Please, if you are in California, quarantine your flock. Riverside, San Bernardino and parts of Los Angeles counties are all under quarantine. We cannot move any birds on or off our properties. There are no chicks being sold in the feed stores and over 60,000 birds, mostly backyard flocks, have...
I have hatched Trader Joe fertile eggs several times, just for the fun of it. One of my best layers is "Josephine", a TJ product. The eggs had been washed and refrigerated, of course. The way it usually goes is that nearly all begin to develop, but at the end the hatch rate is low. It is...
Thank you. I have a customer who wants hatching eggs of these types. She sent for 18 from My Pet Chicken, and received excessively porous eggs (I saw them) and they did not send the breeds requested. The packing was terrible, though shipping was quite expensive, and not one hatched. It was a sad...
I would try neem oil, though it is best if it is used at the very start of your problem. A few years ago, I added milky spore to the soil of my gladiolus beds ad that cut down the Japanese beetle problem by a large margin. Good luck!
I wouldn't give much to the chicks, unless mixed with egg or something to boost the protein and make it more nutritious in general. But I'd sure toss it to my grown birds and it would be gone fast.
Well, congratulations! Now you'll have an encouraging story to tell the next person who posts a worried question about eggs that have cooled down during incubation. Enjoy those babies-you're a momma hen now.
I have had hens get off the nest at that late stage before. and though the eggs did cool down, (were cool to the touch) they did hatch. The hens had gone to the wrong nest box, as they often will do, and I had been gone. I think the best thing you could do to try to salvage your eggs is to put...
I use it to make tractors with zip ties and PVC all the time. It works, but all my stuff is inside of electric poultry net fencing, so four-legged predators are kept at bay.
Young roo, for sure. The saddle feathers are just visible on one side, and they are narrow. Roosters are often very friendly as juveniles. Is its voice kind of musical? I have noticed that most of mine are-it is one way I tentatively identify young males.
I live in the high desert also, right in between the Colorado (low) desert and the Mojave. My runs are all shaded with trees, but in the heat of summer, anytime we are edging into the 104 and above range, I try to wet things down a few times a day when I am here. If I must be gone, the drip...
Very true, thanks for this. Merely disagreeing is not intolerance. We need to be able to relate our experiences with this stuff and let people decide for themselves what is relevant to their own situation. I have about 50 layers/breeders, 6 roosters and a continuous flow of young ones just...
Exactly one of those links refers to a zip tie. One of the reasons I use them is that they are more likely to fall off than to become ingrown. Zip tie material is not as durable as metal or the hard plastic used for commercial banding. The fact is, most of us are very careful about the creatures...
I am sure commercial, large-scale producers have their own methods. Those of us with backyard flocks can do things differently. So sorry to see the damage caused to the bird in the photo you posted. I do not let things like that happen around here, and am certain that most of us are attentive to...
I use zip ties, and have for years. I have never heard of anyone having a footless chicken, but I suppose it is possible. It is really not very hard to keep track and size up ties as needed. It is important to get them on right at the get go-not so loose as to get caught on things or fall off...
Electro net fencing really makes a difference. Mine free range our back acre in very large areas protected by electric poultry net. There is a rooster for every 10 hens, and most of my roosters are very protective and alert. It has been four years since I lost anything to a hawk and two since we...
I use a kennel like this sometimes, with an attached chicken wire run that is closed on top. The worst problem is the other hens walking atop the "roof." Must seem like Godzilla to the babies, not too mention the crap bombs. I put a solid cover over the kennel itself to keep the food and water...