Mrs. K

    Cleaning eggs

    And don't you cook your eggs? Cooking also destroys any bacteria. 350 degrees baking will get them all! And unless you are eating them raw, so will a fry pan. I put mine in the fridge - once in a great while, an egg will break or it is very muddy, they will get dirty, those I wash before...
  7. Mrs. K

    Introducing New Hens (Concerned about illness)

    That is a valid reason to have a closed flock. In this case, because you want to add to your flock, I would do a canary bird. Take one of your original birds, and put near the new birds. If that bird stays well, it should be safe. If that bird gets sick, you have saved yourself thousands. To...
  8. Mrs. K

    Rooster hasn't accepted new hens in 5 months... time to give up?

    The first summer, that is what I thought. And my plan was to cull her in the fall. But a predator got the cockerel and mean hen. And THEN the flock was just fine with her. She gained her confidence back, and was completely accepted in the flock. In fact the whole flock just seemed happier...
  9. Mrs. K

    Molt- rant

    For future plans - move some out, and move young ones in every year. The theory is 1/3 3+ years, 1/3 2 years, and 1/3 coming into lay. Younger chickens lay more eggs, but smaller. Older chickens lay larger eggs but not as many. Your molt will be strong this year, and may be over in 8 weeks, but...
  10. Mrs. K

    Starting my resilience flock.

    We are ranchers - we live in wilds of South Dakota. I have always loved to let mine out...but. So in the last few days, I noticed a small flock of wild turkeys on the home place, and a deer...hmm I am thinking, the dog got well, has been running the place, I think the coyotes moved out. Maybe I...
  11. Mrs. K

    NEED HELP PLEASE! Hen not Laying

    Thing is - nothing you can do but wait. And this time of year - it can be iffy. However, a couple of years ago, I had pullets that did not lay until early spring...but they laid through the entire next winter! Mrs K
  12. Mrs. K

    Rooster was high stepping, now passed away

    I did not mean to condemn your decision, and we all need to be where we are comfortable. I am just trying to point out that you have a young flock, really should be pretty darn healthy. Especially if there have never been chickens there before. And I have never heard of a ticket for parking...
  13. Mrs. K

    Rooster was high stepping, now passed away

    Oh course one can spend what they want, but really unless you have chickens dying right and left, it just might not be necessary. Good water, good feed adequate protection is what chickens really need. Do know that chickens often are not long lived. It happens, but as my granddaughter say...
  14. Mrs. K

    Rooster was high stepping, now passed away

    I agree, sounds like sudden death syndrome. Which is just that, an old timer told me, that sometimes they have a genetic internal defect, that they can compensate for until they get full grown, and the body just could not keep up. I have seen birds high step - but something sticky was on their...
  15. Mrs. K

    Is this moulting?

    They look like they have partied hard all night, and are what the cat drug home! In a couple of weeks - she will look like she has brand new clothes! And they all do it on their own clock. Some do it fast, and some do it slow.
  16. Mrs. K

    Do most/all layers, who are allowed to free range, eventually relapse to egg-hiding?

    Not now, if you are like me headed into winter. Next spring, a very high probability. Not just with free ranging flocks either. Sometime a nest can be hidden in plain sight! Any time you get a sudden egg count drop - almost always it is a hidden nest. Mrs K
  17. Mrs. K

    Cream legbar 28 weeks no eggs yet

    Yes, that is what I would do. Or on a day off, go out early in the morning, and wait. She will disappear, and you can follow her.
  18. Mrs. K

    Are beilfelders late layers?

    They are very late layers and don't lay all that well even then. But they sure are pretty birds.
  19. Mrs. K

    My 8 month old hen stopped laying and her feathers are odd.

    Look up depluming mites. I am wondering if she has those. Some birds are more susceptible to them, and they cause the feathers to be wispy like that.
  20. Mrs. K

    Pullet/hen never laying?..

    Never keep a hen you don't like, for whatever reason. It is not that she is choosing not to lay, animals don't get that choice. But it very well may be, she is just naturally sterile. Even if she started to lay once in a while, I would not expect her to ever have a good laying record, I would...
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