Yes, I understand that- that's why I clarified the ages of my birds... I have 4 hens that will be 3 in May- everyone else is under 2 years old, some are in their first winter. I'm in Minnesota, my birds always molt in the fall. Also we've had a very mild winter this year, the warmest winter...
(Disclaimer: I didn't read through the whole thread) My hens quit laying right before Halloween, which is abnormal. My oldest hens will be 3 in May and my youngest will be 1 in July. I have a very wide variety of breeds. I've gone through several winters with chickens, so I know that my older...
High humidity does not cause large air cells- low humidity does. The higher the humidity, the less moisture can escape the eggs during incubation. Can you post pictures of what the eggs look like candled? Are these your eggs or were they shipped?
Not to steer this off topic, but you know the "chicken" at McDonald's is hardly chicken meat at all, right? Very very different than raising your own birds to process and eat. With home grown chicken, you control what those birds have eaten, if they've been medicated, how they were raised and...
That's very interesting, thank you. I didn't see the post where OP said this chick hadn't been exposed to freezing temps, I thought they had said the chick was outside without bedding in January. Being a Minnesotan, I assumed frostbite. I suppose all of OP's chicks would have similar feet issues...
That's why I said "forgive me if I'm misunderstanding something".... it really looks like frostbite to me, but since you mentioned it- what else can lead to necrotic toes? I've never heard of anything else causing it, and I'd like to learn (and others probably would too) so it can be avoided in...
Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding something, but how did a chick get frostbite so bad that he's losing his feet if you have them inside under a heat lamp? That's just not possible. I'm not sure where you're from, but I raise Silkies in northern Minnesota and I've only ever had one get...
I was just going to say this... That's definitely frostbite, and that chick is definitely too young to have been outside in winter. Especially with no bedding... Do you have other chicks outside? They should be in a secure, draft free building with a heat lamp and lots of clean bedding. If this...
I have an almost 7 year old great pyr. We actually had him years before we got other animals so he wasn't trained to guard as a pup, but he's amazing with all of them. Never so much as snapped at my chickens, goats or turkeys. I've never heard of them being aggressive towards anything. We bought...
I don't want to be a party pooper, but I had a rooster that behaved similar to yours (never a lap bird though) When he was about a year old, it turned into full on attacking. He was my first cockerel too, and I spent a lot of time holding and feeding him. As soon as he got that surge of...
Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I totally read that wrong! Again, I have no experience with this, never even heard of it before- I just thought it was odd to suggest neutering a dog of such an advanced age and figured the vet would've suggested it if it would help.
I have no experience with perianal edema (which sounds like swelling and fluid build up, not tumors...) but I personally wouldn't neuter a 13 year old dog... He's only got a few years left, max- why put him through the pain of that procedure? The vet probably would've suggested it if it would help.
That's good! I might be a little paranoid because I lost 3 Silkie hens and 7 chicks in one darn night to a mink! We didn't even know he/she was hanging around until I made the mistake of leaving the pop doors open one night... My husband found the nest under the back part of the coop, the mink...
I don't mean to be rude, but that's a really bad idea. With the cost of everything going up so much, you and your neighbors might not be able to keep leaving scraps out for wild animals. But they already associate your property with a free meal. You could have a big problem on your hands if they...
The easiest thing to do is to observe your other chickens. Pick one up and look her over, compare her to the one you're concerned about. Or, post pictures and her symptoms/your concerns here and someone will be able to help you identify what's wrong. BYC folks are great at that😉
I'm pretty sure your dark blue silkie is a cockerel- not sure about the white. Better body pics would help. Your polish looks exactly my polish hen, she's a pullet.
Have you calibrated your thermometers? The general rule is to not trust the built in thermometer (if your incubator has one) and to have a second one that's been properly calibrated to compare temps.