I have been hatching one or two batches a year for the last 9 years and have a decent success rate, about 80-90%. I have a hovabator 1588 with an egg turner that has always worked very well. The last batch I did, about 2 months ago, was a bomb, 6 eggs out of 40 hatched, the others developed...
I have had guineas for about 4 years. At first only a pair and then one of their chicks. Then this last year a "stray" came to visit and stayed. No idea where she came from, no one raising Guineas within a 1/4 mile of me. They always hung together and stayed in my yard and slept in the trees...
I have been raising chickens for about 4 years and I thought I had this all figured out but I need to get some input from some other minds on this one. I have had many many chicks raised here by broodies, by incubation, and by purchase and I have never had this kind of mortality.
I am not sure...
The school where I work has a pretty nice coop that was built for them and now we are thinking about how to populate it. Somehow I got placed in charge of this project, even though I am the technology supervisor, I am now the chicken lady too. This wasn't my idea...
What I am wondering is if...
I have sick chickens. HELP!! How does a backyard flock owner figure out what disease they have without a necropsy? It seems that the more I read the more their symptoms match everything out there. They can't really have all the illnesses, can they?
The chickens are 1-3 years old, large fowl...
This is a sad story that I just want to be a reminder or a warning to everyone that will be brooding chicks this spring.
I consider myself to be ultra careful with my heat lamps and the way I use them. This weekend I learned otherwise, but my husband, who is a fire inspector BTW, tells me that...
I know this isn't the best time of year to find hatching eggs, but I am raising chicks for the school I work at and thought some Polish would be fun. I tried to get some from a hatchery but they shorted my order so I ended up with one. Any color would be fine, but the black with white tophat is...
I just picked up an old Marsh TX-4 incubator for 10.00. It seems to work other than needing a water bottle. Does anyone happen to have one of these old units that can share directions with me? I know it is old, but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.
The North Valley Dairy Goat Association is proud to present our 2nd Annual Goat Education Day! If you are interested in goats, please come join us at the Tehama District Fairgrounds in Red Bluff, on Saturday November 6, 2010 for a day packed with classes on everything goat! All goat industries...
I need to get rid of some chickens and can't / don't / won't send them to freezer camp. They are bantams, mixed varieties, roos and hens. They were hatched out around the end of March. I have 23 of them. I intend to keep a few, but not all. And the roos are getting pretty aggressive with the...
I got this great beautiful rooster from a friend. She got him as an extra exoctic from McMurray. Can anyone tell me what he is?
Seabright, Old English Game, ?
He is a little bigger than my banties, but not as big as my LF Columbian Wyandottes.
Also, if you know what he is can you tell me...
I am fairly new to chickens, but newer to Silkies. I have 4 silkies and a polish that were hatched the end of March. I have other mixed bantie chicks the same age. The banties roost on the roost. The silkies and the polish roost on top of their cage which is in the coop. I think I read on BYC...
I have 28 chicks that are various ages, between 6 and 8 weeks. Some were hatched in my incubator, and the some by 2 different broodies. One broody has since died
So l have had the chicks in the coop in a cage for a week and decided to leave the cage door open. Some come out, some don't. When...
I have a BR that is almost 1 yr old. She has been laying regularly since Feb. or Mar. All my chickens free range. This last week I have not found any eggs from her. She is my only standard size hen so it is easy to find her eggs. Should I be worried? I realize that she could be laying somewhere...
4 year old doe, kidded almost 48 hours ago. This morning she can't stand, tries, but can't do. No obvious mastitis. Of course no vet on Mother's Day. Any ideas and treatments I can do at home? I am thinking along the lines of eclampsia, ketosis. ??? Please help me try and save her, she is my...
I have read a few postings on BYC and other places that suggest Sulmet for sour crop. Since Sulmet is an antibiotic (sulfa drug) isn't that exactly what you don't want to give them? Doesn't the antibiotic kill the beneficial bacteria and allow the yeast to become overgrown?
I looked up Sulmet...
I have 14 chicks that are 6 weeks old and 9 that are 5 weeks old. I would love to put them together, but my 5 weeks old are with a hen. What do you think the hen would do if I added 14 more to her brood at this point? Eventually they are going to have to get along, but I am running out of room...
I have been playing around with the chicken color calculator and can someone please tell me what this description would mean.? The incomplete halfspangled part. I understand the colors.
blue patterned red incomplete halfspangled
And in case you aren't familar with the chicken color calculator...
My broody is on day 21 today. She has 5 eggs. This morning I check and don't see or hear anything going on so I decide to take 2 eggs that aren't hers and see if they have anything in them. I have tried to hatch other eggs from this hen and they have all been clear so I was excited to see that...
The title says it all, almost. I want to do it again, but I don't need any more chickens. What do I do about that? What do all you hatchers do with all the chicks you hatch out? I have gone from 12 chickens to 35 in one month. So now what? HELP ME PLEASE.