Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

I'm not certain the back 3 are roosters, but i'm not certain they're hens. better pics?

 

[NewEnglandChick]

I'm not certain the back 3 are roosters, but i'm not certain they're hens. better pics?

Hard to get anyone to hold still...their tails are all pretty similar. The front one is absolutely crowing...but so far the only one that I've noticed (or at least, I've only seen/heard one crowing at once so I'm assuming it's just one). They're so IFFY and hubby is NOT happy if they're all roosters!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I still can't really tell. You're looking for saddle feathers, the smallish, pointed feathers that are on the back right before the butt feathers. They point down on either side, like a saddle, if you will. Hen feathers don't drape in that area.

This is a good picture of that.
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/medi...3525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/a/barred_rock_1.jpg

Hens in barred rock sometimes have "curvy" butt feathers, which you can kinda see in that picture I linked above. It's not as extreme as roosters, and young roosters won't have excessive butt feather curl, either. It's really the saddle feathers that you'll start to see first.

The neck feathers are also more pointed and more loose on a rooster, but I find the saddle feathers are much easier to spot. Here's the neck feathers:
male:
https://cmeimg-a.akamaihd.net/640/photos.demandstudios.com/getty/article/106/190/517197251.jpg

female:
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/medi...e5fb8d27136e95/s/h/shutterstock_232355812.jpg

 

[buckabucka]

I need some help Mainers...

Thought I was doing a good thing for a lady who needed all her chickens gone due to association rules. She said she had Brahma hens, but after seeing photos (of them while roosting) I knew they were BR but was fine with that and went to pick them up...

...and as it turns out, it looks like all 4 are cockerals.

Hubby isn't up for keeping to eat and I don't want that many roosters. Is anyone in the midcoast area that wants them for either keeping or eating?! Or know of anyone who would take them? Just need to come pick them up!

The one farthest away in the photo looks hen-like to me. I think you would really need to grow them out more to know for certain.
Once you know how many roosters you have, I would put them on Craigslist for free. Usually there is someone out there looking for a free meal.

 

[combatfuzzball]

Tolkien and Jules 2 of my roosters. They are buddies but Jules is a jerk to all the other chickens

 

[lazy gardener]

Hello Mainers. I'm in Scarborough, squeezed in the middle of gorham, saco and buxton. I'm new to the BYC community. Started our venture into the chicken world last month with 6 hens and a roo. They were all 16 weeks when we got them. They've been great and we are getting eggs from 3 hens so far. Wanted to say hello and connect with some other chicken farmers in the area. Hope you're all enjoying the nice weather finally!

Welcome to the maine thread. We're a small group, not too vocal. Need more posters!

Okay! well I didn't let my hens out today and my smallest hen Honor just laid an egg within the last half hour. She was standing over it and picking up pieces of litter and placing it on her back.
Why would a hen do this? It was completely planned and I watched her do it several times until I picked the egg up.

Several theories: #1: it's her camouflage. #2: A hen will tuck bits of stuff in her feathers to transport them to her nest site. Since we've bred most of the instinct to reproduce without human input out of current breeds, they seem to get the sequencing wrong and do this when leaving the nest instead of when going to the nest.


If any one is looking for birds, I have a few left for sale:

I have one Australorpe, and I think a couple of partridge colored EE, a red EE, and at least one other pullet... not sure what color. All EE are hatched from my Avatar roo Jack who throws blue egg gene. All have non feathered feet and small comb. These youngsters are almost all as big as their Mama's, some may even be bigger! They are 14 weeks old. I also have a couple of hens that I will be moving out. One red one, last spring hatch. May be selling some of the other hens as well. Have a pair or trio of nice looking Buck Eye's also.

 

[Hiltonizer]

Anyone who got garlic from me last year, how did it do?

I'll probably pull it this weekend if they're getting yellow, most of the scapes didn't get cut until last week and were really tiny. Had a battle with the field grass which probably kept them from getting to size... underestimated my mulching needs.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Little ones are still really tasty.

 

[combatfuzzball]

Well my smallest hen has laid laid 5 eggs in 7 days. I am attempting to hatch them using the brooder my sis bought me along with a lot of jury rigging and hope. Temperature is staying around 98 to 100 so far. Not sure how much luck I will have. Used less sophisticated setting as teenager with great results.

 

[lazy gardener]

Wishing you the best with your hatch. Using "dry hatch" method? Have you read "hatching eggs 101" in the learning center? LOTS of useful info there. I read through it every single spring before I fire up the bator.