We have had chickens for several years now, but have always bought hatchlings. We are planning to try our hands with hatching eggs this year and need to buy an incubator. I have found two setups that I think will work for us and would like some opinions. Both have more than enough capacity...
I have a lovely rooster (will post pic tomorrow) and I'm not sure what to call his color. He was purchased from San Hill Preservation as a "Blue Cochin". I understand you will get 25% splash, 25% black, and 50% blues when you order these. But he is none of the above. He is mostly black (that...
One of our hens, a Light Brahma, currently has one runny, puffy eye, and the surrounding facial tissues are puffy. There is some frothy discharge from the corner of the eye. Smells a bit but not terrible. The other eye is normal. No nasal drainage, no other symptoms at all. She's eating...
I was out of town the last 4 days (DH taking care of the animals) and got home this evening and went in to see my hens. Fed the girls some treats (mealworms) and picked up one of Buff Orp hens (they are lap-chickens). I feel this plop, look down, thinking she pooped on me, and find a...
We have a mixed flock of EEs, Delawares, Polish, Buff Orps and Buff Brahmas (Brahmas not laying yet), all about 23 weeks of age. This week we have had a run on double yolk eggs, with 4 in the last 4 days, from different hens. Is this likely to be just young hens who's reproductive systems are...
We got 25 straight run chicks from Sand Hill Preservation, that are about 12 weeks old. There were 6 RIR in the batch, but one of the (I think) pullets has a pea comb. Otherwise looks identical to the others. Ideas? Could it just be a mutation?
We have a batch of a mix of 5 breeds that are 12 weeks old, including 5 black Jersey Giants. I have figured gender out on everyone but the Jerseys. At what age should gender be clear? They are HUGE! Two have tiny combs (obviously hens) and the rest vary but the other 3 are gender confused...
We have a mixed flock of 5 different breeds (Brahmas, Orps, EEs, Delawares and Polish). They are about 22 weeks old, and we have representatives of each laying except the Buff Brahmas. I understand they are late to mature - at about what age can I expect eggs?
We are relatively new to chickens and bought a bunch of different breeds to help figure out what we like. Our primary purpose is eggs, but we have bought straight run so far and are eating the roosters. I'd like to start sort of a reference on the personalities of different breeds, as I could...
We have a mixed flock that consists of EEs, Delawares, Buff Orpingtons, Golden Polish, and Buff Brahmas. They were all 19 weeks yesterday. We just got our first eggs this week from one of our EEs. The EEs, Delawares and Orps are mostly squatting and have red wattles and combs, and have for a...
We have a mixed flock of Golden Polish, Buff Orpingtons, Delawares, Buff Brahmas, and what were billed as "Araucanas" but I suspect to be EEs. They are just about 18 weeks. I think I am seeing some squatting, and they are noisy and making huge poops the last 2-3 days. Some of them (some Orps...
We are located in the Tri-Cities TN area, and have been unable to find a butcher who is able to process meat birds. Does anyone know of someone??? There are both Amish and Mennonite communities somewhat near us, and I was hoping I could find someone there, but we have not yet been able to...
I'll try to post pics later. In our last batch of chicks that we purchased, we supposedly got 4 black crested blue Polish. They are about 6 weeks old. Two appear solid black. One is mostly white with random gray feathers scattered all over it's body. The last one is a solid light gray, with...