no dont clean them, it greatly increases mortality ..if eggs are dirty on a regular basis its usuallly because the coop is dirty, poop all over the place .. eggs will ooze usually by hatch time if theyre rotten, so i usually candle once around 10 days to remove obvious 'clears' and sloshers...
if theyre good-sized id do whats convenient for you, and get them on the daily program .. key is always plenty of space, older hens will never like immature ones, but as long as they can keep some distance theyll be alright .. i free range mine to, biggest step is them learning to put themselves...
i will remove all the bedding and only leave one or two going if theres pullets in the coop ... theyre gonna use them for a toilet and kick them up so i can just spray them out if theres no bedding ..if all you have is pullets yeah, remove bedding from all of them, block them off etc ... once...
I wouldn't worry about it if they ever eat a little something that makes them sick they'll learn LOL .. chickens have a pretty fast metabolism not too many things they'll eat will actually kill them as long as they can pass it .. I think that's the problem with things like lead in the yard it...
young, chick size, pullets are best imo .. chickens learn from almost day1 and have good memories so you can get them into a routine that works for you very quickly ... if theyre older than a couple weeks they will have already picked up alot of 'habits' and possibly had some bad experiences...
really bad around here are possums, ive taken out 20 or so just this year and if enough of them zero in on your coop, theyll take birds to .. anyway, most problems 'at the coop' are at night .. occasionally you could get a rat or black snake snatching eggs in the day but theyll eat them on the...
birthrates in humans are way down to ... that said lol, if your birds are really young or old it affects viability quite a bit .. sometimes culling is necessary if you want to keep numbers tip top efficient .. otherwise, if theyre basically 'pets' then hatch what you can and take what you get...
be sure they have plenty of water either way .. id of already had them in the coop at 4 weeks, but divided off is best .. only condition that can sometimes be pertinent, is if you only have 3 or less mature birds, usually you can just throw them in there. they wont like it, but add a food...
real pecking orders arnt established until after birds reach full maturity imo .. but a big difference in size or age always comes into play with young birds, and some just are naturally more aggressive .. i'll see it at the food tray when one figures out it can get in by jumping up on the...
awww, thats so sad, sorry you had to go through that, ive lost alot of good chicken friends myself .. after you catch your breath i say, get some more and start over😉
imo 50% is a win .. even if everything is perfect, of course i like to see better, but ive learned if i for sure want x amount of chicks incubate double ..
the main idea is focus treating the coop more than the birds, the mites generally live and breed where they roost and lay so if you control that, usually the birds wont be 'infested' ... if you cant get ahold of some kind of bug killer to soray the coop down with, use bleach .. to be most...
keep them in a warm place like out in the garage .. if you have a big plastic tote with a lid and an old lamp or drop light with an incandecent bulb you can rig a makeshift incubator, ive hatched eggs that way .. put some water in the bottom, some folded wire for a standoff, a shallow box lined...
wow, at least you figured it out haha ... chicks in the house for more than the first 3 or so days is a no no, theyre the dustiest creatures known to mankind and it will get on everything ... luckily i live in florida and the garage works fine, and even then i like to get them outside asap so...
chickens dont need treats, they like routine and respond great to just managing the amount of regular food ..once theyre older and in the yard/run, theyll look at anything you provide in smaller amounts as a reward and a prize, like table scraps or pieces of bread etc ..