Recent content by bobhoke

So you’ve had one attack already. The pictured coop will protect your chickens from deer and rain. That’s it.

Hi We live in the northern area of the Michigan‘s lower peninsula aka 44th parallel. When do healthy chickens start to die due to cold air when dry and no wind? - 24 degrees. It’s not the often regurgitated (-19). I say -24 because -23 is the coldest it has been since I’ve lived here over the...

Yes, daily. They only eat what they need, unless they are feeding young. Free range = open range / buffet, unless you are capable / willing to deal with it. Predators die too - swiftly. They also avoid netting, but netting doesn’t work in colder climates due to snow. There is a lot to learn...

Trying to keep up….

Its different with every hen. Normally, a little over a month.

You didn't mess up. Put the pipped egg back under the guinea and let her do her job. Hens are 1000% better than any incubator.

July 2021. I'm glad 2020 is gone. What a year to forget. I changed the external chicken run perimeter - downsized. We added an hawk net. I'm thinking about tearing the coop down and building a new one. I'm bored.

Do not give them antibiotics. If you raise them in a healthy environment with the resources they need, you'll never have to medicate them. Medicate anything you eat is unhealthy for you. Remember, whatever goes in your chicken goes in you or your family and friends. If a chicken looks wrong we...

The darker the red comb the better. Its an indicator of health. They are getting the nutrition they require and everything is working properly. Who ever told you to get them antibiotics should slap themselves. Wow.

Hi, I'm in Wexford County. Stress can stop egg production also and two roosters with 10 hens is two too many. Isolate or get rid on one rooster, especially if they are large breeds like Brahmas, Jersey Giants etc. A 10 to 1 hen to rooster ratio is the bottom of the line where you want to be. One...

Palpate (feel) down her throat all the way to what would be her collar bones. If she had an obstruction in her larynx (larger white tube adjacent to her esophagus) you'd know it and her body would/will manage it. for an obstruction/blockage. Birds will eat anything, perhaps a late June bug IDK...

Exactly

Too much of the information provided here on this website and others can be dangerously inaccurate for you and your livestock. As a person becomes inspired and gets that itch to raise chickens for whatever reason often heads to the web when they confront their first dilemma. There are...

nope, go to murray mcmurray or cackle hatchery and they sell birds when in season.

Several websites sell Embden geese aka Murry McMurray, Cackle Hatchery etc... You just have to get them when they are in season. Embden are generally docile and large. Geese imprint on humans just like they will pretty much on anything. Any gander will be somehow aggressive. Now what's...