So I've gotten a good feel that most broody hens will take to day old chicks placed under them under cover of darkness when the hens are in the chicken zombie stage of night. My question is logistics for the little buggers.
I currently have two hens (by attrition; started with six, a fox...
So I saw a couple of threads about hens and new roosters not getting along, but that's not exactly what we've got going on. Our small flock, 6 hens and 1 rooster, were all raised together. Last spring, the rooster was pretty aggressive with the hens and they all needed hencapes or saddles or...
Our first broody has been sitting on 7 eggs for close to four weeks now. We candled them two weeks ago, and they looked viable, but nothing's hatching! How long can we let her go on?
This is the tale of our coop build, which took nearly nine months (and still isn't quite finished), lots of discussion and head scratching, and immeasurable patience. I hope you enjoy our journey - we certainly did!
It all started with a 100 year old outhouse:
It's a two-seater ;)
We...
Hi all - One of our hens has a pecked and now swollen cheek wattle. I have been treating it with Banixx (awesome stuff; I use it on our horses' wounds as well) once a day, and unfortunately as soon as it seems to be getting better, and the swelling goese down, our rooster pecks (or should I say...
Finally, the henhaus is ready, and it's time to move the hens in. Trick is, the hens are currently living on my screened in porch, so somehow I have to get them all from the porch, through the living room, and out to the henhaus (maybe fifty yards total, plus three doors [into and out of our...
We have one rooster with 6 hens, all are about 6 months old. The rooster has been crowing for a little over a month, the hens are not yet laying. So far, he seems to be well behaved, keeping order in the flock, and a watchful eye on their surroundings. He hasn't yet been aggressive with me...
Hi all - I have an egg-laying, chicken age, time of year question:
I just did the math and realised that our 6 gold-laced wyandottes are just about 5 months/20 weeks old (got them at 1-2 days old in the first few days of June). Our chicken "palace" (otherwise known as the henhaus) has taken...
Hi All - my husband (city mouse) and I (country mouse) have been browsing the site for a couple of months now, gleaning all the important information! We're getting ready for our first small flock, after a roving rooster showed up in the yard last year and our two horses "adopted" him. The...
My husband and I are getting ready to get chickens for the first time (we're both architects, so the coop is well on its way to being a palace), and I was wondering if the chicks would survive us being away for the 8 hours of the work day when they're in the brooder? Should we plan a long...