So beautiful! I love these birds. A racoon got all mine. :( If anybody is hatching and shipping chicks in the spring, please PM me. Starting over again stinks. Sigh.
We generally pick up a couple of day old pullet chicks at the feed store and let the broody try to mother. They only get one chance to be a good mama, then they are either culled or not allowed to hatch each time. I have a pair right now that hatch and care for the chicks together. AWESOME! They...
As a lurker and someone making the switch from hatchery birds to (hopefully) well bred heritage birds here are my two cents.
I am not certain that I am going to have what it takes to be a poultry breeder, but I want to give it a shot. I do know that I appreciate beautifully bred birds. Why...
If yall are looking for cheaper feed with better nutrition, I would suggest you look into fermented feed. It has saved us 50% easily.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds
I would check for instructions from people who incubate in your area of Texas if possible. The humidity of the air is sufficient a lot of times and many people post more success with 'dry incubation' until lockdown. As far as calibrating the thermometers, I have read that a glass of ice water is...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/07/10/200699728/hipsters-off-the-hook-the-truth-behind-abandoned-backyard-chickens
This was the follow up article on NPR. The real issue is cities that do not allow roosters. As we all know, orders from hatcheries often contain accidental roosters which...
I am no expert, but I have fowl pox everywhere every year. (This year I vowed to vaccinate all incoming birds.) if the spots multiply it is pox. Not much to be done except watch for secondary infection or wet pox. Do they have sores inside the mouth? That is bad news and I would ( in hindsight)...
Do you take a rooster out to breed the hens and then put him back? Does that cause fights? I am trying to figure out how to keep three breeding roos plus grow outs without a billion separate pens.
I don't know if y'all have seen this blog, but this woman is awesome. I learned all kinds of frugal tools and we have been buying nothing new for 3 yrs now! (Except hygiene and safety items.) We have so much more time to hang out as a family and interact when we stopped running all over to spend...
Lol! I don't know. I would guess that fighting cocks are just plain mean all the time. Have you seen pics of the fields full of fighting birds tethered just out of reach of each other? Wow!
I had a hen lay an egg in a scovy nest and it hatched...by itself ... A week before the ducklings. Thankfully I had a friend with chicks in the brooder who could take it.
I have no doubt! :) Ok, maybe not Cornish for a breeding project, but I must own a couple just because they are awesome looking birds. They can be hangers on in my layer flock .
Which breeds do you recommend to a beginner? I have room for one more breed in addition to my New Hamps.