What treats can chicks have and at what age? We have scratch grains blend from TSC for our adult chickens, and I also have some rolled oats and sunflower seeds [in the shell] that I throw out to them sometimes. My chicks are 5 weeks old now.
What about food scraps for chicks?:
I just want to share a hard lesson I learned this week, losing 3 chicks in the bargain. There was one that seemed puny at about week 2, so I gave her some supportive care. She seemed to bounce back but maybe just had a subdued personality. Several days ago, I found her dead in the brooder...
This is just for fun, for anybody who would be excited by being able to see the difference in sex between younger chicks. :) This is my first time ordering chicks, and I specifically ordered two male RIR and some female RIR, in my batch of 15, from McMurray.
Even at about 3 weeks, I was...
My chicks are on medicated chick starter but I am seeing symptoms of coccidia - reddish color to stool - one died overnight and now a couple more are acting puny. They are 4 1/2 weeks old.
I do have Corid powder, so can I use that in addition to the medicated food? Can I use the 1/2 tsp Corid...
We learned the value of a game cam this week. I was convinced we must have a very smart coon, based on the evidence left behind, but it turned out to be the second of two foxes. Traps appeared untouched, but the game cam showed a fox going by. Who knows, there may be more - we will keep...
We got a raised shelter that looks similar to a coop but was supposedly used by someone for smaller breed dogs, and the area for just hanging out has old wire over 2 x 4 supports, so it needs to be replaced. It has two wood cubbies that make nice nest areas and a solid wood floor in front of...
I'm curious to know what folks keep on hand for emergencies...I like to be prepared, so it'd be great to hear what everyone else has.
The main things I try to always have are:
Epsom salts
Nutri Drench
VetRx
BluKote
Olive Oil
Our older Polish mix roo managed to get his feet caught in the chicken wire on the side of our outdoor coop - he just has to try to start stuff with the roo that's in there, and the coop is on stilts, about 18-24" high. My husband was on his way out and heard squawking and found the roo...
They have a bin of mixed red pullets at TSC that could be any of several reddish breeds/hybrids, including possibly RIRs. I am really wanting some RIRs, and I wondered if there are some clues that I can look for to try and pick out which ones might be RIR.
Some are signficantly darker all...
We haven't had a barn cat for quite a while and I started seeing rats in the barn, so we got a couple of adult barn cats from someone who needed to rehome them. They're both fixed and really sweet.
Today the weather was nice so I let the bigger flock out for a few minutes at the end of the...
I always thought I'd prefer natural hatching but I have been thinking about getting a small incubator to try that route. I would only want to do a few eggs, maybe 5-10, at a time.
Low price is important, but some idiot-proofing features would be good, too, so I hope to find a balance.
I...
I have an EE pullet who is just a little over 5 mos. old and just started laying at New Year's. Today is her 5th day of being sick but I can't figure out what's wrong. She started with just being hanging back from the rest a bit but would get up and eat, scratch, etc., even go outside when I...
Reading over comments about hatcheries, I keep seeing comments that it's best to get chickens from a breeder. So, how do I find breeders in my area? I'm interested in some different breeds, including Black Australorp, RIR, and EE. I live just northwest of Indianapolis, IN. Any direction is...
I'm still somewhat of a novice at the chicken gig. I've got a nice big Buff Orp cockerel, probably hatched spring 2012, and two EE girls who are also teenagers. One laid her first egg today.
In the spring, I'd like to breed them, and I'm wondering if anyone has tried this same combo, and...
My EE pullet has some chick feed stuck in her throat - we can see it when we look in her throat. We got a few dribbles of water in her mouth, and I massaged her throat very gently for several minutes, then she shook her head and some came out. I kept up the massage for a few more minutes but...
Our EE pullets turned 4 weeks old on Tues., so on Thurs. I moved them to an outdoor playpen for the day. Later that day, one was dead, no apparent cause. I noticed red spots in the now vacant brooder later [I was distracted, getting ready for a houseguest - I feel so bad that I didn't notice...
We had one chick hatch with a broody hen, and we got a few others about a week later. Based on hatch dates, the single chick is 6 days older than the group of four EE chicks.
If we put the single chick in with the others, will they pick on it, or vice versa? They should all be roughly the...
After hearing some stories about hens accepting other chicks, I stupidly agreed to let my husband try introducing one of our new chicks [got 5 little EE girls, about 4 days old today], after he promised to get the chick out if anything went bad.
Our acting momma is caring for an 11 day old...
Finally, day 21 is here - I am afraid to look now! LOL
I marked the date on the calendar that I placed two eggs under my broody Australorp and didn't collect her eggs any longer. Is there more fluctuation in hatching with a hen versus incubator? I've been reading some of these other threads...