Occasionally I see a poop with worms (one poop maybe every few weeks). I daily sift the sand on the poop boards under their roosts, so I'm well acquainted with my ladies' outputs!
I have 10 2.5-year old hens and 4 7-month old hens. Four of the older girls are going through heavy molts, and egg...
Mamie Eisenhower has been laying an egg almost every day for a little over three weeks and they’re still small. Cute, but small! She’s one of two Whiting True Greens, but I caught Lucy Hayes, the other WTG, laying a tan egg, so I know they’re all hers.
So how long before they come out regular...
So Mamie Eisenhower, the only one of my First Ladies to lay so far, has given me a dozen little green eggs in 13 days! But they are little! How long until they start coming out regular size?!
Mamie Eisenhower had a very close call yesterday! Teddy Roostervelt was making a big ruckus and when I got outside I found a bunch of brown feathers alongside the driveway and Mamie was missing. I tried to get the other 14 chickens into the run (they had been free-ranging) without much luck and...
So Buzz the Plott hound and Teddy Roostervelt started off okay, no issues, as in the photo. But in the last couple of days, TR has been attacking Buzz! Poor Buzz is afraid of the little booger! I’m wondering if there’s any way to train Teddy to leave Buzz alone ...?
This is one of two Gold Laced Wyandottes. She’s starting to look like a he to me!
The flock of 17 is 12 weeks old now. I’d hoped that by now the sexes would have sorted out for certain!
I know corn is a treat that should be given sparingly, but what about popped corn? The hound likes his with butter and salt, as do I, but the flock's would be plain. That is, if y'all think it would be okay once in a while!
Okay, so we’re all well aware of chicken math. But what about chicken lost time?!! No one warns you about lost time! You go out to feed the flock and when you get back to the house, 3 hours have elapsed! You spent maybe 10 minutes feeding and admiring the chickens and somehow you’ve lost the...
I paid for all pullets, but I know it's not guaranteed. The freebie the hatchery tossed in (a Golden Campine) started crowing very early, by 4 weeks old. They rest are two each Buff Orpington, Black Autralorp, Speckled Sussex, Whiting True Blue, Whiting True Green and Gold Lace, Silver Laced...
My flock of 17 chicklets are 7 weeks old this week, and have been in the coop and run for 2 1/2 weeks now. They are very good about putting themselves into the coop in the evenings. I'm wondering if it's time to let them out to free-range when I'm out working in the garden nearby. I haven't...
So, I started making mash per the directions I received here, to use up the fine, dustlike part of their starter feed. Now the spoiled brats expect mash every evening! Is there anything wrong with giving the masses what they want?
My 17 chicks are 5 1/2 weeks old and have started in on their second bag of organic chick starter/grower. Later they'll be free-ranging and dining on my vegetable garden scraps.
Just wondering how you all feel about keeping organic or not ....
My 5-week-olds are leaving the finer particles of their feed in the feeder, so I've started shifting their feed to serve them mostly the larger crumbles. Now I'm thinking that maybe I can use the finer particles to make a "mash" -- is that the right term? (I'm new to this chicken scene!) And...
So I've got at least one lil' cockerel. And I'm betting on at least 2 more -- so much for paying extra for pullets! (I know, I know, it's not guaranteed!) So, how does one go about getting rid of excess males? I'm not sure I'm capable of dispatching one of my babies (and then plucking the...
I’ve seen the 2x4 set on it’s wide side, but what about a natural roost such as a young black locust sapling? (It would give me incentive to weed out the latest black locust pop-ups!)
So they start on my shoop (shed-coop) tomorrow! My 17 chicks arrived on May 22, so almost 4 weeks old now.
The door into the coop will be in the shed, so the only direct access to the coop from the outside will be the pop door. I have a 100’ roll of hardware cloth to enclose the roofed run...
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 They’ll be 3 weeks old on Tuesday, so may be too early to tell! But I thought I’d post a few pictures and see if you all can help. I know which ones are the Columbian Wyandotte’s, the Black Australorps, and the Buff Orpingtons. It’s the Speckled Sussuxes, the Gold Lace...
Some of my chicks are taking dust baths, but they have no dust. Should I provide them with some sand or something else? It seems so early, but they are growing so fast!