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  1. james w

    Using diesel to treat a chicken coop

    I have plans to build a new chicken house. I wanted to save money by using diesel for the first two coats and then adding a third coat of solvent based wood treatment. My question is whether the diesel will harm the chickens. Thanks
  2. james w

    Pigeon loft and area for flying

    Hello, I have a 4 mt by 2 mt chicken tractor that I would like to convert into a pigeon loft for squabbing. I understand the basic requirements of a loft but I have not read any information about whether an area for flying is needed. I thought perhaps I could create an enclosed area and...
  3. james w

    Dud male

    I bought my first pair of texans back in March. They were already "paired". Since then the pair have tried on approx 10 occasions to hatch eggs. Each time, I have candled at various intervals and found each egg to be blank. I can only imagine that the male is not doing his job. What are...
  4. james w

    Not sure what the problem is but it's getting worse

    I've just read the last post about egg-binding and I didn't want to add a comment to somebody else's thread so I thought I'd start a new one. I have a 2 yr old PR female with a large golf ball (perhaps a little bigger) abdominal swelling. I have caged her and kept her in the dark for a week...
  5. james w

    A bit of advice needed

    I have two hens that have been sitting on a batch of eggs for nearly 21 days now. Both are sitting within a few feet of one another and the cockerel is also knocking about. Question is, should I put a screen up to stop the cockerel getting access to the hens and the chicks and should I put...
  6. james w

    Egg consistency

    I always grew up thinking that one way to tell whether to tell if a egg is fresh is to break it and see what happens. In the pan, fresh eggs will "hold together" whereas older eggs will fill a much larger area. Now that I have a flock myself I noticed that even eggs layed the same day so not...
  7. james w

    Motherly Love - hen no longer interested in being a mum

    4 weeks ago one of my hens hatched a batch of chicks. 10 in all. All of the chicks made it and seem to be growing well. Two strange things have happened though which I would like some advice on: 1) After about 2 weeks I found one of the chicks outside of the coop. I picked it up and put it...
  8. james w

    Putting purchased 10 day old chicks with home hatched 10 day old chick

    Last week I hatched 22 chicks (well 15 in the incubator and 7 from a hen). I gave the hen 10 to look after and so I have 12 in a brooder. I also purchased 5 chicks large breed chicks in line with my breeder program and in order to introduce some new blood into the flock. I generally...
  9. james w

    Articifically raised and hen raised chicks - some questions

    Last week I successfully hatched 16 chicks from an incubator and a further 7 hatched a few days later from underneath a hen. I removed the chicks in batches from underneath the hen as I was concerned that she might leave the nest thereby ruining the chances of the remaining chicks still to...
  10. james w

    21 days

    Hi, This might seem like a stupid question but what does 21 days for incubation actually mean? 21 full days, i.e. 21 24 hour periods? Or does the day of set count as day 1 and therefore 20 24 hour periods. If I set eggs at 9am on a Sunday, does this count as day 1, or is 9am on the Monday...
  11. james w

    Pullet's neck

    My last batch of pullets raised from incubator included a chick that has a very peculiar manner. The pullet is able to bend its neck all the way back until it is almost resting on its back. Normally, when a chicken wants to look up it will either turn its head to the side or perhaps raise its...
  12. james w

    Lice - treatments available

    Hi, yesterday was one of those bad days, the type when you realise not everything is going to plan in the coop. Whilst I was butchering two young males for a bbq I noticed insects crawling on the skin. On closer inspection and having checked on the net, I believe that they were lice. When I...
  13. james w

    Might be stupidest question ever!

    Hi, I have about 16 chickens that are free range. I don't know how many acres we have but quite a few. Unfortunately, rather than enjoying the fields and woods, my chickens have started to wander on to our neighbours property (unfortunately the coop is pretty much on the border between the...
  14. james w

    Introducing new hens to the flock

    Hi, Against the explicit instructions provided in my Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, and much against my own intuition, I accepted two young hens from a friend that was no longer able to take care of them. I am now left with a single hen since the other I found dead this afternoon. A...
  15. james w

    Incubating eggs from hens that have only just started laying

    Hi, My rhode island red hens have been laying for about a month. I guess laying was delayed by the shorter days of winter, but they didn't lay at all before the onset of winter. I was planning on incubating around 20-24 eggs but I wanted to know if there were any potential hazards in...
  16. james w

    First incubation, fifth day, help needed.

    Hi, This is my first incubation and I have been trying to follow as best I can my Storey's guide to raising chickens. The chapter on incubation is pretty good but I have stumbled a little on the candling. I have looked at endless photos of how the egg should appear at various stages of...
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