This poor hen, a 2 or 3 year old Buff Orpington, was nearly taken by the coyote that's been helping himself to my chickens for the past few months. My husband heard the noise and went out with a shotgun, but the coyote took off before he could shoot. The chicken was apparently dragged by the leg...
One of my Buff Orps went broody. I was ecstatic and hoping for a nice roo as I had recently lost half the flock, including my beloved roo Big Bird, to a predator. It was borderline for the eggs to still be fertile (he was my only roo) but I crossed my fingers. About day 19, one of my Speckled...
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Big Bird is a 3 year old Buff Orpington. He's a big bird, his offspring at 8 months old were 5-6 pounds dressed - he's 1/2 again bigger than they were. Maybe 9 or 10 pounds?
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
This morning when I opened the pophole he was...
I've got 16 chickens that free range on a large acreage during the day. No problems there. At night is another story.
Chickens: 2 Speckled Sussex hens, 1 BO hen, 1 BO rooster bought as day olds April 2009, so a year and a half old.
4 BO and 2 Speckled Sussex pullets bought end...
My 15 month old Speckled Sussex, "Mother", began sitting on eggs for the first time 8 or 9 days ago. Yesterday I noticed her comb was not upright, but was sagging or flopping to the side. It's a bit pale, too, but not too bad. I put vitamins in the water closest to her and made a note to up the...
I've got a Sussex that just decided to go broody yesterday for the first time. She's 16 months old and seems quite definite about it. I've already got a Sussex halfway through a clutch and don't really want more chicks, as much as I like to allow the flock to "do their thing".
1. If I keep...
She hatched 3 yesterday but still has eggs - she stole some more from the other hens a week or so after she began brooding - god knows why I let her keep them, but I did. She is now ignoring her chicks in favor of the eggs and they are getting weak. I tried taking the eggs but she put up such a...
Ok, so I'm totally unprepared, didn't think ahead at all. My broody is setting on several eggs, one chick is out this morning and another halfway. So NOW it occurs to me to wonder how to provide the little ones with grower mash while preventing mom and the other two hens and the roo from eating...
I have a Speckled Sussex 10 1/2 months old that went broody about the 12th of this month. I didn't realize it til the 15th, so took her eggs away so she was only setting on one. Today she startled me when I had her egg and another in my hand, (someone had laid another in her box and I was...
I'm sure the answers to these are somewhere, but I cannot take any more time to search, so I'm hoping someone can help.
1. I have a broody hen sitting on one egg (I didn't know she was broody, so took her eggs for 3 days until it became obvious, oops). I have 2 other hens and a roo. I've seen...
It's not really Styrofoam, it's the blue sheets of insulation around the bottom of the trailer we live in. The chickens will *not* stop pecking at it! It adds nothing to the decor of the front to have a ladder lying up against the place to keep the little monsters from getting at it. The damage...
Ok, I need help. New to keeping chickens this year, and have some questions.
Background - Bought 5 Buff Orpingtons and 5 Speckled Sussex hatched April 29. They shipped fine including an extra BO. I read this board like it was the chicken bible, made a nice little brooder, kept them warm and...
5 Speckled Sussex and 6 Buff Orpingtons see the outside world (in a dog pen) for the first time today, at 14 days old. They loved it, scratched, peeped, looked at everything. Stopped and froze when a door slammed - instinct sets them up nicely, doesn't it? Hope they continue like that as they...
Hi everyone,
My husband and I bought some land in Maine last winter, and have been working towards adding livestock. We are just finishing a shed, part of which will be given over to chickens. The woman we buy our eggs from has saved me a few Buff Orpingtons so I won't have to wait til spring...