We have a batch of 4 week old chicks, a mix of several breeds (white rock, barred rock, SLW, buff minorca, black austrolorp and auracana). Many of them have lost their soft down around their neck at this stage. This morning, I found one of the White Rocks with a nasty looking neck. Almost all...
I'm looking for validation. I know that we LOVE our fresh eggs from our very own hens. I think my chocolate chip cookies are better. I'm using the recipe printed on the chocolate chip bag and every other ingredient is the same. Am I just living in a fresh egg obsessed oblivion or is there an...
We have 26 Red Stars that are about 7 mos old. They are doing great - lay at least 23 eggs per day! We're going to give some to friends (about 1/2 dozen) and want to replace with about 10 of some diverse breeds (layers or dual breed). We'll start with chicks in a brooder and then carefully...
IF we decide to sell eggs to the public, the state requires sanitizing with an unscented bleach solution (20-500 ppm). I don't understand. I've been reading about the porous shells and don't like the idea of bleach solution getting into the egg? I also have no idea where to purchase unscented...
We just finished our run this week. We have an automatic door that closes around 8 pm (based on photosensor - sunset is around 7:50 pm). The first evening, about 1/3 of our 25 pullets were in the coop at the time, so we had to entice/catch and release the others inside. The 2/3 that were...
Our hens are 16 weeks old and we just found 2 eggs this a.m.!
The hatchery said they should be laying by week 22. Now we are really going to show what newbies we are with our questions:
Are the first eggs safe to eat?
How soon should we expect more?
How do you clean the eggs before storing...
We're city folks that have never had any kind of animals except for our dogs, a couple of cockatiels and some aquariums. We've successfully raised our chicks from day old to now 10 wk old pullets and are quite pleased that they are all healthy. Now, the next item - goats! We know nothing...
In the last week, we've had hundreds of grackles descend upon us! We've been here in TN since last fall and this is the first we've seen of these nasty creatures. We're well acquainted with them from our past homes in central and south TX. We dislike them due to their racket and tendency to...
We just moved our 7 week pullets into their new coop (would have done it sooner, but the coop wasn't finished ) We were observing them this evening to see how they settled in for the evening. As the sunlight faded - about 30 minutes before actual sundown, the pullets made an awful racket...
We're putting the finishing touches on our first coop ever (for our first flock!). We like the idea of 'rollout' nests and my husband thought of using heavy duty plastic paint roller trays (new ones) in the bottom of the nest boxes so that the eggs would roll to one end for retrieval. Anyone...
You guys have been so terrific with my newbie questions! Our chicks are almost 6 wks old and we are still curious about our 'bonus' chick that Murray McMurray included with the order as a 'rare, exotic' breed. We agree with several that say a SLW is not rare or exotic but nonetheless, we...
We saw some nest boxes for sale on craig's list. Can we safely clean them to be sure we're not introducing harmful bacteria or other hazards to our chicks? The lister had 10 sets of 12 stacked boxes (6 on 6), so it seems unlikely this is a backyard enthusiast? Our chicks are only 4 wks old...
We were checking into ordering DE for our coop (we want to try the deep litter method). I saw something about using DE with feed for worms. We are feeding our chicks just straight 18% protein chick feed (they're going to be layers, not meat birds) and will progress to a layer feed when they...
Our 2 wk old Red Stars are really active and fluttery (if there is such a word). They are vying for turns to perch on top of the waterers and feeders. I've read information that seems to conflict on young birds. Some say give them a perch; some say that a perch when they are young would...
Murray McMurray included this chick with our box of 25 Red Star girls. They're a week old today!
Can you help us identify the breed? What about gender?
We picked up our day old chicks last Sunday and all are doing well. The first day, they ate...and ate...and ate. We added the supplement to their water and Grow Gel. The next day, they slept almost the entire day, but they ate enough that they went through most of the feed and water by the...
Day old chicks from Murray Macmurray arrived Sunday a.m. and the post office called to allow us to pick them up! We were so excited and still are. We've never done this before, as evidenced by the chicks preceding the completion of the coop! We have 25 Red Star girls and one unknown 'bonus'...
We've browsed around a bit already, asked a question and had a helpful round of responses that helped us. I appreciate the nice, friendly bunch here! At present, we have chicks less than one week old in our garage and are thrilled! They're doing well in their cardboard brooder and we hope we...
There's so much info and we've learned tons. Now we need some real clarity, however, in our chicken coop plan - specifically on predator proofing (as much as we can). I've read so much, that my eyes are blurring! If you've time and have thoughts to share, please do so!
The ag extension agent...