As you can see in this image, the center hen in front has a much more developed comb and wattles. This picture doesn't show it very well but hers are much deeper red and much more fully developed than the others. I have five of these girls (one is off camera) - Black Australorpes - and I got...
I have a small flock now which consists of three hens and a roo. The hens are two easter-eggers and a gold-laced wyandotte. The roo is an Ayam Cemani mix - his father was that and his mother was some unknown backyard breed. He's very mellow and we really lucked into getting him. Anyway, we now...
Our coop is 4 x 8 feet with three 12"x12" nest boxes that protrude from the back of the coop. I do not place feed or water in the coop because that attracts mice, and the grackles figured that out almost instantly and would raid the coop for the feed. I have feeders and waterers outside and this...
We have a small flock of 4 hens (started out as six but that's another sad story) and last Saturday night one hurt her leg. I watched the four of them go up the ramp into the coop like any other night. Sunday morning when they came out, one was limping badly. She could barely walk. We realized...
We have two older (3 yrs) hens left over from our last flock - they haven't laid eggs in well over three months - probably more like 4 or 5. We are brooding 6 new hens now and they will be ready for the great outdoors in about two weeks. My dilemma is that I think the older hens will terrorize...