I'm looking to keep a Silkie cockerel this year that will improve the spacing between the 4th and 5th toe, and so far this chick looks awesome. But I'm looking at the comb and it's making me question if this'll be a cockerel or pullet. Normally I'd be all about having more great pullets (and...
This is my first time raising Marans chicks, so I have no clue how easy/hard they are to sex and when's the best time to do it.
I'd normally wait longer, but I noticed a significant difference in wing and tail growth in my chicks, and was wondering if it had anything to with the gender in...
I had a billion broody hens and decided to throw something under them. I got 10 colored eggs from someone that occasionally sells eggs to one of my relatives. I've seen some of their chickens, but to be honest, I don't remember much about what they looked like, nor do I know if they've had any...
I have broody hens with a couple of eggs for the purpose of keeping them interested in staying broody, while my incubator eggs hatch. However, giving chicks to hens can be tricky, so I was wondering if it might be better to give the hens the incubator eggs just before they hatch instead.
I don't...
I'm starting to question if my black Silkie rooster is really based on E/E. I read that extended black based chiks are typically all black, while ER/ER chicks have white markings on the face, chest and tips of the wings, so I'm wondering if my rooster might’ve been ER/ER this whole time...
I've noticed my silkies sometimes come out with improper combs, and I'm wondering if that says something about the genetics or genotype of the parents (and the odd combs themselves, of course.)
I don't currently have any pictures of actual birds as examples, so I drew a quick sketch (apologies...
At this point I'm pretty sure half of my Silkies are cockerels, but there's one chick in particular that I have high hopes for.
I'm usually pretty good with my intuition when it comes to my own chicks, and I feel like it's a pullet, but what's throwing me off is that this one has always been...
I have a chick with blue down, who has started to grow white feathers. At first I thought it was just the first few wing tip feathers growing that juvenile white tip, which they molt out of later, but turns out the whole wing is white.
I'm confused, since it's the only one that looks like that...
What's a great Valentine's day activity regardless of if you have a partner or not? Hatch chicks, of course! 🥰❤️
Not sure how appropriate it is to call this a "Valentine's day hatch-a-long" if they're only being set on Valentine's day, hence the "sort of" lol
Each year I have a naming theme...
I have this lavender cockerel who I thought was homozygous silver, but I think I see a cream like color in his shoulders and hackles, so I'm guessing he's got a copy of both silver and gold. Would I be right?
I have better photos on my computer, I can post those later if needed.
His father is...
I like to draw rough sketches of chickens in my free time. I draw both traditionally and digitally, but digital art takes more time, (and a computer) so I mostly draw on paper.
I like to practice drawing different breeds, patterns and expressions.
I love seeing other people's chicken drawings...
I got tired of all my young Silkies sleeping in the nesting boxes and making them dirty, so I covered the nest boxes last night (uncovered them in the morning) and I tried putting all birds on the roost, only to find out there's not enough space in the roost for everyone. I never noticed before...
I tried doing a bit of research on this, but every post I could find suggested a completely different cause for dark spots in the eyes like this.
Last year it happened to a cockerel completely unrelated to the ones it's happened to this year. It couldn't be an injury, considering it is...
I think I know what genders they are but I want to double check. I know what breed most are except 7, which was a grocery store egg I threw under a hen as an experiment. I'm also curious about her color. I thought she was lavender but she seems to have a few blue feathers. Can lavender leave a...
Before I start I want to say that I mean absolutely no hate to USA type silkies or silkies in general. They are and likely always will be my favorite breed of chicken. I'm just sharing my opinion on USA silkies, as a person from Europe.
I'm having a hard time finding an official side by side...
Doing my last hatches of the year.
First I have 3 silkie eggs, 3 store bought eggs from some local farmer, and 4 mixed breed bantam eggs. 10 eggs in total, due to hatch around 04.05 - 05.05. They're under my broody hen Okakley, so I'll be calling it Oakley's batch.
Second I have 6 silkie eggs...
This is day 1. I gave the eggs to the broody a few hours ago. The nest didn't have enough bedding which I assume is why one egg broke. I put in new bedding but some of the eggs got yolk all over them. They're dry now, a bit sticky. I'm just wondering if I can leave them for the next 21 days or...
This is a thread for my 2024 chicks. Usually, I try to take weekly pictures of each chick to track growth and development, so why not make a thread where I can post them?
As the chicks grow I'll comment on what I think about them, which I may keep, and make guesses on whether they are pullets or...
This year I thought I would try starting my first hatch-a-long. You're welcome to choose an egg to root for.
If you'd also like to name your egg, I have naming themes that should be followed. This year the themes are:
Silkies: Greek mythology and Percy Jackson related names.
Project chicks...