Recent content by Ridgerunner

  1. Ridgerunner

    Are these symptoms of impacted crop?

    I've never had to deal with that and do not feel qualified to suggest much. It sounds more like a disease than a blockage because of no smell but I don't know. I often refer to @casportpony for questions like this but I'm not sure if this is an area of expertise for them.
  2. Ridgerunner

    Advise to keep my rooster

    That rooster is human aggressive. You may be able to train him to not attack you, maybe, but no one else is safe. You may not be safe either. I totally agree with this. I believe people are more important than any animal. My #1 goal would be to protect people. Some roosters of any breed...
  3. Ridgerunner

    Feeding frozen eggs back to your birds?

    Sounds reasonable to me. I toss them in my compost pile or boil them and feed them to the chickens. When a hatch is over and I'm opening unhatched eggs to analyze what went wrong I toss them in the compost pile and bury them. The compost pile is a bit isolated and I do not live in suburbia.
  4. Ridgerunner

    Late quitter!? Day 18! Help!!

    Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined! It is still early in your incubation. I'd go into lockdown mode (stop turning and raise the humidity) and give it at least 6 more days. It is not that unusual for eggs to hatch a couple of days early or a couple of days late. Just give it a chance...
  5. Ridgerunner

    How cold is too cold for chickens?

    Hi, neighbor. We are not used to this for sure. Our houses are not built for this. I've kept chickens further north in colder weather than this. Our temperatures are not a problem, they can handle much colder. Our problem is the wind. I was just outside, that wind (about 20 mph) is...
  6. Ridgerunner

    I need help

    You do not know how long this one has been incubating but it was started later than the others. The others have hatched and this is the only egg left in the incubator. This egg is chirping and wiggling. Leave it in there under lockdown conditions for at least another week unless it...
  7. Ridgerunner

    Hard freeze in North Central Florida - Last minute protection for chickens used to hot weather

    Windchill is real, but only if you are in the wind. Otherwise it doesn't exist. Also, birds like chickens stay warm by trapping tiny bits of air in their down, that's why a down coat is so warm. A wind strong enough to ruffle their feathers can cause the air pockets in the down to escape. On...
  8. Ridgerunner

    Is it difficult to tell the difference between Buff Orpington eggs and Speckled Maran eggs?

    Probably. Regardless of feather color a Marans is supposed to lay a dark brown egg, an Orpington a light brown egg. Just because they are supposed to does not mean they always do. A lot depends on whether the person choosing which birds get to breed uses shell color as one of their criteria...
  9. Ridgerunner

    What are these white round seeds?

    Do you have a list if ingredients to choose from? That could help narrow it down a lot. How big are those seeds? How big are your chickens? If you have bantams or very young chicks then they may not be able to handle larger sizes, but full sized fowl (Orpington, Rocks, Sussex, Australorp...
  10. Ridgerunner

    Will my new to laying hen know where to lay an egg

    Some good comments and suggestions so far. Laying an egg is a pretty complicated process. That starts with putting it together correctly in her internal egg-making factory. You can get weird eggs when a pullet starts to lay, things like soft-shells, no shells, really thick shells, double...
  11. Ridgerunner

    Break Quarantine for winter storm?

    What does the coop look like? Does it have decent ventilation so moisture doesn't build up to risk frostbite? The moisture can come form their breathing, poop, or any open water. Since there are only two of them a fairly large coop would help keep the moisture down also. Decent ventilation...
  12. Ridgerunner

    Cold weather: free range or keep cooped?

    I give mine the option. Mine have chosen to go out when it was below 0 Fahrenheit. The temperature isn't so much the problem as the wind. It's perfectly calm when mine go out in cold weather. If enough of a breeze is blowing to ruffle their feathers they stay out of the wind. That might be...
  13. Ridgerunner

    Coop improvement and Hatching Hut

    Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined! I don't see any questions but I have some of my own. What do you men by hatching hut? Is that a spot for an incubator or are you talking about isolating a broody hen while she hatches? Would it only be used in warmer weather? Not sure what you...
  14. Ridgerunner

    Winter Weather

    The coldest I've seen is -4 Fahrenheit. I leave the pop door open and let them decide. If a cold wind is blowing they are not going to be in it but if the wind is calm they go out to enjoy the weather. How do I know they are enjoying the weather? Because I give them the option and that is...
  15. Ridgerunner

    What colors would I get?

    Lavender is a recessive gene that turns feathers that would normally be black to lavender when the chicken has two lavender genes at that gene pair. He will give one Lavender gene to all of his offspring, not enough by itself to have any effect. For your matches just consider him a black...
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