Hello out there! Just found this forum and am quite excited to see so many of us Pennsylvanians out there! I'm from Lewisberry (15 mins north of Dillsburg or 20 min west of Harrisburg). Grew up in Gettysburg! Woohoo! Anyway, at my last count I have 8 hens. 2 RIR, 1 Wellie, 3 EE, and 2...
Would you be willing to ship? It would be a short transit since I live in Harrisburg. How do you think he'd do with an established flock? I am getting ready to cull my roo due to his poor health and need a new roo to take over. We live on 19 acres and he would have 15 girls! :) Let me know...
I have a worthless roo too! He is a RIR. My alpha roo died standing up to a fox that was trying to get the hens. This roo does nothing except taking advantage of those poor girls as much as he possibly can! No warnings, no found food chirps, nothing. In fact, he was so interested on having...
Thanks for the side view... I would say cockerel from the feathers! Like I said earlier, my hens have red combs just like him... Each chicken is different.
Can heat affect egg production?? We have 8 laying hens and we are down to four eggs a day! I can't figure for the life of me what's going on. Do you have any thoughts?? Thanks!
Wh don't you just use food dye on the top of their heads?? We did this with our ducklings when I was a kid. You may have to touch it up a bit every so often, but it is non toxic and it works! Good luck!
I usually let my chicks outside for a period of time when they are fully feathered. Remember, chicks with a broody have her to keep warm any time they want. You can take them out now since it's warm and sunny, but keep an eye on them. I usually have mine in a cage so I can catch them quickly...
They are definitely old enough to let the birds establish their own pecking order. As far as the box thing. Just put it in the coop, close all of the birds in for a week, and by the end of the week, pecking order is established and bedtime routine is established. If they don't want to roost...
The only thing you can do is put it under a heat lamp, try to give it a little sugar water, and hope for the best... Has it fluffed up yet? It needs to be dry and warm! Good luck and keep us updated!
My story is quite similar too... I started off ordering 15 hens from my local hatchery. After they got a little older and I learned more, I decided that I wanted a few more different breeds, seeing that I had some pretty standard birds (BR, BSL, and RIR). So, I ordered 15 different breeds...
I caught the second one just a little late. Too cold to turn around... Started warming and sugar water immediately, but unfortunately it was too late for her :( I was thinking the hen kicked her out for one reason or another, but I am really checking on them more often, just in case it...
My broody hatched out 8 eggs. They are a week old now. I found the first dead chick 4 days ago, didn't seem to have any trauma (stepped on), plenty of food/water. Last night I found the second chick clinging onto life. She was freezing cold. I rushed her inside, trying to warm her and gave...