So ... this one is about 12 1/2 weeks old. Dad is a "mutt," while Mom is a barred rock.
We're trying to figure this out because he/she seems to be crowing, exchanging comments frequently with our big rooster. Doesn't look like I would expect a teenage rooster to look, but he/she's crowing! lol...
So ... our neighbor called to report (and warn us), that something killed one of her hens yesterday afternoon. She said that there were tons of feathers, and just the intestines left. And that she's positive it was in the middle of the afternoon.
My guess was that it sounded like a cat of some...
So ..
We have six teenagers, hatched out in mid-April. One of them is crowing, I swear. And yet, he/she doesn't have any features I would expect to start seeing in a young rooster. Very small comb, not particularly bigger than anyone else. No sign of wattles at all. No sign of spurs. He looks...
I don't really understand this. So another one of our 3-year old girls died last night.
I've been watching her for a bit as she's just seemed sort of 'ungroomed' with random feathers sort of poking out. But she still seemed friendly, was eating well and socializing.
Last night I went out to...
So ... watching the coop last night just before door closing time, and there's this white chicken going up the ladder and into the coop. All well and good ... except we don't have any white chickens. Go out to the coop and sure enough, there's a white bird in the coop. Beautiful bird, really...
Still trying to diagnose what's wrong with our astrolorp. After about 2 weeks she still acts exhausted ... or in pain? She's eating ... kinda. Drinking ... kinda. But not chasing around with the others. Even mealworms are just sorta interesting, but not too much.
We've added vitamins and...
Not quite sure what to think of this, but could sure use some experienced thoughts about how to handle this girl.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) Astrolorp, 2+ years (this is her third summer). I haven't weighed her...
Our girls are now in their 3rd spring and just completed their first molt. They're a varied pack due to having lost a few in their first year, thanks to our "I'm just playing with it!" golden retriever. (That was a tough lesson.)
Anyway, the flock now has two Astrolorps, two Americaunas--of...
We started our flock last Spring and the girls are now about a year old. At the beginning, there were two each of five breeds, but since our big dog took out three birds, we now have three "onesies," one of which is a bantam, Dizzy.
Anyway, I'm looking for a solid 3+ dozen eggs a week (I give...
I have about a half-loaf of whole wheat garlic bread ... the kind with whole cloves of garlic in it ... that was left out and is now hard. I'm thinking of giving it to my girls tomorrow as a treat.
I've read that garlic is both okay ... and not okay in large quantities. Knowing these girls...
I'm not sure whether one of my EE's is moulting or not. Yesterday I noticed that she has a prickly bare spot on the underside of her neck and this black-ish, oily, sticky goo on her underside. I can't find anything in the yard (where they were let out yesterday for a treat), in their pen or in...
During the winter around here (near Seattle), we tend to only have about 8-9 hours of daylight. And some of those days are pretty derned dismal too. So I searched for "light in coops" and see quite a mixed set of thoughts. I read a guide referred to on one of the posts and it recommends 14...
We have seven 10-week old chicks left after our dog managed to dig into the temporary pen we set up while finishing their permanent run. Instincts are tough to break!
Anyway, we "had" 10 chickens ... two of five different breeds. One of the chickens that survived is a Buff Orpington and she...
Just a quick warning. We have a temporary pen set up in the yard while we finish our coop and permanent pen. Everyone has been behaving reasonably well until today. Today one of our golden retrievers managed to push aside the chicken wire that was folded up and under cement blocks ... to get...
Should I be concerned? She's been limping for the last three days or so. She's eating and drinking okay, but lays down for most of the day. I don't see any signs of blood anywhere and it doesn't appear to be broken. She does put weight on it, but is definitely careful. I've felt all up and down...
About 3 weeks ago I managed to bring home a couple of bantams to add to our flock. I "thought" they were both cochins? but now I'm absolutely not sure, so I'm hoping the chicken experts at BYC can identify them for me. The rest of the group is now about 8 weeks old and these two little one...
I couldn't help myself. About 2 weeks ago I added to 2 bantams to our group of 8 full-size birds. We're about 2/3rds finished with our coop, which is 4x8 on the "hen house" side. Now I'm reading that we need 4 sq ft per bird ... I have 32 feet and 10 birds! AACK!! Is this going to be a problem...
We finally had a decent afternoon around here and, although a little bit breezy, the weather was so nice that I thought it might be a good time to bring the 3+ week old girls out to see the big world. The dogs were insanely curious (this is gonna be a problem ... gotta work on this). Don't know...
Okay, another couple of newbie questions. Probably stupid ones, but ??
Most of our now almost 3-week old chicks are getting feathers and losing their baby downy look. But our two black Astrolorps look really really scrawny. When they stretch our their necks it looks like there are bare patches...
We're consumed with designing the "perfect" coop and run for our 8-chicks -- and newbies to boot. I just keep reading and reading and reading on the Web trying to learn as much as I can ... but whew, there's a lot to learn. (poor chicks--to be subject to newbies)
Anyway, we've now designed...