Letting them free-range gets the orangey-est yolks. Plus the younger girls tend to lay BRIGHT orange ones. Brand new layers at the very beginning (if they've been allowed to range) have super bright yolks.
Holy smokes! I'm glad we don't have big honkin snakes like that in Iowa. And yes, the golf ball would have killed the snake anyway. I think I would have wet my drawers if I saw a six foot snake up in my coop.
You should go. Just tag along with a group of your other friends. Get pics taken with your girl friends. You'll be disappointed if you miss your senior prom, even if you don't have a date. You could always try to get a date from another school, if that's possible.
I've had the same issues with some of my students thinking that farm eggs are "dirty" (and store eggs are clean). I inform them that the eggs you get in the store are washed before they get them, so they are no cleaner than farm eggs. I also inform them that some egg factories are filthy, with...
Bird lice are usually amber/light brown colored, and you can easily see them crawling around the vent. I don't think they are likely moulting. Feathers do get older and raggedy after a while. Good layers have ugly feathers sometimes. They're putting their energy into the eggs, not their...
You might need to train them a bit. Put them in the coop first, with door shut. Then do not let them out for a day or so. Then you can open the door to the run and let them out. They'll come out if they want to.
I have the same trouble as well. I can't get anyone to buy them for more than $1.50. You could maybe try lowering the price.
I end up giving away lots of them. You can also make a giant batch of noodles. That uses up a lot of them. You can also give them to your local food bank. That...
Yes, you can splint that early. I've never done it before, so I don't know how.
Isn't it amazing how resilient our birds can be? There's a thread on here somewhere by a person whose chicken's feet came off, (it's a weird story) and it still gets around!
My computer was messed up, but now it's showing the pics okay.
No, I think they look like your frizzles to me. Is that what you're after? The feathers would be much smoother and flatter if they were normal.
That is NOT big enough if you want to keep all your chicks. I've had both red sex links and EEs, and the sex links are smaller in body than RIRs, BUT they eat a LOT to produce all those nice eggs, and that means a LOT of poo. You will have a huge poopy nasty mess really fast.
I would...
Take away the wood shavings. They will get pasty butt and then you'll be in trouble. Chicks that old can definitely eat grass and seeds, but they need some grit to help digest it. You MUST give them some grit. Chick grit (which is just sand basically) can be bought at some feed stores...
Don't worry about either one. The crumbly stuff s natural, just a little excess calcium. It will happen occassionally.
The other egg is from not enough calcium. Newer layers sometimes do this. It will go away probably. Give them some calcium supplement (like oyster shell or crush up...
Straight out oats and corn won't give them all the nutrients they need unless you have them free ranging and they are getting plenty of greens, bugs etc. Plus they will need calcium supplement (oyster shell) b/c they won't get it from the feed.
Too much corn makes for fat chickens, and fat...
I agree. sounds WAY too small. They'll fit in there, but unless they are out in a run, they will be standing in a heap of poo really fast. That's not enough room for them to walk around hardly, especially if you have nest boxes, feeders, waterers, etc.
I can almost always see movement in eggs around the same time (17) unless the eggshells are dark. No, you can't hear a heartbeat. I've actually had a hen get off an egg after the others hatched earlier. The egg was COLD! I took it to work with me, and kept it warm on a mug warmer. After...