Recent content by coop410silkies

Scotty, I agree! I free-range my hens (with roosters), and I, too, have noticed their enormous appetites for meat protein; like you, I have wondered why more feed companies - and more flocksters have not noticed or reported on this. I believe feed companies quit using animal proteins in their...

I have many Roosters and enough experience living with them that I can say this article accurately puts to rest some of the worst misinformation on Roosters. I can confirm that many roosters, with adequate space, can live together and that they protect and serve their hens. I can also confirm...

My birds love insects: meal worms, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs, beetles, etc. My flocks are free-ranging and opportunistic feeders; they graze the wild grasses continually. I have discovered recently some large colonies of earwigs, which the chickens went bonkers over. It is possible to...

I have raised a number of roosters in the five years I've been keeping chickens; some of them turned out to be homicidal maniacs, some became sweet pets, and some are masterful flock leaders. What I can say with certainty is that the rooster's temperament is genetically determined, by both...

I purchased 5 of these from Stromberg's a little over a year ago; they started laying in the fall and laid throughout the winter, but it wasn't until this past Spring that they started laying prodigiously. Honestly, these guys are prolific! And some of the eggs are just huge. About their...

@ Jed Jackson: This has been my experience as well. really. I DO have sex-links, both BSL and RSL. They tend to be loners and somewhat pushy when it comes to feeding, but the one BSL is a timid little thing around other birds, loves people she knows. She attached herself to the SS chick she...

You can put a drop of colloidal silver in her eye. It kills most bacteria, fungi, and viruses on contact and is harmless to your chicken's eye.

My Barred Rock lives and does well with a mixed flock of RIR and Sussex chickens. She can be a bit of a stink sometimes. I do think many breeds like being with their own kind: my Red birds hang out with other red birds, the black with the black, the white with the white. Last year I tried...

Davi, I used to buy these "pinkies" at pet stores where they sell reptiles. My chicks, bearded dragon, box turtle, and Russian tortoise would feast and squabble over them, laid in a pile on a single large plate. It was a sight to behold. They were indeed live, and they are a good whole food...

My chickens are committed grass grazers, I am surprised by how much they like to graze, even when offered a continual supply of hi-protein pellets. They come running for snacks, and they are especially fond of meat, eggs, and dairy. Whenever I feed them low protein snacks - like leftover...

Hens with roosters behave differently from those without. They get managed by them and seem to have significantly fewer behavioral issues. I have one small flock of thirteen hens with 4 roosters - RIR,SS,& RIRxSS - that all co-exist happily together; they have hierarchies and stations, and...

Yes, either way is good, but I prefer to feed raw if she will eat it, simply because heat destroys nutrients and I feel it packs a bigger bang for the nutritional buck when consumed raw. My birds like it both ways, perhaps favoring cooked (simmered lightly). I just cut it up into pieces with...

hi, Brittany, and welcome. I am so sorry to hear of your LS' misfortune. Like you, I have Light Sussex (hens and roos), and like yours, mine have been attacked by a feral cat. I have found the cat inside my coops in the morning, and lurking by the pop doors at other times; I do free range my...

My Silkies use it just fine (but I do put a little block for them to stand on if it is set up for - and they are sharing with - LF).

This sounds like the voice of experience, and it makes sense to me. Some of the techniques I've tried I've found to be good advice; I certainly agree with the choices of aggressive and passive birds. When I raise babies destined for a flock, I always mix a bunch of the flock litter in with the...