I have young Black Copper Marans. I started with a total of 20 all hatched this summer. One is from Omega Hills, 5 are from Greenfire Farms and the remaining 14 came from a breeder on eBay. The group from eBay hatched 8/5/20. When they were 9 weeks old I lost one of the pullets. A few days...
I have a 14 week old Bielefelder pullet who started limping last Thursday. We separated her that evening and have kept her separate since then. She eats and drinks but is barely walking. I have to put her next to the food and water if she stumbles too far away from it. We have been able to...
I found one of my BCM pullets last night when I went to shut up the coop. She was laying on her side, eyes closed, barely breathing. She offered no resistance at all when I picked her up. I brought her in the house, held her against my chest and wrapped her up like that till about 2 this...
I have 10 day and 15 day old chicks who just a couple of hours ago began having severely bloody stools. I immediately gave them fresh water with Corid added to it. However, I'm unsure if it's coccidia or something else. Could it be worms or parasites or I don't know what? These guys are in our...
I'm not sure I'm posting in the right place but earlier today one of my 7 day old Isbar chicks passed away very suddenly. I was able to get to her before she passed. I found her on her back struggling to turn over and struggling to breath. I scooped her up and held her close to my chest. She had...
I've been looking into various form of ID for my flock. I have 5 different breeds and I want to be able to track every single bird for breeding purposes. I've heard good and bad about leg bands, zip ties, sprial leg bands, toe punches, etc. I thought I was sold on the idea of wing clips until I...
I have 20 ten day old chicks. Two of them don't seem to be growing at all. They eat, drink, and run around but I do think that they are both becoming less active. Is there anything I can do to help them? Encourage them to eat more or is there something I can give them that will boost their...
Feathering on the legs and toes, is that a dominant trait? I have a FBCM with correct leg feathers [French standard]. Yesterday I received six day old chicks that where suposed to be from French champion bloodlines. They all have clear legs with no feathers. How can that be true? I thought that...
I recently purchased 4 Icelandic chicks who are now 8 weeks old. Last weekend I picked up 3 more from the same breeder who are 3 weeks old. Everyone is eating, drinking, and behaving normally. Several days ago I noticed one of the older chicks has watery, bloody stools. This morning I found...
We are building some movable hoop coops to pasture our flocks. In the main coop we have always used normal watering systems that you fill and it flows out the bottom to fill the rim. In the hoop coops I am considering using the horizontal nipples attached to PVC pipe that well be gravity fed...
Two years ago we bought our first flock. We built our coop inside our pole barn. The coop itself is 8'x8' with an inside run that is 8'x16'. On the outside of the pole barn their is a partially covered run that goes around the corner of the building and is 11'x35' in one direction and 11'x9'...
There is a wide range of opinions regarding humidity levels. Looking online for recomendations from both incubator manufactures to large and small hatcheries, it can be a bit daunting. Some say to keep it at 55% and others recommend 35%. It's a bit overwhelming for a novice. So, please let me...
I am on day 6 1/2 and I just candled my eggs. One of them appears to have bubbles in it. They definitely float as i rotate the egg. Is this a viable egg or should I toss it? Out of 36, 11 are clearly developing. One has bubbles. The remaining 24 I simply cannot tell. One of them I was unable to...
I've got 3 dozen eggs in the incubator. Temp is set to 100 +/- 1 and as much as I am able to see the temp difference from top to bottom varies by about a single degree. Humidity is between 56% to 59%. I placed them in on 5/11 right before bedtime so I assume that would be day zero?
1. Does my...
Good morning!
We have a small flock of 8 hens and a rooster. They were two years old in March and as winter came to a close we were surprised to find that they still are not laying much. Two of our lazy hens stay on the roost till about 11am! The solution of course was to comb the internet...
Hi everyone,
I'm back with a couple of questions. I have 19 pullets and 2 cockerels that are 8 weeks old. I got them all at the same time from TSC. I also have 2 pullets and 4 roosters that are 6 weeks old that I got right after they hatched (it was a straight run). We have had all of them in...
I've heard about deep litter method, I've heard about sand, and I've even heard about wood pellets. Can anyone please explain how each of these methods work and what options do I have living in a cold climate (Michigan). Also, our hen-house has a wood floor with vinyl floor covering. Can the...
I'm back with more building questions. I'm trying to decide how tall my roost should be. I have 5 breeds... Buff Orpingtons, Lav Orpingtons, Brahmas, Austalorps, and Ameracaunas.
I keep reading that the roost should be higher than the nesting boxes. My question about that is two-fold;
A. does...
Help! We have encountered our first medical and social emergency! I just came in to find that 4 out of our 5 Light Brahma's are bleeding due to the other chicks pecking at their rumps. One of them is missing half her tail feathers! What should I do? I've separated four of them in a separate...
Hello again,
I'm back with a couple of questions. The most important question is how big should a pop door be? We have some large breeds like Brahmas and Orpingtons. I'd also love pictures, opinions, ideas on automatic pop doors.
Thanks! The adventure continues...