Search results for query: *

Earlier in the summer, I was attending an auction with my parents when I spotted something very interesting: an old proofer, probably from a convenience store. I had recently tried and failed to build a cabinet incubator using materials I already had at home, and this proofer looked like a...

Alright, so let me start off by saying, this isn't my first time around the block with chickens. I've hatched out and raised hundreds over the past few years, and aside from a case of failure to thrive here or there, or some other obvious malady like a birth defect, I've had tremendous success...

The diverse genetic possibilities of chickens fascinates me, but I don't know as much about it as I would like. I have an inquiry that more educated minds might be able to shed some light on regarding the possibility of producing white crested black silkies. I have a white crested black Polish...

"Chickentown" is what I call my micro-farm-in-progress in Southeastern Kansas. As the name implies, I focus mostly on chickens, but I have recently branched out into ducks, turkeys, and geese as well as attempting to grow my own produce. (Gardening has always been my dad's strength--I was...

Ok, so I have had the worst luck trying to get an ameraucana roo. My first roo was killed when he was about 8 weeks old by my dog, then when I ordered two roos to replace him, they both turned out to be females! My husband ordered two MORE roos for me for Christmas, but with my past...

Ick, it took a few years, but I finally had a visit from the Mite Fairy in my flock--discovered mites while checking on a broody hen, and upon further inspection of the flock, found the little beasts on a few other birds. Of course, this means I have to treat my entire flock, which numbers more...

I have a 5-month old black copper marans hen named Mindy who laid her very first egg yesterday...and her second! Had she not been isolated in a coop and run away from the rest of the flock, I would have just assumed it was the work of two different chickens, but sure enough, I checked for eggs...

R.I.P. Samurai I have lost a lot of chickens recently--in a flock of nearly 200 birds, it's bound to happen--but last night I lost a rooster named Samurai who was a very special case. Samurai was a chick from my very first incubator hatch. Born with a deformed wing, he was unable to keep his...

I made a deal with my aunt that if she ordered some leghorn hatching eggs for me, I'd return the favor with some started silkie pullets when I was able to start breeding them. She agreed, and my 13 rose-comb brown leghorn eggs arrived yesterday! (I ordered 12, but they sent an extra) Candling...

Alright, so here's the situation. I hatched out a chick in February that developed an over-sized wing. I wouldn't worry about it except that besides looking strange and slowing him down when he tries to run, it also seems to be causing him pain. A couple of days ago, I found him lying on his...

Earlier today I was walking to my parents' house and spotted something huddled in the cold, wet rain alongside the road... it was a little black and white rabbit! It let me approach and pick it up, so I gathered up the soggy little thing and brought it home. Here's the problem--as much as I...

Important Note: Please do not quote this post in its entirety! It's a doozy! Thank you. Ever since my parents purchased their house on a large lot in a rural Kansas town, we'd talked about one day owning chickens. The property had come with a chicken coop already built and ready to go, and...

I have a chick that pipped internally and can be heard cheeping through the shell yesterday morning. It's now 2 in the afternoon the next day and it still hasn't pipped. Should I help it out or are we still within the realm of reason?

'Tis the season for chicks, and many eager chicken keepers are rushing out to buy new peeps for their flocks. All over the country, feed stores and farm supply outlets are filling up bins of fluffy chicks, giving their customers a chance at breeds like barred rocks, rhode island reds, cornish...

I just thought I'd let you all know that another egg is about to hatch on my webcam! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cute-baby-chicks-cam Feel free to take a look! :D

I ordered some chicks in the mail and got a bunch of mystery chicks as packing peanuts. I've already figured some of them out, but a few still perplex me. We'll start with the chick I call Warpaint, since he/she is the one I'm the most curious about. Any ideas on the breed? Next there's...

My dad and I help with a local after school program, and he decided it would be neat to bring his "Garden Critters" class out to visit our flock of chickens. This is the result.

January 23, 2014 My husband knows me well. He did not buy me diamonds or fancy chocolates or flowers for my birthday... he bought me an incubator. It is my first, and to my inexperienced eye, it seems like a good one. A Hova-Bator "Genesis" with an automatic egg turner. (Purchased HERE) It...

A while back, I was talking to someone about my chickens, and she asked me how many roosters I have now. I said I was down to 7 mature adult roosters after selling two to my husband's coworker. This guy who overheard the conversation interjected to tell me I just CAN'T have more than one...

November 12, 2013: We bought our first brood of chicks two and a half years ago, and since then I have been waiting and hoping for one of our girls to go broody so that we could have our very own home-grown babies. It's one thing to buy chicks from a feed store or online, but the idea of having...