This is my first year raising chickens. One of my hens went broody so I thought I'd leave some eggs under her to see what would happen. Out of all the eggs I've candled I've got two that look viable. My question is if the eggs hatch, do I put the chicks in a brooder or should I leave them...
Awww, how cute! I'm encouraged!! When I went out to collect eggs just now I left 3 eggs under my broody hen (she sits in the nest box all the time and the other hens hop in alongside her and lay their eggs so she ends up with several under her every day lol) . I hope I am as lucky as you with a...
I think he really is fertile! I found a bullseye egg this morning... or at least I think I did. There is a small darker white dot in the center surrounded by a larger white circle. It looks more like a bullseye in real life but hopefully you can see. Please let me know if you don't think it's...
Ok, I'm glad that's all it is
I was scared it was a developing chick because it has what looks like blood vessels running through it. I would have felt terrible if I cracked open an egg and killed a baby. I collect eggs every 12-14 hours so I would have been surprised if a chick could develop...
This is what I found when I cracked open an egg into a bowl this morning a regular yolk and white plus this other thing. I'm almost afraid to ask what it is!
I hope these pictures aren't too big.
I have no idea what breed he is lol. I'll take a picture of him later today and maybe someone will know.
So are you saying that if he is sexually active then he is fertile?
My rooster was born April 21, he is crowing, and I saw him mounting one of the hens today. From what I've read most of the time he needs to be close to 6 months before he will fertilize the eggs but those articles also said the roosters wouldn't crow until close to 6 months. I thought I saw a...
I heard from a friend the other day that the layer feed has too much calcium for babies so I don't want to put mine on it too soon. I have some 7 week old chicks that are starting to jump/fly out of their little corral so I'm thinking they are going to join the rest of the flock soon. In the...
After trying several other things, I'm going to just cover my entire chicken run with fishing line to help prevent hawk attacks. My fencing is 7 feet tall so the line won't interfere with a person walking around inside the run and if the goats do happen to jump that high (doubtful but possible...
Yarn or fishing line - great idea!! Too bad I didn't see this before I spent a couple hours putting weed fabric over the top lol
I think I'll switch to yarn though the weed fabric is blowing all over and I'm not sure it will withstand a thunderstorm - does the yarn or line need to be brightly...
The chicken wire won't keep out racoons??
Well shoot. Maybe I should just use the bird netting for now and then later I can upgrade and get a proper covering.
I have goats and will be milking in 2 weeks so I have to go out there 2x a day anyway so I guess I'm not saving myself much trouble am I
Wow, those are great!
I'll have to see if my local Farm and Fleet carries the deer netting or hardware cloth. I do have lots of weed block fabric left over from gardening - would that work? It would be kind of shady but maybe that's not such a bad thing. The chickens would only be in the...
Yesterday I saw 2 large hawks circling above my chicken run and I got kind of nervous. Today I fenced in a much smaller area for them so I could put a cover on it. It's probably 6x8. I tried putting chicken wire on the top but it's sagging in. I'm not sure how to support the center. Is there...
Thanks for the info!
We do have two parrots in our home and they aren't as big as a chicken and they create enough dust just with the two of them.
I'll have to talk to my husband and see if he can figure out something where they can get out the back of the garage into a sort of private area we...
I'm new so I hope I chose the right category to put this under.
I am going to be getting some chickens. My original plan was to lease some property near our home and keep them there and drive there once a day to take care of them (not more than 5 or 10 minutes away). The more I'm reading and...
Hi, I'm Laura. I live in northern Illinois.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Yes, I don't have any yet. I'm a wannabe chicken mama
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
None yet, hoping for 3 or 4
(3) What breeds do you have?
Still trying to select...