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  1. MacTech

    Do pointy saddle feathers generally mean it's a rooster?

    Rooster, or Hen? This is one of my Easter Eggers I purchased in March, it hasn't crowed yet, but is mounting the other EE hens and being generally a mean jerk As you can see, both hackle and saddle feathers are pointy, the tail feathers got pulled out by my alpha Buff Orp hen
  2. MacTech

    Pip's battle with botulism

    Pip is a 6-7 week old Wyandotte pullet, yesterday morning she looked a bit unsteady and wobbly, when I got home from work that evening, she had lost a good deal of mobility, due to her right foot being partially paralyzed, on a scale of 1-10, she'd be around a 3.5, she could walk, but only in...
  3. MacTech

    Chicken Math strikes again

    I just went to the Agway for another bag of grower crumbles for my EE pullets, really I did... But there, ready for the purchase, was a vertical brooder with a layer of Golden Laced and Silver Laced Wyandottes, how could I resist, I lost my sole remaining PPR a few days ago (not sure how, she...
  4. MacTech

    My roosters are starting to exhibit antisocial behavior

    I knew it was possible, after all, their father, Pants (bantam Cochin roo) was a mean, human-agressive bird, my sister (who raised him from a chick) had me put him,down, because she couldn't bring herself to do it, is was only after he attacked a boarder at her stable and drew blood, so Pants...
  5. MacTech

    Had a close call tonight (2 Red Tailed Hawks)

    Almost lost at least one pullet tonight, had I not been with them and had a special noise making tool with me... They buzzed the coop repeatedly at just over the height of the barn roof, utterly fearless, I could nearly count their tail feathers I quickly herded in the three straggler...
  6. MacTech

    Growing the flock again, 2015 season additions

    Last year was interesting, as it was my return to chicken raising after a long hiatus, hadn't kept chickens since high school... I've had my highs, the first egg, watching my chickens personalities grow and blossom, adopting a pair of roosters from my sisters hatching, and discovering they tend...
  7. MacTech

    As if I needed another reason to expand my flock...

    Since Purina is getting some bad press about their "Beneful" line of dog food sickening pets, it got me thinking and doing some research.... I did feed Cooper Beneful a few months back, but after reading the ingredient list, I had second thoughts, too much corn, soy, and meat by-products in it...
  8. MacTech

    Year end (almost) review of my chicken keeping experience

    So, in a few months, it'll officially be a year back in the Backyard Chicken keeping thing, so I decided to do sort of a retrospective/year in review....thing... I started with five chicks; 3 Buff Orpingtons 1 Easter Egger 2 Partridge Plymouth Rocks a few months later, once the hens were old...
  9. MacTech

    Incubator rentals? Do they exist?

    I would like to try my hand at hatching some of my flock's fertile eggs, but I don't have an incubator, and none of the hens are broody, besides, since I'm now down to four layers from the original six, one lost to a raccoon attack, one currently sick and malingering in the house, I don't want...
  10. MacTech

    Partridge Plymouth Rock listless, laying on her right side, right wing drooping, trouble walking....

    I have a very sick PPR hen here, she has the following symptoms; Large mass right below her chin to the right, looks and feels like a golf ball under the feathers Her head is usually cocked/pivoted to the right. Right wing is not held tight against her body, it's drooping Difficulty walking...
  11. MacTech

    I think I figured out what breed Chiana is...

    Chiana is an Easter Egger, I've always wondered what her specific genetic mix is, as EE's genetics can vary widely.... Here's Chiana; And this is a Welsummer hen... Looks like Chiana has a good amount of Welsummer genetics and slate green legs from whatever breed has those
  12. MacTech

    It was only a matter of time, predator attack...

    Something attacked and killed one of my Buff Orps today, I let them free range all day, and I thought there were enough hiding places what with the shrubberies and small groups of trees, but no... I'm now down to five laying hens The predator basically stripped the neck bare down to the...
  13. MacTech

    Bringing homemade egg salad to the Christmas Potluck lunch at work tomorrow

    I just hope I can resist the urge to eat it all tonight.... A dozen medium boiled eggs A touch of yellow mustard for tang Just enough hellmanns olive oil mayo to hold the mixture together It's jaw droppingly, amazingly good, and I'm a mediocre cook at best, the color is a bright orange-yellow...
  14. MacTech

    Chiana's got a boyfriend....

    looks like Chiana (Easter Egger) has chosen her favorite rooster, the past couple of weeks, whenever I close the chickens up, Chiana is hanging out next to Raven (bantam Cochin), totally ignoring her sisters huddling together on their favorite hay bale She seems to be alpha hen, strange, as I...
  15. MacTech

    Was this egg fertile?

    I gathered this egg on 12/2/14, it's been under refrigeration since then, am I seeing the "bullseye" on the yolk?
  16. MacTech

    An amusing old short, improved by the MST3K crew, "The Chicken of Tomorrow"

    I've always loved this MST3K short, an old '50's short about chicken raising, now that I have my own backyard flock, it's even funnier,many I'm starting to recognize some of the breeds shown... B.C. (Before Chickens ;) ) I just saw them as "chickens" The sad thing is, look at chicken farming...
  17. MacTech

    Winter laying performance, how are your chickens doing?

    This'll be my flock's first winter, I understand laying performance drops off due to shorter daylight hours and lower temps, but I have noticed a marked difference in the breed performance... My specs are; Location; southern seacoastal Maine Housing; unheated two stall barn, barn is 230 years...
  18. MacTech

    Raven and Tribble, nestmates, brothers..... Buddies!

    The two most recent additions to my flock were two roosters, both Cochin/Silkie mixes, I brought up from my sister's flock, they've been part of the flock for about 3 months now, the hens are still alpha, but they're starting to accept the two roosters as flock mates. We kept chickens back in...
  19. MacTech

    Acceptable "supermarket" eggs? Lets rate them

    Thanks to the cold snap here in Maine, my hens have (temporarily) stopped laying, I know they'll start back up when conditions improve, but for now, I need to find a tolerable/acceptable egg to hold me over.... No supermarket egg can compare to a backyard egg from pastured hens, that's a given...
  20. MacTech

    This is probably coincidental (eggs helping healing a sprain?)

    I've noticed something very interesting about my backyard pastured eggs, I'm SURE this is coincidental and/or confirmation bias, but the facts don't lie On Nov. 11 I ended up badly spraining my left ankle (inversion sprain where the foot rolls to the inside), I felt a "crunch" and was worried I...
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