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Hi Montanachicks! The four babies are doing fine, are about 1/3 sized chickens now, and have integrated with the rest of the flock. Unfortunately, a pair of fox came in and killed 6 chickens in about 5 minutes, including their momma, and our favorite hen Speckles! This was at 10:30 in the...

Well, we went ahead and captured the whole family of 5 and put them in the brooder box, with the heat lamp about 3' above, and with chick starter feed and water. Momma seems happy, even after being captured with a fish net, and the chicks alternate between exploring and going under momma's...

Help! Found my lost hen today with 4 brand new chicks! I feel I need to get the chicks into the brooder box since there is no water in the back yard. My question is, do I put the mother hen into the brooder with them? Thanks! I already partitioned off my brooder box as I have 12 3 week old...

Well, we ended up hatching out 10, but three died from birth defects, leaving us with 7 chicks we hatched and 5 we bought. I have been advertising fertilized eggs on Craigslist, and sold two dozen and am collecting for another 18 eggs for a Laurel school hatching project. Hopefully these folks...

Mine seem to lay between about 9 to 3 at this time of year. I read where a chicken on a daily laying routine will lay about an hour later each day, until she skips a day. Well, our first incubation and hatching experience is about over! We are on day 22.5 now, and no more pips. Only 7...

Just posted this on another thread reviewing the Little Giant Model 11300 Deluxe Incubator, manufactured by Miller Manufacturing: "This is our first time incubating and I decided to go with this model because it had the most features of all the ones I looked at locally. Just put 41 eggs in...

Thanks Swanridge, that is very encouraging news! The egg collection is going great, we will easily have 41 eggs ready for the incubator by Saturday. Selecting the largest and cleanest ones, including 4 eggs so far from our lone EE hen! I have noticed the Roo being pretty "active" over the...

Congrats Karla, for getting your wireless webcam up! Those are nice clear images! What fun to spy on the chicks! So what do you think the color of our future eggs will be, with an EE roo and a mixed flock of mostly brown egg layers? Is there enough Araucana in most EE roos to pass along the...

Haven't posted in awhile, but my boys and I are starting an exciting new project soon - hatching out our own chicks! Picked up a Little Giant Deluxe incubator at Big R today. It holds 41 eggs, and we plan to start collecting eggs in about a week, and then for the next nine days or so and then...

Cicknmama, we plan on trying something new this spring, buying an incubator and hatching some chicks! We have no luck with broody hens to date. I believe the incubator we are looking at from Shipton's can incubate 50 eggs, so if we fill it up we will have more chicks than we need, since we are...

ChicnMama, your idea of breaking the wind with straw bales will also help. It is the wind, drafts, and humid air that nips their combs when it gets really frigid. If you can block the wind and provide enough ventilation to prevent condensation, I think they will be fine! After the fox attacks...

I am thinking of just insulating my coop's ceiling also, but I have went through 2 winters with my flock in an uninsulated coop with only a 75W and 50W red light bulb and water heater for heat, and have had no losses due to cold. The rooster's comb and a couple of the hens got nipped a little...

Got my first true confirmed pullet egg today out of my young ones! It is shown next to two normal sized eggs. I would say it is about half volume. Not sure which one laid it, but the Speckled Sussex and New Hamshire Red have been squatting a lot lately! I think I will soon be giving eggs...

They are still young, and should figure it out eventually. You might keep helping them for another week or tswo!

Just thought I would post some pics of my new chicks and cockerel. I got 8 BA's because they were the best survivors out of my original mixed flock. Of our 4 original BA's, three managed to avoid being eaten by the fox! The only other surviving hen was a green egg-laying EE. Among the new...

Thanks Ennis! I am happy to report no more fox problems so far!

It has been a tough spring for my flock. Lost 8/12 of my laying hens due to this fox, that would attack any time of day I let the hens free range over the past 2 months! Our 12 -week old poults and cockerel are still safe in their brooder. Finally got the vixen in my sights yesterday...

Yes, it would! I don't have a Marlin Model 60 anymore but my scoped Ruger Model 77 .223 and Remington 870 Supermag loaded with 3" Mag BB shot are at easy reach!

That sounds great, glad I picked up a Brahma! My little boy spotted the culprit that has been preying on our free range hens three days ago - a red fox. It was standing outside our chicken run about 7:30 in the morning, licking its chops! I took three shots at it with a .22 mag revolver but it...

Hi Schimmers! I am glad to see your light Brahma is your favorite, I just got our first one this year, it was my pick of our 13 little ones. She is about 5 weeks old now, with a fuzzy grey neck, feathering out with mostly white wings with streaks/specks of black, and grey feathers on her feet...