This morning, I found the RIR lying dead in the garden. No signs of predation (nothing has ever gotten into the run with them except wild birds). We saw nothing unusual about her yesterday. She was lying as though sunning herself, so at first that's what I thought. Her eyes were closed, no...
We live in a suburban neighborhood, and have a lovely coop with five layers.
We have them quite secure, but on the off-chance that one or more should ever make it out of our yard, I'd like them to be returned to us!
I've been looking for legbands that we can order with markings of our choice...
I have five girls, all laying, now. Until last week there were three daily layers, and one e/o day layer. The would all use the same next box, and ignored the second nest box.
Now that all five are laying daily, they still won't use the second nest box. But, one of them is laying elswhere...
as I was making eggs this morning, one of them had two tiny black specks in the white. They were so small they looked like pepper flecks.
Could this have been blood spots? I thought they were bigger than that.
My five hens are all five months old. I have: Barred Rock, White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red and two Black Sex-Links.
The two Sex-Links started laying at four months. They are very regular, one brown egg/day each from day one. They are now large to jumbo sized eggs.
The Barred Rock started...
Our five hens are about 4 1/2 months old. We have RR, BR, Leghorn and two black sex-links. Three are laying already, and for sure two of them are the BR and one sex-link.
Just recently, they have begun to get calmer and friendlier. When they are approached, they do this weird, new thing. They...
Hey, all. Our 7 1/2 week old chicks have spent the last three nights out in their coop, and are doing great! It's a coop with attached, predator-proof run (5x9 feet) for our five standard sized hens.
My question: Do chickens get bored? Do they need some sort of "toys" or something? Every...
... and I was curious.
Do they have to be completely away fromt he rest of the hens? Our coop is a totally enclosed run, huge, with the house in one top third of the run.
To separate, could a broody be put into a dog crate, and left in the run? She would be physically separated, but could...
My white leghorn kept picking at others' tail feathers, and I worried she might start doing harm in time. So, I separated her for the first time tonight.
They are out in a giant run all day, but we still bring them in at night (no coop, yet). They are 5 1/2 weeks, mixed breeds.
Inside...
... will she sit on anyone's eggs? We have five hens, and they will share two nest-boxes. Will a broody hen sit on any egg laid in the nest?
Would we just not collect any eggs until one of them (hopefully) went broody, then isolate her?
We live in the suburbs, and have all hens (we hope... they were sexed, but, you know). We couldn't have a rooster here.
Next spring, if we'd like to have a batch of chicks, can we take a few hens to hang with a rooster for a day? Will they... aquaint... that quickly? Some friends of mine...
Hi, this my second post on this wonderful site!
I have my first flock of five. They are 5 1/2 weeks.
I have a leghorn, barred rock, RR, and two black stars.
From day one, the leghorn ahs been top-chick. She's the one who advances to new items, comes to us when we open the kennel (their...
Hi, this my second post on this wonderful site!
I have my first flock of five. They are 5 1/2 weeks.
I have a leghorn, barred rock, RR, and two black stars.
From day one, the leghorn ahs been top-chick. She's the one who advances to new items, comes to us when we open the kennel (their...
Hi! This is my first post... and my first flock. We are very happywith our girls, and are nearly finished with their coop. The run is complete, not the coop-proper.
Our flock of five (barred rock, leghorn, RR, and two black stars) are 5 1/2 weeks now. They're fully feathered, except in spaces...