Folks, is it okay to throw in some dried alfalfa for my six-week-old pullets? I want to give them something fun to scratch around for, since all they have now is dirt, pine shavings and crumble, and I’m reading they’re still a little young for scratch. No bugs or grass in the dirt either.
I’m...
Hello everyone,
I'm heartbroken to part with these guys, but we must. $20 each, but if you take more than one I will discount. I have hand-raised them from chicks so they are quite tame. The first in the photos is silked. Please message me with interest!
Well, it’s official: In my little clutch of five-week-old chicks—two standard autosexed Eggers and three straight-run Seramas—all 3 Seramas are BOYS.
I hadn’t planned on keeping any roosters but of course now we love them.
I do plan on getting more standard-sizes hens down the road. Could I...
I think I have two cockerels (a white and a dark chipmunk) and one pullet (golden, silked). Is it too early? Am I jumping to conclusions?
Also: I presume this tiny flock of two eggers (autosexed) and, if I’m correct, two Serama roosters and one Serama hen is not a viable group.
I’m wondering...
Was it a terrible mistake to change out the pine shavings for sanicare?
they are madly dustbathing in it and pecking it off one another. I’m a little freaked.
I had a ridiculous dream and had to share it with you people, who might relate.
(preface: last week I found a paper grocery bag in a closet with enormous long trails of some plant growing out of it. I looked inside and then remembered, Oh yeah, I was trying to find a cool dark place for those...
There are two funny things going on in my brooder of five three-week-old chicks. I’m not worried about either but I have to know if other birds do this!
1). The smallest of the five (two eggers and three Seramas) has a thing about pecking specifically the beaks of the other birds. They don’t...
Hi fellow chicken-lovers. I have a weird situation—all the dirt in my backyard is suspect because it was very recently covered in concrete. I’m planning on bringing in fresh topsoil but in the meantime my 3-week old chicks are begging for a dust bath. And I think I’m gonna have to buy dirt. 😂...
Hi friends. I suspect my 2 egger chicks and 3 Serama chicks will be ready for some outdoor time before my yard and the run will be ready for them. 😬 I have a two part question about this:
1) Could I use a bottomless pop-up mosquito net tent as a temporary enclosure, if I anchor it down? (See...
I just picked these chicks up and one has... it looks like a mouse poop sticking out from her backside. It’s hard and looks maybe like prolapsed vent with a poop stucking out? Or maybe this is t even her vent I’m looking at?
I’m confused about heat plates. I’ve read the proper temp for wee babies is about 95 degrees. I’ve also read that heat plates heat to about 125. I’ve also read chicks need to touch their backs to the plates.
Wouldn’t 125 be way, way too hot?
I was trying to make a MHP but realized it’s too big...
In five days (EEK) I’m getting two egger chicks and three Serama chicks. I’m totally new to chick-raising and terrified. I’m making a flat MHP. (I know there are a thousand MHP threads here, I’ve read many of them, but I still have questions!)
1) how high off the ground should the MHP initially...
Preface: I know many folks here think it’s insane to let chickens roam around indoors. This question is for the other people who are fine with it...or those who are in the first camp but don’t mind answering my specific question without berating me for letting them inside :)
I know little...
I’m putting together my heating-pad chick cave. The original article I read about chick caves recommended putting the wire frame in a pillowcase, which seems kinda nice cause it’s soft and easy to clean if you need to. But, I’m finding it’s not snug on the frame and kind of tents down. Will I...
I’m researching coop bedding for my first batch of chickies, coming in April, and was shocked to come across...this?!
https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/toxic-chicken-coop-pine-shavings
I’d never heard pine could be toxic, but this seems very thoroughly researched. I’m putting it out there...
Okay friends. If I have 2 eggers and 1-3 Seramas (quite possibly silked) raised together and all going into the same coop...uhhh how do I arrange roosts? I want everyone to have what they need where they need it, but I don’t want to dictate pecking order by roost arrangement. Do I put a 1-inch...
I live in San Francisco, with mostly moderate temps but some wet weeks in winter and sadly now occasionally shockingly hot spells in the summer, but it never gets truly cold. I’m looking at coop plans and see some that are basically nearly entirely hardware mesh on a frame. Assuming there’s a...
I’m an urban dweller who has dreamed of pet chickens for twenty years. I mostly want them for companionship and entertainment, but eggs would be nice too! I really only want 3-4 birds, 6 at most. I’m buying chicks from a local farm (known particularly for raising gentle birds fwiw). If I raise...
I’m about to get four chicks—two silked Seramas, and two regular Silkies. My impression is that because silked birds can’t fly, the roost can be pretty low. Is 2’10” too short a coop for these birds? (I’m giving them 15 square feet floor space.) If I later wanted to put a regular sized hen or...
Hi friends,
I am a new soon-to-be mama of 2 silkie chicks AND 2 silked Serama chicks.I keep reading that seramas are terrific flyers and silkies can’t fly...soooo do silked Seramas fly? Or not? Will they all sleep on the floor? Trying to understand how high/tall the coop needs to be and how...