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My wife and I have been raising a mixed flock of chickens and hatching eggs pretty willy nilly for several years now. We have a couple of roosters of a few different breeds. Initially we hatched fertile eggs just to replace and grow our flock. Lately we have helped folks our selling them a...

I just found a nest my female duck has made with 14 eggs. I ran out and bought an incubator to see if I can hatch them. Can anyone tell me what I should do before I move them? She had a nest in the spring but wouldn't brood them. This time I found her on them but she gets locked in the coop at...

Next year I am going to raise my first meat birds. I want to create a portable processing station that is convenient to setup and to use. I'm only going to raise 2 batches of meat birds of 25 each. It will just be me and my wife so we may split each batch in half and do the largest birds first...

Hi all My birds have the whole farm to hunt and peck through. They help keep the bugs under control and they also gang up on stay cats, birds, and squirrels. They have always been allowed in the garden but recently they have developed a taste for my watermelons and pumpkins. I have heard of...

There is a lot of debate about the Cornish cross. A lot of people love it and a lit of people consider it unnatural. This isn't a post to start an argument about if it's good or bad. what I would like to know is... Why can't you just take a dark Cornish and cross it to a rock and get the same...

Can someone give me a basic rundown of how to breed chickens. How do I collect, store then incubate eggs? The local farm store the an incubator for $45.00 but it doesn't have circulating write. Is that necessary? How long does it take for them to hatch? I wasn't to breed my Dellies and keep the...

Hello everyone. I could really use your help and experience. I have a mixed flock of birds. Currently I have about 12 Delaware pullets and 2 cockerels, 6 Dark Cornish pullets and 2 cockerels. Then I have about 12 Araucanas pullets and 12 Red star pullets. I want to breed a couple of the best...

I want to know what people do with the inedible parts of the chicken after they process a bird. Has anyone found some good uses for the byproducts? I figure if I can collect and dry the blood it would make good fertilizer. What can you do with the feathers or initials? Dog food? Anyway let me...

McMurray hatchery offers 2 meat birds. One is the"Jumbo Cornish X Rocks" and a"Cornish Roaster". They say that the roaster takes a week or two longer but that many of the health problems are avoided. Has anyone here had any experience with these two types of birds? I have visitors come to the...

Has anyone heard of a hen laying @ 8 weeks? We have 3 hens that are at least a year old that are our current layers. We also have 24 pullets that were hatched April 25th of this year. About 8 weeks ago. Today my wife collected eggs from the best box and found a very small extra egg. Is it...

I would like to know what a fair price is for pullets/hens that are 8 weeks old 6 months old 1 year old Does breed matter? They are mostly Delaware, Araucana, Dark Cornish, Red Star and Jersey Giants (white)

Next year I plan on raising meat birds. I'm looking for an alternative to the Cornish Cross. I've heard a little about the Freedom Ranger. I want my birds to do well in a free range environment. How big does the Freedom Ranger get and how long? I'm hoping for something that can dress well in 4...

Does any one know how to build a "contained atmospheric stunning" or "contained atmospheric killing" box or how they work. I am looking to become certified though a humane animal organization and they require all VHS be stunned prior to processing. Is anyone familiar with this process? There I'd...

I have a free range flock of 27 birds. 3 hens are at least a year old and the other 24 young pullets that are 6 weeks old. I have been keeping them on layer but recently I tried a mix or 1/2 rabbit pellets (17%) 1/4 cracked corn 1/4 steam rolled oats. It all goes into a 30 pound hanging...

I am raising Delawares and plan to process my cockerels. At the store I see Fryers, Broilers, and Roasters and I am not sure what the difference is. Would anyone care to explain?

Hello everyone, My name is Brad. My wife and I started a small farm called Steele Faith Farm this year in Northern Illinois about an hour outside of Chicago. We had 3 hens someone gave us last fall. We enjoyed them so much we have ordered 2 sets of chicks to increase our flock to 70 birds...

My wife and I are increasing our flock of birds. We started with3 laying hens. A RIR, barred rock, and an Americana. This year we bought a variety of chicks. Delawares, dark Cornish, White Jersey giants, and some redstars. I love just about everything about the Delaware. It seems to be a great...