Search results for query: *

Moving neighbors left behind one of those somewhat flimsy steel/chicken wire coops and said we could have it. They had it fairly well secured and fortified in their yard, but while we had it sitting outside our fence in order to move it inside, 80 mph winds sent it tumbling. (D'oh...why did I...

Graphic photos below text. Late Saturday afternoon, I found one of our almost 1-year-old Legbar hens trapped under the chain-link section of a 4' gate. When I ran to get it off of her, it looked as though the force of it had created a prolapse. Poor girl! I quickly read up on prolapse, cleaned...

I have around 13 Welsh Harlequins of about 3 months old that I'd like to sell. Their parents placed in the county fair, and their markings are correct, to the best of my knowledge. Our area of E. Texas doesn't have a lot of this breed, and I am trying to figure out how much to ask for males and...

I learned from our last Welsh Harlequin hatch that you can't leg band according to sex quickly enough. Less than a week and *poof* all the bills were dark. I had thought of using colored orthodontic elastics next time. Has anyone done this, and if so, what size would you recommend? We are...

One of my Welsh Harlequin hens looks as though she is broody. She was sitting on 4 eggs this morning, and I added another 3 collected from our other hens this morning, thinking, "Why not?" When I did this she tried to peck at me and ran off a short way, but returned and sat on all 7 eggs and is...

I've had two hatches from shipped duck eggs this season, and the male/female ratio has been really off. In the first hatch, there were 3 males and 1 female. In the second, there were 6 males and 1 female. Obviously the reverse would be better, but one normally expects at least a 50/50 split...

I have 5 out of 8 duck eggs pipped, with one already hatched. Because the eggs were shipped and had pretty messed up air cells, I incubated upright and am hatching them upright as well. Our first duckling has just knocked over his egg carton buddy, who had been positioned with the largest part...

Noticed this girl limping earlier in the week. We've had her only about two weeks, so I am guessing a lot of this scabbing happened before we got her. The area most affected seems to be under the center knuckle. I'm not sure if the white showing through on the bottom of that toe is pus or a...

One of our lovely Australorp ladies, Lila, passed away last weekend. It turns out that she laid the most beautiful eggs of the bunch, only realized after she was gone. My daughter thought we ought to hatch every egg of hers that we still had, in her honor. I usually keep a fresh dozen + on hand...

Incubating 12 Welsh Harlequins. Eight hours into day 27 (wee hours of Saturday morning) our first one pipped, and hatched out yesterday (Sunday) at probably around 12 pm (at least 18 hours between external pip and hatch). He was having too much fun playing egg soccer, so we finally removed him...

Our year-old hen spent most of yesterday in the coop, and was outside hunched over the water dispenser today, drinking quite a lot. She is not eating. Her crop is very squishy, as if filled with water, and yellow liquid has been coming out of her beak periodically. (Doesn't smell foul, but not...

This fellow was dropped over our former neighbors' fence in a cat carrier at about 5 months old, and we took him in. After some digging, I thought he had to be an Australorp, and found 3 Australorp pullets to keep him company. He definitely has the blue/green/purple sheen. Fast forward a few...

This young...lady?...is different from her brother and sisters, all hatched from the same papa and 3 Mamas --- who definitely have all the Australorp characteristics. Her small comb is differently shaped (the others are more blade-like), and she has a bit of white lacing in the breast along...

Our 5-week-olds got a little sun in a dog crate this morning, the first warm morning in a couple of weeks. Of this hatch, I'm certain this sweet chick is a fella. Little wattles are starting to sprout as well as the comb, and he has the personality to go with them. Not sure about the second...

Well, the inevitable happened, and our chicks (at 4 weeks) are outgrowing the XL dog kennel/brooder. I had originally planned to have half the number we do at this stage, but the friends who want the other half cannot fetch them for 2 more weeks. I salvaged a 100-gallon metal stock tank from my...

I just noticed this little one's toe a couple of days ago. It must have happened recently, because I can't remember seeing any problems earlier. It almost looks broken, but the chick isn't favoring it. Is there anything I can do at this point, or should I not worry about it? I have 12 chicks...

Our first hatch went well, thankfully, but I think it might be wise to have a secondary thermometer/hygrometer on board, esp. since all chicks hatched on day 20. Are there any particular brands/models folks really like? (I've searched but am not finding much info.) Also, the built-in egg...

Nearly ALL of my 3-day-old chicks have impacted crops. They have been eating starter food and nothing else (New Country Organics mixed with some non-GMO DuMor starter pellets). I'm wondering if the pellets could be the problem? Also, I was not providing chick grit -- thought that it wasn't...

We're halfway through day 20, and 5 out of 20 eggs have hatched with more pipped. I have the NP 360. The directions say that 65-75% humidity is correct, but I'm reading on multiple threads here that anything above 65% is too high. I've removed a lot of water to try to control it, but it is...

Our first batch of incubated eggs is about 9 days from hatching. Dad and mamas are all black Australorps. I'm hoping to sell most of them straight run within a week or two, but am not sure on price. Murray McMurray sells straight run for about $3.53/ea, but of course there is a large minimum...