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  1. M

    What is squatting?

    I’ve noticed posts about birds squatting before laying eggs. What does this mean? Chickens are 18 weeks old now: blue laced Wyandotte (one pullet and one cockerel), one buff Plymouth Rock (her chick mate died), two Black Stars, and two Ideal 236s. Online it says all of these breeds will...
  2. M

    Separate Cockerel?

    I have 17 week old birds here, one cockerel and six pullets. The cockerel is apparently ready to do what comes naturally. He (a Wyandotte) tried mounting one of the Ideal 236s today. She was not interested, squawking and trying to get away, but he was hanging on with his beak. Since I...
  3. M

    Feed versus Scratch

    I have been raising my brother’s chickens until he gets a coop. It’s both of our first time having chickens. I told him they need a new bag of feed. He bought this. This isn’t labeled grower feed. It’s scratch. He knows about grower feed. He bought their first bag. I bought their second...
  4. M

    Dust Bathing in the Grass

    Chickens…this is the first time I’ve had them…have surprised me at how much is instinct. The one exception is dust bathing. I know they have the instinct. They flop around in the pine shavings when they’re inside, so I put sand with some ashes in a big tub outside in their run to bathe in it...
  5. M

    What kind of sand for dust bath?

    I was thinking of putting sand in one part of the coop. It’s where the roosting bars are. I thought with sand I could scoop out the poop. The birds like to “dust” bathe in the pine shavings in that area. That’s why I thought I’d replace the shavings with sand, so I could get the poo out...
  6. M

    Time for adult grit at 11 weeks?

    The birds eat chick grit like it’s food. There are seven of them, and I throw out about 5-6 handfuls of chick grit, and it’s always gone by the time they go back in. I saw there is grower grit (between chick and adult) and layer grit (adult chickens). Can 11 week old chickens eat adult grit now?
  7. M

    Do you clean a chicken?

    Chickens are a couple months old now. One got pooped on. Do you do anything to clean it or just let it dry, and it will eventually flake off?
  8. M

    Poo changed on grass

    Since the young chickens have been out on grass, their poo has become dark brown and very smelly. (Not every single one, but a lot.) Is this normal? I’m new to chickens.
  9. M

    Wild birds or chickens? Does it matter?

    I was thinking about buying black soldier fly larvae for treats. This particular one says for a wild birds. Does it matter? https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/royal-wing-black-fly-larvae-for-wild-birds-16-oz
  10. M

    Attracted to light?

    The brooder is in the garage. There is a window, and I keep the garage light on all day. When I go look in the brooder and use the phone’s flashlight to light things up inside, they all run to the feeder and start eating. ❓
  11. M

    What a difference a day makes!

    A picture from yesterday And today He’s starting to get wattles. He’s kind of a jerk. He chases and pecks at the pullets. They are all 5 1/2 weeks old. He jumps on them when they’re eating. There seems to be a blonde that particularly catches his attention. He chases this Ideal 236 all...
  12. M

    So quiet 🤫 🐥

    I’m so used to the chicks constantly chirping that when it goes silent, it seems very weird. I just went and peeked in on them, and they’re all just sitting there, tucked into their pine shavings, completely quiet. I just let them be without saying anything. Maybe it’s afternoon nap time.
  13. M

    Peep peep to bawk bawk

    My chicks are four weeks old now. Hard to call them “chicks” anymore. They don’t look like those cute little fuzz balls anymore. They’re still constantly going “cheep, cheep, cheep.” I was wondering when they change to the “bawk, bawk, bawk,” that adult chickens say.
  14. M

    When to remove brooder heating plate

    I got some chicks on April 9th and 10th. They sleep under the brooder heating plate. They run under there if they’re startled, like going to mother hen. I was just wondering if there is a certain number of weeks age when I should remove the brooder plate. They go under there at night the way...
  15. M

    Do chicks dream?

    I think I have a couple of night owls in the brooder. The other night I popped in around midnight to peak in the brooder, fully expecting to see nothing and hear nothing, but two were not under the brooder heating plate and quietly chirping at each other. I surprised them by reaching in and...
  16. M

    Straight run blue laced Wyandottes

    My brother bough chicks Noah’s Ark style, two of each breed, that the farm stores had. The blue laced Wyandottes were straight run, which he didn’t know at the time of purchase. I’m raising them through the brooder stage until he gets a coop then all but two go to his coop, and I keep the two...
  17. M

    Chick poop changed

    I’m a newbie to chicks. I’ve had them just over a week. Their poo was round wet splats. They were eating crumbles. Now they are solid and long. Should I be concerned? They’ve been eating an organic food the last few days, which is very dust-like compared to crumbles, but their poo has been...
  18. M

    Baby chick won’t eat

    My brother bought some chicks from Tractor Supply. Day two, one of them (a buff Plymouth Rock) won’t eat. Day one, all were eating and drinking. Day two, I came out in the morning and lifted up the brooder heating plate to check on them. One doesn’t move. I moved it to the waterer, and it...
  19. M

    Temperature Under Brooder Plate

    I don’t have chicks yet, but I put an old stock tank in the garage with a brooder plate and placed an electronic thermometer under it. I’ve read that chicks need to start at temperatures in the 90s and reduce by 5° each week. But these articles always spoke about a heat lamp. The temperature...
  20. M

    Hello from Oklahoma

    I plan to get chickens for the first time and signed up here to have a place to ask questions. I live in Oklahoma, and summer temperatures can get over 100°, and winters can have have cold streaks of below freezing weather for a week or two. At the moment, I’m turning the lean-to on the shed...
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