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It's very dry here in the desert and 90+ degrees. I have 3 that have been trying to hatch for over 5 hours. Is that normal? One is nearly cracked around, but the others just have big holes. The membranes are dry and tough on the egg. Should I help them out? Maran eggs, very hard shells...

"Feathered Pigs" - I love it! Yes, that describes my girls completely! Or maybe feathered piranhas if there are treats being tossed in the run!

I don't fully compost my pine shavings, and it seems to work ok. I let them sit in a pile for 3-6 months, turning the pile once or twice. I also periodically water the piles because, well, we're in the desert! When I can't recognize poo bits any more, and there is more of a dirt smell than a...

I think I'm doing good with the chickens, so thinking of adding ducks to the mix. Thanks in advance for all your comments.

Culled the two roos that became mean and the one mean hen. (2 hens previously were killed by dogs) Litterally within the hour, the flock became more peaceful. The ratio is now 10:1. I will pen the hens I wish to breed from with the alph male with a ratio of 6:1 for a month in the late spring...

After my recent experience with too many roos to hens, I think that the ratio is important. And I can't say too much about the temperment of the rooster, too. Almost imediately upon removing my two mean/rough roos and one mean (peck 'em 'till they bleed) hen, the flock settled into harmony...

We had 4 roos and 21 hens. We separated out the two mean and rough roos and one mean hen today in prep for giving to a friend to put in their freezer. It's amazing how much happier the remaining chickens are. The lame hen (she's a pet... and she lays well... just won't keep her eggs for...

Both of my EE roos are being culled tonight - as they got older, they got meaner and meaner and were rough on the girls. Both of my Maran roosters are mellow and gentle on the girls. I have EEs, Marans and SLW. I didn't get any roos out of the SLWs. Anyway, IMHO, I'd cull for temperment and...

I have one that lays pale blue eggs, one that lays a sort of olive green egg, one who has an almost white pale blue egg and one that lays a pink egg. The others are not laying yet.

I have Silver Laced Wyandots, Marans and EE's - the EE's are the most unreliable layers. They took longer to start than the others and are more sporadic. I don't know which hen is laying which egg, but the egg colors are unique - so I know the one that lays the olive green egg only lays about...

I am using size 11 on my EE's, Silver Laced Wyand. and Cuckoo Maran hens. My roos are easily identifiable, so I didn't band them. The 11's would definately be too small for all of my roos (EE & Marans). Don't know what size the BOs or Brahmas legs are, but the description of the bands gives...

I use the cellulose (plastic like) legbands http://www.randallburkey.com/prodinfo.asp?number=23030 and they are working very well. I have 21 hens (dog got a few) and 4 roos. Using the bands, I have been able to identify 2 with broody tendencies and one who is a "feather picker". It took about...

I am just getting into chickens, and am so excited as I just now realized how they might help me with my grasshopper problem!!!! Yippeeee! It only took one trip to the garden and the chickens completely denuded it of grasshoppers (27 chickens in a 50ft x 75 ft garden)... but, unfortunately, I...

And they don't just crow at day break! They crow whenever the mood strikes them. I am up at 3 a.m. to get ready for work and I hear my alpha crowing. My beta crow just likes to hear himself talk, I think (Like me!) and just crows all day long. My two other roos don't crow as often, but they...

la dee da - as far as being a little nutty dreamer - uhem, I think we are ALL little nutty dreamers here! No answer for you about the roos as I'm pretty new to this, but good wishes for you and your flock. Keep asking questions - the people here are great - they certainly have been putting up...

I have a 40 watt red light that runs 24 hours in a 16 x 16 foot coop. The roosts are in the corners and are fairly dark. The chickies go in right before sundown and settle into their roosts about an hour later. Red light doesn't seem to bother them at all.

I have one that always lays freckled eggs. The others all seem to lay "normal" eggs.

Thank you! Instead of a hug, they got their wing feathers clipped today! They weren't too happy about that, but they were going over the fence and the dogs got two - so, sorry chickies, no high flying any more.

My husband found them yesterday while I was at work. The large one is almost the size of a store-bought "large." I am guessing that the darker ones are from my Marans and that the lighter one is from a Silver Laced Wyandotte. That would also fit in with the way they have matured - although...

I ordered my chickies from them this past summer. I travel a lot for work, so I had a specific date that I wanted them to ship on (3 day priority shipping actually arrived in 2 days) and they were very accomodating. They emailed me the day before my ship date. I can't recall exactly how many...