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I had a Speckled Sussex hen that would often spend three hours on the nest laying. She was a nest hog too, would not let any others in with her. They are all different. That's why I try to say things like usually when talking about them. Yeah, Bee. That nest hog behavior did not meet my...

To stop them kicking out the shavings, try putting a higher lip across the bottom. I've had hens go into a nest with the vertical opening 6". You have plenty of room to raise the lip. I've retrained hens from laying on the floor by locking them in a nest when I catch them in their nest on...

I've always wondered about that and my thinking goes along with yours. What would be the purpose of trying to preserve a breed's looks without preserving the breed's original traits that made it a breed that lasted from that time to this? Who wants a show pony with no guts?  The sad thing is...

I'm not arguing that at all. I agree with you. A lot of things get blame put where it does not belong. Poultry Science research says it can happen. Doesn't matter to me why it happens. If it happens it is gone. I'm not into excuses. I probably did not say it well, but that was the point...

Definitely take Fred up on his offer. I have an idea others will weigh in with their opinions. That can be valuable for you and others that follow this thread. I’ll pay attention to what they say. I'll go through a generic outline of my process. Some of this applies to the pullets as well...

Remembering to be cautious on this subject like Fred recommended, I'll still offer this story. Our third grade son, our oldest, got into a phase where he would not get dressed in the morning to get ready to catch the school bus. We lived in suburbia and I was already gone to work by this time...

My take on it. Fake eggs do help show them where to lay. It is not a cure-all but it does help. Another benefit, at least I think it is. A couple of times I've had snakes eat the golf balls. They could not crush them and could not get back out the way they got in. The hole they used was...

Fred's working. I've seen a post from him this morning on another thread. It's a rough life having responsibilities. Believe it or not, he gave that rookie some good advice. Simple and straight-forward.

Naw, just schedule a session for them with Dr. Phil. It really is a shame Oprah no longer makes house calls.

I raise them mainly for meat but I do replace some layers every year. Any hen that goes broody gets eggs to hatch and raises the chicks with the flock. She takes care of any integration issues though they have to work out their own pecking order issues when they get old enough to handle that...

Chickens have been doing that for thousands of years. Chickens have worked out how to live together and raise new flock members. A lot of these ways depend on the weaker running away or avoiding the stronger, so they need room to run away and avoid. I think most of the horror stories told on...

Definitely not a juvenile molt.

I have to wait. I've got a couple of trips set up for the holidays but come January I plan to join in. I usually wait until March but due to a couple of things I need to get some growing toward butchering size pretty early this year.

How old are they? Could this be a juvenile molt?

In the bread or in the cook?

Since we are talking about schools and discipline way back when, I'll mention that I went to a country school. My parents took me to school my first day and called my teacher by her first name. She called them by their first name. My 4th grade teacher who was also my 5th grade teacher was my...

I once had a teacher that gave me a choice of taking a paddling or staying in for recess for two weeks. I chose the paddling. He made me stay in for recess for two weeks. In the Spring! With nice weather! That one hurt worse than any paddling I ever had at school or at home. I only got...

My Black Australorps seem to have more of a fat pad than any other breed I've had. I've had BA's from both Cackle and Meyer and they all had more fat than other breeds. I'll admit I've never seen one that bad. I don't know how you find them Bee. I've heard that BA's are supposed to be pretty...

I usually don't do this, but I think this one deserves it. :thumbsup

Ok OTS can I ask you opinion? Do either of these hens look close to POL with how their combs/wattles look? They are 30 weeks old this week per the date the person who gave them to me said was hatch date. On FF with of course fresh veggies/fruits. Never see anyone in nest boxes but I can tell...