I have a hen about 1 1/2. I don't know which breed she is. They all look the same except some have small combs and some have large ones. She's a great layer. I get an egg a day from her. She is the lowest in the pecking order of the hens but bullies the pullets. I think a change of scenery...
Has anyone seen a change in chicken scratch? A month or so ago I purchased some from Tractor Supply, like I've done before more than once. This last bag had whole corn and a lot of weird powder. My chickens, red sex links, don't eat the whole corn or even the bigger cracked corn. The banties...
I have a Khaki Campbell drake who lost his hens last fall and I don't plan on replacing them. He was supposed to be a hen himself but...
He was born March 2012. He's a nice duck but my husband said he probably wouldn't taste good (which translates: I don't want anything to do with prepare...
This spring I got, for the first time, Ameraucanas. So far, I really like them. I have noticed that they seem to not know there the end of their beaks are. They don't seem to like to eat the scratch I throw down and will wait until I put more feed in the empty feeder and eat that instead...
5 Khaki Campbell "laying machine" hens. Born May 30, 2009. We get an egg a day from each, except for one or two days a week. They're great hens who lay their eggs in their house except for once in a blue moon. One has a bum leg. She was entertainment for a dog.
We're moving and are sad to...
I have 5 Khakis, born end of May, and it only seems that 3 are laying. I usually can count on 2 per day but sometimes I get three. They've been laying pretty consistently since about Oct. I know I should be patient but it seems that I should be getting more eggs. They all seem to be hens, no...
I was at Tractor Supply and the manager said when he first took over the store he thought they might have a rodent problem. He said he used a black light to find their trails. Has anyone else heard of the use of a black light for this purpose or is it an old wives tail or one of those sky hook...
I have the age old problem of wasted/ruined feed because duck house is not large enough for a feeder of any kind. I was wondering if anyone had ever tried a PVC pipe feeder like the one shown in this thread? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=206562
I'm thinking of making...
A couple of weeks ago I made Joe Jost's Picked Eggs. My daughter ate on yesterday and said they were bitter. She said they were great two days after pickling. So, my question is...how long can they sit on the counter and did I do something wrong if they turned bitter or is that normal...
Have any of you run into people that think duck eggs are gross or something to that effect? A classmate of mine expressed the desire to have some so I gave her six. About a week passed and I asked her how she liked them. She said her husband refused to eat them and went to buy chicken eggs...
My DD forgot and let the ducks out. When she went to feed and put them away, she found that our dog had one down. He plucked the feathers off the back of her neck down low but mostly on her back close to her neck. The skin is broken a little bit in a large area (like like hamburger thought...
We came home to a dead duck and I'm now wondering if one of the other ducks could be the culprit? The only wounds we could see were the ones on the back of her neck. All the feathers were pulled off the back of the neck and the flesh was chewed a little bit. There was no blood anywhere...
Have a hen with something strange on her back. Not sure if it's a wound, sore or what. Can't see it for all the feathers. She seems to be in pain when the feathers are moved to look. Any thoughts or help greatly appreciated.
I have a hen with some kind of sore on her back. She's been limping and has bumble foot but while giving her a shot I decided to just take a peak at her back. She has had a weird patch of white fluffy feathers on her back. Well, she didn't like her back being touched and there's really no...
I was wondering if all khakis were fickle? Ours are. One day they'll be afraid to leave the duck pen, another afraid to go in, will eat out of your hand but then act like they just know you're going to cut their heads off (which we aren't). Somedays they won't eat out of your hand to save...
I've been thinking alot lately about oyster shells for calcium. I've read here that it's more bioavailable but what about mercury poisoning?
We're growing our own food so we know what's in it but do we really know? Where do these oyster shells come from?
I've read that oyster shell...
We have 6 khaki campbells that are supposed to be hens but we have at least one that has been mounting the others. They do this when they are let out of their house. They head to the hot water heater drip pan that we use as a water pan. They all get in and it seems that one if not two mounts...