My 2 year old RIR, Big Mama (she is the smallest of my RIR's) is part of a mixed bag of laying hens--suddenly today she is standing stock still in the corner of the yard, I picked her up--and she has those patchy weird post-molt feather growth, but she also has BRIGHT red skin on her belly and a...
I did this morning what I usually do for them....food, water, gather eggs, and if it's sunny, prop open the door and turn off the heat (spoiled? yes, indeed). Today was only remarkable by a cabbage on a string (cabbage tetherball) as a treat and bribery/incentive from me to them for eggs, and...
I have been gone all day, with our son, skiing. Talked with my husband and he said he had one chicken in the 'hospital' in our living room (a cage with food and water), because he thought she was acting strange.
Fast forward to coming home, and getting everything settled like you do when you...
My little awesome EE's are laying machines! I love them--and they are laying light olive green eggs, blue(pale), and pink eggs! Lucky ME! The size of the eggs surprised me--they are small compared to my RIR's. Will they increase in size like the RIR's did or will they stay petit?
I noticed her this morning, because she was making this expiratory noise--like a wheeze, so I watched her and then picked her up to listen closely. She sounds as if she has laryngitis! What can I do for her? Thanks in advance!
Today I bought my chooks some crickets! I bought 5 dollars worth and came home and dumped them into the deep litter. OMGosh! What a frenzy! They had such a good time and were active and running around. I think they caught every last one, too! Then they actually followed me outside into the...
It's a little late to be asking this, since there is already snow on the ground, but I have an assortment of the following:
RIR
EE
one black sexlink
one giant cochin
one white silkie bantam
one wyandotte
Anyone in that group need anything special in the winter months? So far, so good, but I...
We bought one of those metal vacuum waterers and the chookies really like it. Also, we bought a heated base plate thing that switches on at 35 degrees to keep the water from freezing. It says not to use it outside, but I have always been hesitant to put a waterer in the coop because of the...
I have a bunch of henny hen hens and 8 of them are RIR's, I have one black sex link, one giant cochin and a silkie bantam. Of those, who do you think is laying these giant honkin light brown eggs? The one in the middle weighs 4 ounces!
Any ideas??!!
I can't remember if I dreamed it, or if I read it somewhere here, but I was checking out the coop today for my birdies and noticed all the cob webs on the roof beams--they were there before it was a coop--my husband stored motors in this part of the shed and reluctantly gave it to me for the...
I have a batch of big birds--8 brown chickens, one giant cochin, one white silkie, one black sexlink all born in the spring/early summer. They get along great. In late august, I bought 9 EE's, kept them in the house for a while, then screened off part of the coop so they could eyeball each...
I teach a very informal chicken 101 class to some grade schoolers---I take my birds in and let them touch them and we learn all about the different kinds of chickens and their anatomy, all about eggs and pooh and everything chicken related. So I told them that the chickens have yellow skin and...
I work at night, so when I get home, it's quiet in the house, so I go out and let the girls out in the yard for a bit. I change the water, feed them, tidy up (looks like they had a party in the coop sometimes!) and collect the eggs. I usually have a basket or a plastic bucket to put them in...
We have a mixed bag of layers, who are about 6 months old now. In August I added 8 EE's. They live in the coop in a section that is fenced off because integration has been a problem. So, my daily routine is to let the big girls out to free range, and let the little ones out into the pen for a...
I have been glued to these forums since last winter when I decided to order three (3!) brown chickens from the local co-op. Well, then I visited TSC and my son and I came home with six more. Then I needed other kinds, you know, a silkie, a black sexlink, a black giant cochin and a...
And the rest of my flock is all girls and BIG girls--9 RIR, one wyandotte, one black sexlink and one giant cochin.......can that little white puff of adorable-ness mate with all those big girls? I desperately love him/her, but I swear, I heard a little cock-a-doodling yesterday and that is the...
Yesterday I found an egg on the floor of the coop and thought nothing of it. Just picked it up and kept going. Birdies seemed fine. This morning I went out to let them out and collect the eggs and I hung around and waited for two that were in the nest boxes to lay two more. While I was...