We have two month old Pekin duck that we were told is a female but she's kinda quiet. I was told females would be louder. I'm looking for a drake feather but I don't see anything noticeable. At what age can you feather sex a Pekin duck?
We're new to ducks and it was quite by accident that we acquired this Pekin. I have chickens and while taking in a few chicks for a friend who could not care for them we accepted the baby duck as well. I've been told the duck could be integrated into the flock but I really like the idea of...
We adopted a 16 week old RIR and noticed she wasn't acting normal. We dismissed it as a result of harassment by the previous owner's dog. She didn't seem to straighten up after we brought her home. She sits inside her coop (we have her quarantined) most of the day and when she comes out she...
I have a Production Red that we've allowed to breed with our hens last year. We ended up with a bunch of cockerels but I was surprised to see the Barred Rock cross get so much larger than his father. Is this typical of Barred Rocks vs. Production Reds? The Brahma cross ended up much larger as...
Ideas? It seems to be getting worse. We've treated it with anti-pick lotion, anti-fungals, and antibiotic ointment. Occasionally it appears to be healing and then the scabs open up and he bleeds all over the place. We never catch the hens actively pecking him but not sure what else it could be...
So here's the deal: we have 15 hens and 1 rooster. Rudy dislocated one of his hips at around 4 months of age and he has walked with a limp ever since. Because of that he doesn't mount his hens as often as other roosters I've had experience with. We HAVE caught him "doing the deed" every so often...
My wife ordered these two girls last year from Ideal Poultry and they were sold as Ameraucanas. We bought them for their blue/green eggs to balance out the shades of browns we would be getting from the rest of our flock. It was fun to watch them mature. As their feathers came in they turned...
We are INCREDIBLY frustrated. For the past couple of months we've been buying a specialized seed mix from another chicken farmer and adding fish meal to boost the protein content. Our whole purpose in raising chickens is to have healthier eggs than we could buy at the grocery store, so we wanted...
After a terribly crazy summer, many distractions, and being required to relocate the coop and run several miles from it's original location we finally move the chickens into their permanent. home. It's not finished but it's finished enough to be secure. I don't think they'll mind a few...
We just bought two Light Brahmas that I believe are around a year old. They're at the end or beginning (not sure how to tell) of a molt. I noticed shortly after bringing them home and throwing them in quarantine that one of the hens is coughing/sneezing. Other than that she seems fine. It's...
I have a Silver Lace Wyandotte that we had to separate from the rest of the flock because she is harrassing the other hens to the point of making them bleed. We have thirteen hens together with one rooster. The birds are seven months old and they were raised together. The only problems we had...
I just bought two Light Brahma hens. I think they're about a year old. I noticed one of them seems to be missing the typical black tail feathers. Is this normal? Is this part of molting? She is very full and has feathers everywhere else right now. It just looks like she's got a big butt...
GAAAAAAAH! We just got a visit from a Code Compliance Officer. Apparently the chicken coop that I'm working on at my in laws' home (fewer code restrictions there) is not as code compliant as we thought. It's not an issue of the chickens but the structure being so near the fence (building on...
This is all fairly new to me. My wife grew up with chickens in her backyard and wanted our kids to have the same experience. We've talked about chickens for a couple of years but local city ordinance did not make it practical to keep chickens. We would only be allowed three birds. This would...