Hatchery sexed (incorrectly, I suspect) Easter Egger, 6 weeks old. No crowing yet, but he was definitely later to feather than the girls, and his comb's getting a bit pink. What do you think??
Here in Maine everyone gets chicks between late March and June. We're building a new coop right now and re-starting our flock. I realized that the hatcheries ship all year, so I could start this year rather than wait until next spring.
In so many ways, this makes a TON of sense in my climate...
Hi! I live in southern Maine and am re-building our chicken coop this year as well (enlarging it to also house goats! yay!). We've kept chickens since 2006 and learned a lot over the years, so I feel pretty good about my plans, with the exception of my ventilation.
We're building a 12' x 20'...
I've been raising chickens for years and never encountered this before. But I have a Partridge Rock pullet who is currently 24 weeks old. About four weeks ago she laid a sweet, small egg. Then: NOTHING since then. For 4-5 weeks now she's been squatting and her comb is large and very red. I've...
I just noticed that this pretty 3-week-old EE chick has curled toes. Is it too late to try the sandal trick? Any recommendations for doing so at this age? Do I need VetRap or will bandaids do? Any tips welcome!
I'm sure someone else will chime in, but I believe that black and white plus the reddish patches on the wings usually indicate a cockerel. There is a great thread on here about those reddish patches on EEs, I'll see if I can find it for you.
edited to add: here you go...
I am hoping that someone with personal experience can chime in here. I do understand that black and white easter eggers are often male, although not always. Can anyone with personal experience make an educated guess? This baby is 3.25 weeks old. (Excuse the cat photobomb!)
I suppose! I've always used organic raw ACV in the past without any ill effect though. And the new bottle I'd used with these girls previously was also raw... but it wasn't the cloudy dregs. It's really such a mystery. I really wish I knew definitively, because I'm sort of scared to put any...
Thank you. That's my theory as well. Or maybe the concentration of the "mother" down at the bottom? It's a small chick waterer.... quart size maybe? And I put a splash in, probably 1/2-3/4 tsp. Quite diluted... and the same amount I've been giving them for weeks with no ill effect at all. In...
I've been raising chickens for over a decade and never seen anything like this. I had 10 3-week old chicks, who'd always been among the healthiest and most vigorous I'd ever had. Yesterday I filled their food and changed their water at around 5:00. As I normally do, I added a splash of organic...
I usually have a couple dozen extra eggs each week, and have been putting them on a little table at the side of the road and selling them. It's been cool, so I have not worried about refrigeration.
Now that it's getting warmer, I'm wondering what to do. Clearly, a day at room temp makes no...
In response to the last post: I think it depends on the hatchery. Some only offer vaccinaation against Marek's and some also offer it for cocci (I think MMcM offers this.) If you're getting them from a feed store and they just state "vaccinated" you need to find out WHAT the vaccination is for...
Thanks, yes, I've had a heat pack included in small orders before as well.
I was more asking about the box size difference (a 25-chick box versus one twice as large for 50 chicks) and whether shipping 30 chicks in a 50-chick box might stress them more than just getting 25 chicks in a 25-chick...
My chicks are being shipped April 14, and it's still REALLY cold here. I know the boxes are sized for 25, 50, or 100 chicks. Right now I have an order of 25, but I'd like to add a few more.
However- if that means the hatchery would increase the box size to the 50-count size, might that be...