I've only done the Cornish cross once and only 10 of them. Brooded and grew them out with sex linked cockerels I hatched and added more cockerels to the grow out pen as they became apparent. It worked well right up until the normal cockerels started mounting the Cornish crosses at about 7ish...
So what have you been feeding? A mixed flock with roosters should be getting a higher protein than the usual layer feeds anyways. With my mixed flock of hens, roos, turkeys and ducks I feed a mix of 16% protein layer pellets in one feeder and 20% chick starter in another with oyster shell on the...
Second mite treatment completed. I didn’t see any around their vents but I didn’t look all that hard either. I did however see Jr. taking advantage of the time it took me to grab the more dominant roos out of the coop. Saw him finally successfully breed a hen so that means there won’t be issues...
What are you feeding? Have you tried adding supplements to their water? Probiotics and vitamin/mineral supplements are pretty useful and easy to find in most feed/farm stores.
Feather picking can be a sign of a few different things. Stress from bullying or over crowding, nutrient deficiency...
I must amend my wish list. Somehow or other I got to thinking about quail and it sounds like coturnix quail are fairly simple to raise. Did some researching and figured out a time line for where I can fit them into my plans. As fate would have it I came across a listing on Ebay for a local...
Ended up setting them last night. Had just enough room on the rollers for them so no manual turning for me. I thought long and hard about popping in a handful of chicken eggs but figured the cons outweighed the pros. Plus none of the hens I actually want chicks from are laying right now...
Numbered and ready to go, just have to candle them to check for cracks by that can wait. I’ll be setting them tomorrow to let them settle from the car ride and get to room temp. Got an extra dozen spares and apparently 2 blue ones.
I’m thinking to do a dry hatch and add water during lockdown...
They’re just cloth bags, most have handles for easy moving. I use them for peppers and leafy greens mostly but you can plant whatever you want in them so long as the size is suitable. I find that peppers hate our garden soil as do the greens so I simply put some quality soil in the bags and get...
It's snowing here in MI, again. Just received my second Baker Creek order and am debating on if I want to get a few things from Gurney's. I don't have any normal red slicing tomatoes and would like a resilient, disease hardy hybrid, preferably a determinate type. I also sort of want bush...
Talked to the local seller and we’ve set up a day over the weekend to get a couple dozen eggs! I did some figuring out on the calendar and if everything goes to plan I should have the quail set up outside by the time I need the brooder for my chickens.
Something I haven’t put too much thought...
I had a spike of active layers mid-January and I was getting over a dozen a day. Now I'm down to ~6/day ever since we had that cold snap. Of course it doesn't help that I sold 3 of the girls that were laying fairly consistently. Add to that a mite problem (hopefully mostly resolved, will be...
Did this one pip on its own? What day? Is the yolk and blood all absorbed? Only help chicks if you are sure the yolk and blood is absorbed.
Sounds like the membrane is stuck to the down feathers. You’ll have to get it wet enough so it comes off without tearing out too much fluff. Use warm...
I cannot see the germinal disc on either one. Sometimes you have to kinda flip the yolk over to see it. An infertile egg will have more of a small white dot on while a fertile egg has the bullseye as mentioned above.
Junior and the rest have been treated for northern fowl mites and will be treated again in about a week. Coop has been cleaned as well. Hopefully no one was too terribly effected by the mites. In 2 more weeks I plan to move Jr and the girls to the spare pen and they need to be in good shape...
Noticed a mite infestation on the birds last night. Today I went to the local feed mill/store and got some Prozap powder and treated them all. I was able to nab 26 of them during the day and got the remaining 19 after they went to roost. Used a sock to dust them all, hopefully I got them well...
It's more like a "help me justify taking an impulsive leap into keeping quail" rather than a "make me want to try quail" thing. I certainly wouldn't take the time to do the research and check the prices and availability of hatching eggs if I didn't want to raise quail.
I mentioned raising quail...
I will probably update if I do get some quail eggs. Seems the only people who I can talk about my birds with (who understand and can appreciate the work/process) are the people on here :D
Speaking of Chunky Jr I just gave him a once over tonight while locking them up. I noticed he's had a bit...
I can't think of any carnivorous/omnivorous creature that won't cannibalize its own species, humans included! All depends on the situation and the individual I suppose.
I found someone who is selling hatching eggs ~10 miles from me and I have 5 cages I can possibly put them in with a few modifications. One such cage is a big plastic cube, used to be a fuel/chemical tote tank but was cleaned up and turned into a brooder. It's about 3ftX3ft so I think I can keep...
I did some experimental breeding with my mixed flock last spring and got these beauties.
Blue CM roo over a legbar based OE (hence the crest).
Blue CM roo over light brahma.
Black JG over EE hen. He has a sister that is the same color, minus the darker male feathering.
Blue CM roo over...