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About 2 months ago we ordered 10 turkey poults and about 40 layer chicks. A week later, in less than 24 hours we lost all but one of the chicks, 5 of the turkeys and three 3-4 month-old Plymouth Rocks due to a plague of gnats that hit our area. We brought the one remaining chick and 5...

I have 2 Silky hens for brooding purposes. They both recently began brooding some of their own eggs immediately next to each other in the straw on the floor of the coop (forget nesting boxes!). As is common, if one gets up to go eat/drink/stretch her legs, the other steals her eggs and...

My son called me while on my way to work this morning. He had gone out to feed the chickens and found several young Silkies (5 of 7) and our d'uccle hen dead in their cage, and the d'uccle rooster "a bit wobbly". The d'uccle hen was a couple years old, the Silkies were a few months old. We...

Not too long ago we were blessed by a neighbor who gave us a couple Silky hens and a rooster. We decided to hatch some out, so we let one of the hens go broody and she's now been on the eggs about 10 days. My question is whether or not I should candle the eggs. We have no idea how fertile the...

Recently a neighbor had to move away, so she gave us all of her chickens including a few bantams. The one sitting on my hand in the picture below is a very docile little hen who loves to be held, but I have no idea what breed she is. She's about the size of a pigeon, possibly a tad smaller...

It would be great to see pictures of some of the weird-looking eggs that members have gotten from their chickens. I'll start it out by showing one that we got just this morning. Does anyone have any idea what caused this? Is it possible that it's a double-shelled egg and the outer shell...

When raising meat birds such as Cornish X, I know they recommend to switch to a finish feed after a few weeks. Other than the fact that the higher-protein feed is typically more expensive than the finisher, what would be the drawbacks to just finishing them out on starter/grower if I have...

I am looking for a reasonable priced processor located near the Quad City area in western IL or eastern Iowa. Also would consider a place south of the quad cities around Galesburg, Monmouth, etc.... I have been told about some Amish that do it around the Roseville area. Does anyone know...

We have raised our first turkeys this year, a couple of BBB toms. My question is what is the percentage for carcass weight that we should expect? When I weighed the boys just over a week ago they were 54 and 57 lbs. I know they will be the hugest ones we've ever roasted, but am not sure how...

I decided (sort of late in the summer, yes) to incubate some eggs from our 8 Rhode Island Reds and 1 Ameraucana to begin replacing our layers. We have 1 roo. We saved 3 dozen eggs over the course of a week or so, keeping them in the cool basement and turning them each day. After accumulating...

I am considering "retiring" my RIR's and getting a batch of Black Aussies considering their winter egg production reputation. My question pertains to feed consumption, however. Are they heavy eaters compared to the RIR's? If so, to what extent?

Ok, I'm stumped on this one. We have several laying hens, 8 of which are Rhode Island Reds and the other is a Americauna mix. We've had the Americauna for a couple of years now, and the Rhode Island Reds since a neighbor was slimming down his flock last summer. We also have 3 young...

I just brought home a year-old Royal Palm jake tonight. He's a pretty mellow guy and I have him penned up but plan to let him range later on. My question is how long to I need to keep him confined until he knows that this is his new territory and won't want to wander off? I sure don't want to...

I should be getting my first turkeys this week, some BBB's. My plan is to keep a couple hens (and a tom from another source) over the winter for breeding purposes, but not necessarily for resale, so keeping the breed pure is not a concern of mine. I also do not necessarily want 50 lb toms when...