How much do they eat?
Or how long does a bag of feed last, and how much does the bag weigh? That would give some idea, because they can't be eating more feed than the amount you are buying.
To work from numbers that have already been mentioned in the thread:
5 chickens might eat 1/4 pound each...
Some breeds are traditionally considered "good winter layers." It often gets mentioned in breed descriptions.
If you can't find more information, you can go with the very rough guideline that breeds developed in northern areas are more likely to lay in the shorter days of winter, and breeds...
Andalusians and Leghorns are both Mediterranean breeds, so they tend to have slender bodies and flight temperaments.
Suggestions for rooster/hen ratios usually say the roosters can cover more hens, as compared with roosters of heavier breeds. This does not guarantee that he will overmate a...
How cool? I don't see any snow or ice in the pictures.
I would probably worry more about predators than about the temperature.
If he can sleep in a spot that is sheltered from wind & rain/snow, I would expect him to be fine until temperatures are well below freezing.
PC = Partridge Cochin.
Or Partridge Chantecler
(Reminder: if abbreviating breed names, PLEASE define it in the first post, because misunderstandings lead to wrong answers.)
Be sure you leave enough ventilation that the coop does not get hot on sunny days (like a greenhouse or like a closed-up car). Even when the outdoor temperature is cool, a closed space with clear sides can get pretty hot sometimes.
It's probably a good idea to check several times on the first...
I see the pen already has a roof. Maybe add a windbreak on one or two sides of the pen. That should be all they need.
Chickens that have protection from rain/snow and from wind can do just fine in temperatures well below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit), so if your temperatures are staying...
Regarding the bit I put in bold inside the quote:
It's a bit late for that in the case of this rooster that's been hanging our for two days now, socializing through the fence and pooping on the ground the person walks across.
Depending on how many days it takes to catch him, I'm not sure there...
Half brother? Which parent do they share, and what other parent is involved?
I do not know of any health issues with the split comb. V-shaped combs exist in some breeds, mostly ones with crests, and Buttercup combs are also split. I have not heard of health issues with them.
Unfortunately I do not know for sure. It may be different from one country to another, or in different parts of the same country.
I might make a guess, based on what is available at the major hatcheries in the USA:
I have noticed that most hatcheries offer one kind of naked neck chicken, and...
A rule of thumb I saw years ago: if there is enough light for a person to read a newspaper, that is light enough to affect egg laying. One light bulb in a chicken coop will often provide that much light.
I don't know what data that was based on, but obviously starlight and moonlight are not...
If the chicken has two genes for naked neck, it will give one to each chick, so every chick will have a naked neck.
If the chicken has one gene for naked neck and one for normal neck, it will give each gene to half of the chicks, so half of chicks will have naked necks and half will have normal...
Yes, a rooster with feathered feet would pass that to his offspring.
If the hens have clean feet, the chicks would probably have an in-between amount of foot feathering, rather than being as fluffy as he is.
The colors & patterns in his feathers are wrong for a Golden Campine. For example, he has a black breast when Campines would have gold & black in the breast. His hackle feathers have black & white barring, when Campines would have solid gold hackles.
His legs are also the wrong color.
Buff Orpingtons are supposed to have white feet, and I see some yellow feet in the pictures. So I think they are more likely to be some other kind of buff chickens, unless they are poor quality "Buff Orpingtons" that have some crossing in the recent past. That kind of thing can happen from...
If they were three months old when you got them, they would be four months old now. At four months, I think that is a female. The redder comb would mean "she" is making progress toward maturity and egg laying age.
If the age was wrong, they are still a month older than they were before, so I...
Thank you for the update!
I have read that Mareks is spread through dander, but not through eggs that have been properly sanitized.
As a practical matter, I can't think of any way to have a flock with Mareks, then give eggs to someone without giving them some dander too. Even if the eggs are...