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  1. From the North

    Hen with impacted crop

    This is the second time dealing with an impacted crop for this particular RSL hen. The last time, I was able to separate her, massage her, give her scrambled egg & olive oil, and after a few days I put her back with the flock. In retrospect, I may have put her back too early and perhaps the...
  2. From the North

    At what temp should I keep the hens locked up?

    It's a lovely -26C (-16F) this morning. Do I need to keep the hens locked up in the coop, or can I open the door so they still have the option of going out? I would like to give them the option of going out but it will make the coop that much colder. It's a bit small in the coop for 11 hens to...
  3. From the North

    Cold Climate Chicken Keepers -- what is your deworming regimen?

    Any advice would be appreciated. We've already had frost here, winter will follow shortly (we usually see snow a time or two before Halloween) and snow will remain until at least April (we had plenty of snow in May here this year).
  4. From the North

    Price of eggs in Ontario, Canada

    Hello, Just wondering what the price tag is for a dozen "farm fresh" eggs in Ontario. Thanks!
  5. From the North

    First egg - 16 1/2 weeks.

    I'm just tickled pink to announce my first-ever chicken egg today!! I wasn't expecting any eggs for another month! How exciting! Should I switch them all (11 hens, about 16 1/2 weeks old) onto layer feed immediately, or should I wait until more of them start laying?
  6. From the North

    Freak accident - wing injury

    One of my red sex link pullets managed to impale her wing on the small hook that the feeder is hanging from inside the coop. I found her hanging by the hook when I got home from work today :(. I immediately gave her water (not knowing how long she had been hanging there) and she drank quite...
  7. From the North

    Chickens eating chicken

    To be clear, I have no intention of making this a regular part of their diet, but it is my understanding that a bit of leftover (cooked) chicken is not harmful to feed to chickens (so I'd rather not get into a debate about that). My question is, can you give them the bones to pick through...
  8. From the North

    Feeding 8 week old chicks

    My 11 pullets are 8 weeks old today. The Chick Starter feed instructions are to feed up to 8 weeks old, then switch to a Grower feed. I went to the feed store today and picked up a "Grower/Finisher" feed but was surprised to see the protein content of the Grower at 15%. Isn't that a bit low...
  9. From the North

    Chicken tractor - do I need to open/close the coop at night

    We have built "chicken tractor" which consists of a small, floorless, portable coop and portable run. It is two pieces so that we can move it more easily. Anyways, we have built it with a chicken door between the two which we can open/close. My question is, do we need to close them up in the...
  10. From the North

    3 Barred Rocks

    Here are a few pictures of my 3 Barred Rocks. They are supposed to be all pullets. At four weeks old, should I be able to tell if I have a rooster? http://i.imgur.com/ttrrXfG.jpg http://i.imgur.com/YL512L6.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Wn1bP16.jpg
  11. From the North

    Tips for sexing chicks?

    What can I start to look for in my chicks to confirm (or not!) that they are pullets? I have red sex links, black sex links, barred rocks, new hampshire x, and cornish x.
  12. From the North

    Do I need to cut up treats into tiny pieces?

    Or will they just peck appropriately sized bites? My chicks are 6 days old now. Can I give them a carved-out spaghetti squash skin to peck at?
  13. From the North

    At what age are they fully feathered?

    A spin-off of the "how fast do they grow" thread. Also, my understanding is that once they are fully feathered, they can regulate their own temperature, is this correct? So if they are fully feathered at 6 weeks, can they go from indoors to outdoors fairly easily? I'm hoping in 6 weeks the...
  14. From the North

    How quickly will they grow?

    Winter is playing a cruel joke on us here in northern Ontario, and as a result we may not have our coop and run set up outside quickly enough. I was hoping to have the coop/run built by May 1st and move the chicks out shortly after that (they are coming on Wednesday). Now my plans will...
  15. From the North

    For the drive home

    I'm going to pick up my first batch of chicks this Wednesday. The forecast for that morning is about 20F. The drive will take about 45min-1hr. How much do I need to worry about keeping them warm in the car on the way home? I was thinking I should bring some of those chemical hot packs to put...
  16. From the North

    Concrete floor in *run*

    Ok, my New Plan is to put the coop (a converted shed) just under the overhang of my barn, and enclose the walkway along the side of the barn as the run. This will be easy because I'm not using this space right now, and I figure it will be super easy to just attach some wire to the existing...
  17. From the North

    Toxic Plants List

    http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html Good grief, I have many of these growing wild on my property -- I thought chickens ate anything that didn't eat them first?? Cabbage, Kale, tomatoes, apples, onions, garlic, chives, potatoes, plums, apricots, etc etc etc all toxic??
  18. From the North

    What size run for chickens?

    What size of a run should I be building to keep 6-8 hens in, not including the coop? They will be in the run most of the time -- we have full time jobs so can't let them free range except on the weekends, or after work in the summer, I guess (do they stay up later when the days are longer?)...
  19. From the North

    Starting chicks on a wire mesh/screen?

    My chicken book (which I wouldn't recommend to anyone, see my review if interested) says that chicks should be started on a light metal mesh to allow droppings to fall through for easy cleaning and to give them something to grip. I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere else yet; is this a common...
  20. From the North

    Ordering extra chicks?

    So, everyone around here (and by that I mean my family and friends, none of whom have ever owned a chicken) says that I'm supposed to order twice as many chicks as I want hens, because it's likely half will die. My husband seems keen on following this advice while I have a little more...
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