Hey everyone, What a great thread! I have 6 light Brahmas and think only one is a roo based on the pics posted here of the combs. His is def more red and ridged than the others. Only one puzzle- I have the other roos separated now at 10 weeks (they will be harvested). So when I decided this...
What makes a chicken a bantam? I thought that was an intentional thing? Are some chickens just born bantam sized? This chick is 1/4 the size of the rest- I mean really small. I will try and get a pic
I know chickens cannot be dwarf (can they??) but WOW! I have a 9 week old Brahma chick that stopped growing at about 3 weeks and has barely changed. It still has chick fuzz- only a few adult wing feathers. It is TINY next to its sibs. It eats well, behavior seems normal. All the other chicks...
Well, no replies from the forum, but just in case someone else has this issue here is what happened: I treated the chick with an herbal salve made from calendula oil, St John's Wort oil, Comfrey leaf oil and some essential oils. This kept the other chicks from picking at the rash too, as they...
4 week old chick- Wyandotte- one of 50 in my brooder. She has a naked, red scaly rash that goes from base of head to shoulders. Most of the feathers are gone. I observed the chicks for about half hour- no particular picking at this one chick. She seems otherwise OK. No sign of bugs on any of the...
Hey all- Just to complete the thread for anyone else havng this trouble. I still have no idea what may be killing the gals, but here is what I did:
-thoroughly scrubbed out the waterer with bleach water and rinsed well
-scraped every scrap of bedding out of the coop and hosed it down with...
No, I do not regularly use bleach. In case it was contamination in the waterer, I scrubbed it our thoroughly with hot water and a small capful of bleach. I have never had to do that before. It was a precautionary measure.
OK- mites- they do not seem to have.
Worms- I have not wormed them, but would they look healthy and shiny if they had worms? Can anyone recommend a natural wormer? I am an herbalist and could mix some herbs up, but not sure if they are safe for chickens.
The water- I just scrubbed it out with...
Please respond if you can? My hens are between 2 and 4 years old, a mix of breeds. For all their lives I have been using the deep litter method with pine shavings and/or straw, feeding high quality layer feed, free range using an electric mesh fence. I have never lost a hen to predators, but...
Hi everyone- I have fifty 2 1/2 week old chicks- Brahmas, Wellsummers, Wyandottes and Buff Orps. Most are doing very well- feathering out nicely, very active. One little Brahma, though, is remaining very small. When I pick her up, she feels very skinny and her crop is usually empty. She seems to...
Hi all- I am aware that their is a person (maybe Amish) who processes small flocks in the WV Eastern Panhandle area, or maybe PA, MD or VA area. Can anyone put me in touch? THANKS!
Hey everyone, thanks again for the input. There is never *one* right answer to anything it seems. Its great to get a consensus and to have such a good pool of knowledge to tap here at BYC Forum. I am grateful!
Kathleen, I would never have mentioned any names, but since you did... so... Wow...
Thank you! That makes me feel so much better! The breeder that I purchased from insinuated that I was doing something wrong with them. OK then, I will let them be silly. The breeder recommended I not let them freerange until at least 6 months old. Do you agree? I will probably wait until next...
Hi and thanks for your reply. I will get some pics and post them. I have two and they were 6 wks old when I got them. VERY flighty and unfriendly. One is coming around very slowly, but the other is just crazy- slams itself all around the coop when I am feeding/cleaning. Is this normal behavior...
Hi everyone, Can peachicks be successfully raised as solitary birds? I bought 2 male(?) peachicks from a breeder but really only wanted one. She insisted that a solitary peacock is an unhappy peacock. However I have noticed that one is very nervous and flighty, and really would like to NOT have...