Three years ago I raised my first batch of 25 BSL pullets. Now on Tuesday I get my new Sex-Sal-Link Brown pullet chicks 25 minimum order from Rochester Hatchery in Westlock, AB. Several days ago I cleaned and sprayed my coop down with Virkon to sanitize. The coop has been empty for a year. It...
Last year while I was not paying attention, Peavey Mart ( a Canadian farm supply store chain, affiliated with TSC) changed the way they sell chicks to be similar to TSC in the US. They offer 3 chick minimum orders including 30 different breeds and hybrids from Hoover Hatcheries. I was...
It’s now summer and the 26 chicks I started with on April 28 are now 10 weeks of age. I am glad I did not order them any earlier as it was a late, cool spring. I used an Ohio brooder and it really did an excellent job of keeping the chicks warm and comfortable. By mid June it was warm...
So this is hatch day for my Red Rock Cross BSL chicks. They are due to arrive at the post office in about 40 hours. I moved my three laying hens out to their tractor in the garden just as the last of the snow here in the North was melting a few days ago. Then I moved all the deep litter out...
This is a pro hybrid thread. If you think hybrids are the spawn of Satan kindly move along please. Hybrids cannot help but be the best because they combine at least two superior characteristics of at least two heirloom parents. I findit very interesting to observe how hybrids are being...
First of all some context. I have been keeping hens in a tractor to work in my garden, orchard and nursery for a few years now.
When winter came I sent them over to my Daughters coop for the winter and flew off myself to Mexico for a few months. That was great for me but not the best for...
I am building an insulated winter coop and wondered just what the proper humidity for chickens was. Humidity is always relative to temperature and I live in a cold dry climate. Many others live in warm humid climates so there is no one simple answer to the question. This paper shows the...
Live north of 55 degrees on a homestead in the Rocky Mountain foothills of BC, Canada, Z2 on the plant hardiness scale with low temps of -50C (-60F), and lots of wind and snow for 5-6 months a year. The rest of the year it’s mostly spring or fall weather except for about 6 weeks in the middle...