How big are they now? Sounds and looks like it could be coccidiosis. Dirty and wet conditions cause the coccidia in their poo to multiply and when they pick stuff off the ground they are ingesting more than their bodies can handle. Separating them into groups was a good idea, it may help prevent...
Down to 62 birds. Butchered 6 of the cockerels today at 14 weeks old (the RIR was closer to 13 weeks). I skinned half and plucked the biggest 3. Will be canning the skinned ones but I think I'll give away 2 of the plucked ones. One thing to note, all the cockerels that were being bad (2 whites...
I think you can leave both with the flock unless one is being persistent in trying to interfere with the other broody, then I would move just one hen with her eggs/chicks into the kennel. From my own experience a good broody will take good care of her chicks even if kept with the main flock...
Yes, you can let them out a few hours before dark. Most birds will be done laying by then anyways. Mine seem to be pretty much done by about 4pm with most laying between 11-2. How old are yours anyways? I always find it interesting to know the age when everyone's birds start showing signs. I...
That is squatting, so exciting! I would keep them locked in the run so they are forced to lay where you want them to. Throw some fake eggs in the nest boxes so they get the idea and after a week or so of them laying where you want them to it should be safe to let them out to free range. That...
I was not terribly optimistic about the survival of these two chicks but they’ve done just fine once I figured out the heat plate was insufficient and had to break out the heat lamp. They are now a couple days shy of 5 weeks old and officially out of the brooder. The white chick has some grey...
I plan on butchering and canning some cockerels and 1yr old hens too so I'm also starting to get a game plan in place. I think I'll be skinning and piecing out my birds to can them bone in.
As for tenderness, I don't think that will be an issue. We regularly can venison and you cannot tell the...
Chunky is 13 weeks old today and surprisingly has started squatting for me when I went to pet her this afternoon. I gave her tail a little shake to make her stop and she did the whole feather fluffing thing and flapped her wings. Chickens are weird. Seems far too early for that but maybe it is...
Age could definitely be a factor as could the washing. I’d toss the rest for sure, they may start stinking soon. Just double check for movement and toss if you don’t see anything.
1 and 2 are the only ones looking like they have a mostly developed chick in them. All the others look like they may have died around day 8 or so as I see no clear veins. A chick should fill almost the entire egg by day 18 so the egg should be nearly completely dark. Something else may have been...
Hmm well sounds like it was indeed a humidity problem if there was condensation throughout incubation. Sorry it didn’t work quite as planned :( I’d give them another day or 2 then start opening them up to make sure they are indeed gone. Always be careful when checking unhatched eggs just in case...
Too low to be pasty butt and doesn’t look quite right to just be a crusty dropping that dried to the down. Could be a bit of yolk that didn’t get absorbed all the way when it hatched. I would leave it, if it is dry then it will likely fall off after a while. Do not try to remove it or you could...
Small air cells and failure to hatch does sound like too high humidity. I prefer to dry incubate and only add water during lockdown.
What was the humidity % during incubation and lockdown?
Starting to write things down for flock management purposes. Only ones I haven’t wrote down are the 14 chicks the broodies hatched. I’ll do that once I am certain of gender.
To help me keep track, some photos of the more questionable ones. 3 blues that I have a hard time keeping straight and 2...
The rain keeps making the carpet of weed seeds blown in by the wind germinate. Been hoeing every few days, alternating between rows, to keep ahead of them. Soon enough the plants will be so big and thick I won’t have to week so much. Until then I’ll be working the top inch of soil. I’m seeing...
I know you can’t remove all the pests, all you can do is try to control the population. Foxes are not much of a problem, at least not right where I live. Never saw nor heard a fox around the house but coyotes are another story, we hear them across the road quite often and I’ve run into them a...