O.K., this sounds nasty, but we have a small flock - 9 hens - most of which are golden buffs, along with a barred rock - all which came from Meyer hatchery two years ago. Five of the golden buffs and the barred rock haven't laid a single egg since last August. We keep light in their coop for...
Oldhen, it's been like this all year - I got the same amount of eggs in the winter. I haven't seen any sign of molt yet, but did take that into account. The girls have LOTS of shade - there are some trees along the two sides of the pasture that create a huge shady patch, the coop is elevated...
Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. I found a 21% feed, and have been feeding now for 2 weeks (gradually mixing it in to their current feed in larger quantities) and have seen absolutely no increase in egg production. Will give them a month or so, watch for molting, then might just start...
Hi, Old Hen! Thanks for the reply. There are absolutely no feeds on the market with higher than 16% guaranteed protein, except for individually mixed feed rations at the local mill, which are obscenely expensive, even in quantity. Will try adding whey protein to increase the %. Forgot to...
I've got 13 hens, most of whom are 1 1/2 - 2 years old. While I realize that egg production drops as they age, I was getting 3-4 eggs all winter, and am STILL getting 3-4 eggs. I have been raising chickens for several years (10?), and have never had a problem like this. I have wormed them...
He's a "red star"/barred rock cross, and the girls are several varieties - leghorn, barred rock, red star, aracauna, a couple of seabright banties, and his sister (fertilized eggs came from my daughter's flock, as I didn't have a rooster at the time). He's got quite the harem. Hope he gets...
Thanks Ol Grey Mare, oldchick, and DoodleRoo! He's about a year old now - 13 months. I have separated them, and he's not a happy camper, but c'est la vie. I'll try putting him back in a couple of weeks and see what happens. Maybe a time out will calm him down.
soooo.....I've got this rooster who's extra friendly....to humans. He is really rough on the girls, though. He's very aggressive, and grabs them by the neck (no gentle pecking) before mating. Most of the hens are missing feathers on their necks, backs, and rumps. Found one of my hens with a...
Thanks for responding, everyone! I was able to post in this, KikisGirls, by clicking on the BYC Website and Forum Feedback post, which has a button for a new post (which is what I actually want, I can respond to the posts of others, which I guess is what a thread is technically? - sorry, I get...
Hello! I am trying to post a new thread, and can NOT figure out how to post it in any forum other than this one. I don't have any "Start New Thread" tab or button come up (except in this area) no matter where I hack around the site, nor can I find information about how to do so. I didn't have...
I'll have her check that. She says she had given her a warm bath a few days ago, but don't know if she looked for mites (she's a beat squeamish about such things!). Thanks for that suggestion!
Thanks for replying, SIMZ. She sees it on the chicken. She says it's only a little bit. I'll talk to her after she gets home from school to clarify what "little bit" means.
Hi, everyone! I have a friend whose daughter raises laying hens, and she's very worried about one of her girls. She has a hen who is only about a year and a half old who has been bleeding just a little bit from her cloaca for the past three weeks. She (the hen, NOT the daughter!) is still...
Hi, Panth! Thanks for the suggestion and the input. We have five laying hens in addition to the rooster and the three broodies. The nesting box is only about 1.5 feet above the ground, and there's lots of straw on the floor. Bad news - went out to see if the one chick was done hatching out...
Greetings! Though I've been raising layers for awhile, we've never raised our own chicks from eggs. Awhile ago, three of our hens went broody (two seabright banties and a dominique), so we decided to let them keep a few eggs for kicks and giggles. Our rooster is a bold little buff brahma...