Is my hen broody since I found her sitting on 17 eggs in a hidden nest? Would most of those eggs have hatched if I left her to sit on them? I took them out because I thought since she was out eating in the day, they wouldn't have been kept warm enough to still be alive, and before I found her...
Hi Bill, I am about to make a pig roasting pit out of cinder blocks and probably do it Cuban style like in the previous posts. I was wondering exactly what you were, the dimensions of the whole pigs, because I may try to make it big enough to hold a butterflied open pig that's 200 or 300 lb live...
One hen was injured by our dog, an open wound at the base of her wing, and she didn't die. But she won't (can't) move one leg and isn't trying to even walk. Surprisingly, she did lay an egg after this injury. She's in isolation to stay safe and she rats and drinks. I most wonder if she will be...
A story goes with it. We realized after 4 weeks that our hen that was pecked at the first couple days we had her, after which we called her Ratty Hen, was actually Ratty Rooster. He was always unafraid, and would eat out of my hand when others wouldn't, and would go investigate the unusual food...
Last night was our first night letting the new chickens out of their new coop, around an hour before sunset. They pecked around, and when it got dark, they did not go back into their coop. One by one, they hop up to the 4 ft high chain link fence, and proceed to go to sleep. They even resisted...
Our new chickens are going to be kept in the coop for the first week, and the coop has one window only. The window is currently on the north side so actual direct sunlight does not enter the coop. Do chickens need the direct sunlight to lay better or is daylight simply from outside what they need?
Got the chickens last night! 7 young hens and 1 young rooster, all Rhode Island Reds. The hens are young enough that some have their combs still pink and some turned red - I wanted the younger ones mixed in just so I catch them at the beginning of their laying life. It'll be nice to be able to...
Chickens are different from people in which parent determines the sex? I have no idea about chickens specifically, but my expectation would be males do because I don't know why males of a different species would not be "XY" and therefore responsible for determining sex.
And in response to other...
Thanks for the friendly welcome. I already got help with my beaver question and look forward to drawing on your experiences in the future. I am going to go with some Rhode Island Reds to start out. Someone local has 6-9 month old hens, some starting to lay, $10 each, which looks like the best...
Talking to a co-worker, he warned me about all the predators that will go after chickens- foxes, raccoons, skunks, possums, hawks, owls. Something a few days ago dragged a bag of trash around our property at night and I don't know what that was, but what I do know we have is a beaver in our...
Hello all from Oklahoma, just three years ago a place I did not expect to ever end up in. I just joined the forum and I do not have chickens yet. My joining is prompted by a question about a beaver, which you will soon see in the predators and pests forum instead of here!
(1) Are you new to...