Illinois...

[Justso]

Do hens get pale faces and earlobes when molting? My Ebony doesnt look right to me.
View attachment 1898494
She is having a pretty bad molt so far.

Mine do.

 

[Justso]

Molting just started and I've been debating on whether to go to a feather fixer or maybe a meatbird. Of course the babies are still on starter grower still with which the adults also help themselves to when they please.
What do you think?

how old are the chicks now? A bit of work but I used to corral off the chick food with small openings so the hens couldn't get to it, only the chicks could.
I don't bother with the feather fixer and just stay with all flock. There's plenty of protein. Even in layer food there is. You're not doing a disservice by passing on it, I can't help but get the feeling it's a little bit of good marketing on the part of the feed companies

 

[Molpet]

I am feeding everyone 28% turkey feed. Some poops are slightly runny... Hot weather when they drink more has a bigger effect on my birds

 

[BReeder!]

I am feeding everyone 28% turkey feed. Some poops are slightly runny... Hot weather when they drink more has a bigger effect on my birds

You must have some beefy chickens!
Can chickens fart? If so, stay away from Molpet's place.

 

[cavemanrich]

Can chickens fart?

Only if you give them a beer,,,, and offer them a cigarette afterwards

 

[Faraday40]

Normally at 3 wks you can start to guess the gender of a serama. (They mature quickly.) By 4 weeks the males' combs have obvious pink & stand taller. Their combs also start to drop & turn pink.

So here's my 3.5 wk old: (Click image to enlarge)


Is it another female??? I'm not seeing any wattles. Comb is not large - but not flat either. Wattles are very hard to spot - also pale- which is why I'm guessing female for now.

Here's an example of a male at 3.5 weeks:

and at 4.5 weeks:



Tell me what gender you think this gray serama is.

 

[Faraday40]

Since this serama was so tiny, I put her in with Cookie's chicks as they hatched. She was the biggest chick for about a day. The 3.5 week old orp chicks are 2-3xs her size.

7 week old silkied serama - female

 

[Faraday40]

And here are the 3.5 wk old orps. So far all 3 could be female. My biggest ? is the lav because of the slow-grow feathering. Of course the last few times I based my guesses on that they turned out to be females anyway.

Black 1 - maybe female



Lav - ????.... maybe female but I wouldn't be surprised if comb turns pink in the next week or 2. My orig guess was male at hatch but now ????



Black 2 - definite female

 

[Faraday40]

Do hens get pale faces and earlobes when molting? My Ebony doesnt look right to me.
View attachment 1898494
She is having a pretty bad molt so far.

Yes, they can. Mine can go pale when broody, molting, or over heated. As others have mentioned some protein may help her during molt.

Got a lot of molting here too.
This is Cookie's brooder. She's using her maternity leave to molt. At 1st I though she exploded. She only has 5 chicks & the cage was cleaned 2 days ago. All that black is her feathers!!!!

 

[Molpet]

You must have some beefy chickens!
Can chickens fart? If so, stay away from Molpet's place.

I ferment the feed, that helps with the stink