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My flock, about 30 6-month-olds and 10 older hens, have just started laying after the winter break, so it may just be a time of year problem. If you are worried about free feeding, get one of the feeders that open when the chickens step on the front treadle and close when they get off. A few...

I grew up in Texas but didn't have chicks then. Now I am in NY and order from Ideal hatchery in Texas. Good prices and excellent at shipping. I have never had a chick die in shipping from Ideal, Meyer or any the other places I've ordered from. The hatcheries give a 90% guarantee on the sex of...

Those look like Cornish chickens or Cornish cross. Their chests look bigger than the leghorns. They grow very fast (the Cornish crosses are slaughtered at 6-8 weeks) and need a lot of food, but not too much. Older ones can die of heart attacks or torn muscles.

So how did they turn out? I made the mistake of getting two Ancona and two Exchequer Leghorns at the same time (females from Meyer hatchery). As chicks they were identical. Now at ten weeks. two of them are larger than the other two. Two have yellow legs and the other two have black flecks on...

Squatting behavior is a sign of submission, usually made befored a rooster, indicating the hen is ready to mate. They will also crouch down before hens higher in the pecking order and before their caretakers who they may view as the protective rooster. Because this behavior starts when they...

As far as green eggs, with one exception they are all laid by hybrid chickens. If you cross a blue egg layer with a brown egg layer, the resulting chicks will be green egg layers. The exception is the Isbar. Originating in Sweden and developed in the 1980s, their eggs are mint, pistacio or mossy...

When I taught in a high school vet science program, I ordered hatching eggs every year. If you look on e-Bay, you will see that most sellers have a clearly stated policy that they are not responsible for the hatch rate and why. You might want to look there and see what they wrote. You might also...

If you are planning on getting your chicks elsewhere, you can save on the cost of feeding a rooster. They are good for flock protection and fathering chicks, but you don't need roosters for eggs.

That must be easier than having to get diverse things and mixing them up. I usually get cracked corn and dried mealworms from the feed store and matzoh, peanuts and sunflower seeds from the supermarket to mix in. Also get canned chickpeas and other stuff on sale as a side, along with all sorts...

I mix cracked corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, matzoh and dried worms. In addition I buy cans of chickpeas and various beans. Then lots of scraps-vegetable, fruit and meat. Haven't been able to find sorghum (milo) at the feed store. Large bags of peanuts, millet and sunflower seed are too...

No one's mentioned it yet, but if you are late refilling their water, they will also start eating the eggs. Once they get a taste, they will continue until you break the habit. When I have an egg eating chicken, I blow out several eggs (make two small pinholes and blow through one) and fill them...

All at once suggests to me electricity. Do you have any running to the coop, perhaps to run an electric water heater. An electrical short or lightning could cause deaths all at once, and you would have to look at the feet or under the feathers for contact burns. If you do have electricity...

But at night they will be sleeping, not running around.

A couple of things I thought of: Icelandic chickens. A landrace of chickens that developed in Iceland and are good at foraging. Thinking it must be a bit cold in Iceland and that they are well adapted to it. One article did mention that they have a lot of gene variations not found in other...

I am amazed that no one has said that you don't need to enclose everything in plastic. Chickens have down feathers underneath their other feathers (ever worn a down coat or slept under a down comforter?) and also a body temp of 105-106 degrees F. Do you see wild birds outside with their feathers...

Filling eggs with mustard worked for me when I had a particular chicken focused on egg- eating. Most of the time the chickens egg-eat when I am late getting out to refill their water. Now have two six gallon waterers for 29 chickens and it seems to haver ended that problem.

That cage would be fine for a pet rabbit if used only for sleeping. Most people let their rabbits run around and train them to use litterboxes and stay away from electrical cords. If you are a younger, school-age person and are hoping Mom won't notice a chicken in your room, think again. No way...

There are many people around me in Far Rockaway (part of Queens, New York City) who were born and raised having chickens and using them for food. They know how to quickly convert a rooster into a good meal for their families. I can always find someone working in a bodega or doing yardwork who is...

This article on parthenogenesis in birds is more recent (2018), but may strain your brain a bit. If you don't have experience in reading scientific articles, take it slowly and simplify the words as you go and you will get it. It can be very interesting...

This is an old article and the research it cites is even older, but it gives a brief overview of parthenogenesis rates in turkeys and chickens. Parthenogenesis is when an egg develops without fertilization and it appears that it will develop for a few days, sometimes inside the chicken before...