My Salmon Faverolles has been laying for about a year. About 80% of her eggs have such soft shells that they are broken when I find them. The shells are almost like water balloons. If she does lay an egg that stays in tact, the shell is incredibly thin, especially in comparison to my other...
I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and currently have four chickens which we've since April of 2012. I want to add 4 or 5 to our flock (the coop has ample room and they free range most of the day). I was going to wait until next spring but I started wondering about getting chicks in September...
A hawk attacked my sweet silkie today and there are no avian vets in my city that are on call this weekend so I'll have to help her and hope she makes it through until Monday. She definitely has wounds under one wings and on the head but I can't tell how deep and I haven't tried to really...
I have a 32 week old Buff Orpington that has become very aggressive. It started this summer with my then 18 month old and Peep, the BO, would peck her for no reason at all. She then started going after my 4 year old and now she will run 20 or 40 feet across the yard anytime she sees any...
Right now my only two girls that are laying are my EE and my Salmon Favorelles. I've noticed that the eggs/eggshells from the Salmon Favroelles are much thinner than those of my EE. Two times within the past couple of weeks I've gotten an egg from her with a crack in it. Then, today I found...
I am a first time chicken owner and have 4 urban backyard chickens that hatched on April 9th. Our one silkie laid for about 3 to 4 weeks and has now gone broody. She has been broody for about a week now and I force her to have mandatory fun (i.e. eat and drink) twice daily. Once a day I take...
I have four hens (no roosters), one of which is a Silkie who has been laying for about a month now, and she lays about 5 eggs a week. I think she is now broody, because she essentially hasn't left the nesting box for 3 days, although this morning I did remove her and put her in the run where...
Last Sunday we got our first egg and I started this thread seeking input regarding which of my four laid the first egg:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/710707/first-egg-who-done-it
As of today, I have gotten 5 eggs from the egg layer, and I was positive that egg layer was my Salmon...
I have four girls - one Buff Oprington, one Salmon Favorelles, one EE, and one Silkie. All will be 24 weeks tomorrow and today, I got my first egg! (see pictures below) We've been out of town for a long weekend and I had someone coming over daily to feed, water and check on the girls. They...
I have four urban chickens (all hens), all of which we've had since they were a day old. They are now nearly 19 weeks old. Our Buff Oprington is the biggest of the four. My 21 month old loves the chickens and every evening we let them out of the coop into the yard for an hour or more while we...
Silkie Sexing Experts! I am a new urban chicken owner and loving every minute. I have four chickens, three of which I'm sure are girls - 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Salmon Favorelles, and 1 Easter Egger. I also have 1 Silkie, dear Chicken Little, and I am hoping Chicken Little is a hen. They all came...
I know this subject of to free range or not to free range has been discussed her ad nauseum, but I need some advice. I have four girls (I hope they are girls and I'm pretty sure 3 of the 4 are, the 4th being a silkie) that are about two months old. I moved them into their coop and run...
After ascertaining that building a coop was way beyond our capabilities and doing lots of research on chicken coop builders in our area, I found a great General Contractor who builds coops on the side as a hobby (he and his family raise chickens). I sent him three designs that I liked...
My five (day old) chicks arrived on Tuesday and that day I noticed the black silkie was limping, but getting around just fine and didn't seem in any pain. I did a search here for limping and thought we'd wait it out and hope she got better. Well, tonight I ascertained that one of her legs is...
Our mailman brought them not less than 20 minutes ago and I am so excited I had to tell someone! Here's to hoping they are all hens: 1 EE, 1 Buff Oprington, 1 Salmon Favorelle, 2 silkies (1 black and 1 white).
Our first chicks (five of them!) are due to arrive in the mail this week and I can't wait. I have the brooder set up and ready to go but I have a question for all of you experienced chick raisers. My mother was in her local feed and seed store the other day and by their chicks they had some...
Hello all! I am a new and green so-to-be urban chicken owner. I have been lurking on the BYC forums for some time now, but just joined. You are all so knowledgeable and I don't know what I would have done without BYC. My question in this -- how many chicks should I start with? We live in...