Previous thread >>3675152Let's keep discussing chickens and our interest in them. Questions and answers very welcome, as are pictures of your chickens. How are your chooks, anons?
Thing generally great if buissy. Chook still enjoying her little routine.
I took the pic and turned the phone around and three chickens gathered by the fence and did those curious head turns at the phone
>>3721444Extremely, they don't need roosters to lay.
Miss Peeps and her favourite TV show. She's fascinated by Penguins lately.
Eggs!
>>3721554Nice, that's a nice harvest. All chicken eggs?
Summoning Chicago, Texas, Arcansas bros and NZ sis anons. How are you guys doing, business OK? Post Louise NZ sis.
>>3721554You planning to sell or domestic consumption?
I have no idea when our rooster eats. I see him go to one of the feeding stations, take a few bites, look up, take a few more bites and walk away. When there's some fresh stuff being thrown into the enclosure, he'll join the hens but he'll pick up a small piece of whatever food is lying there and he'll make a growling noise to attract the hens, then let one of them take the food from his beak.He's weird.
>>3723129Majority of my roosters are like that.When I bring in the fermented grain the hens go apeshit. Some will even bite the scoop as I'm pouring it into their feed trough. But the roosters just kind of stand around cackling.Its a sign of a good rooster.They're standing guard while their hens are distracted eating so they're not taken off-guard by a predator.
I have 10 jersey gaints and 5ish amaracanas coming in the maile this weekend. Gotta get a brooder setup.>>3721558Couple d cks eggs in mix.>>3723024Ill be selling the excess at the end of my driveway. My family can eat 5 to 10 eggs a day depending on weither my wife is pregnant at the time or not.>>3723129My silkie rooster does that. Make me wish i wanted his children. Hes around for eye candy.
>>3723412I get $3-$4 for an 18 pack of eating eggs.But I get $8-$20 for a dozen hatching eggs at the local livestock auction.I'm tempted to stop hatching chicks at all during the spring/summer and just sell hatching eggs.
>>3723349That's true, the hens think about nothing when food's involved. Still, the feathery gentleman still takes time for his little offerings where he takes bits of food and gifts them to the various hens instead of eating on his own. How do your roosters get along? Do they each have a separate harem?>>3723412>Couple d cks eggs in mix.Thought so. Got some runners that lay green ones and rouen and rouen-runner mixlings that lay big white ones like the ones on the right in your pic.
Pigeon landed on one of my.coops and looked like it was trying to get in.Then it landed in the grass and started walking around the yard until it came across one of my roosters. The pigeon acted like one of my chicken hens, just started pecking around where the rooster was scratching (vid related, sorry for crap resolution). Rooster didn't seem to know what to do. He acted like he was going to pick it but then just scratched some more grass for it.I noticed it's legs were banded so I herded it into an empty pen and got it some food and water.Looked up the band numbers but nothing was listed so I'm going to call the racing pigeon club tomorrow.
>>3723616All of my roosters are separated and I only let one group out to roam the yard at a time. I currently have 6 breeding roosters with a couple more coming up to age that will get their own pen. Usually one group in the morning, then they'll follow me back to their pen when I feed them grain at lunch, then let out a different group for the rest of the day.Its funny that every group will come running across the yard when they see me walking with the grain bucket in hand and follow me anywhere.Some of my roosters will go upto a pen and try to fight the guy inside through the wire. One even bit my shoe today when I tried to break them up (the rooster in the video I just posted with the pigeon).Each rooster has 5-20 hens.Some are purebred groups, others are split for Easter Eggers or olive eggers- combinations of F0, F1, F2. I did a few F3 hatchlings this season but the results get so random that its better to stick with an F1 rooster and cross it with all the combos unless you have 500 birds or want to pay $95 a bird for DNA testing.
>>3723956Those are some friendly chickens, ours wouldn't be so kind. One time, one of the more adventurous ducks managed to get under the fence (we have an enclosure that we built originally and then a movable net fence so it can be moved around so the chickens graze in different parts, it generally does its job but you have to be careful so there aren't any gaps) and if it wasn't for my mom being there and saving her, the chickens would've pecked the duck to death. Likewise, all the tits and sparrows are real sneaky about stealing feed, and they don't do it as often after the flock increased from 20 to 40.
>>3724249Luckily it was just the Maran rooster that was out. Some of the hens are bitches and it may not have gone as well.Got the pigeon owner's phone number from the racing pigeon club. Got a voice-mail though.Website says to just give them some feed and water and let them be on their way.I gave it some.more scratch today (doesn't seem to care for crumbles) and opened the door but it doesn't seem to want to leave.Doesn't fly much, just walks around the pen even though there's some rails it could fly upto. Pen is 8'x10' and 6' tall sonit has some room to do something. Wondering if it's injured somehow. According to its band info it was hatched in 2020 so its not an old bird.
>>3724753Not a chicken but it thinks it is.
We've got a stray rooster who chills around our yard. He travels between a few yards but likes hanging out in ours since we leave out food. He's friendly enough he'll hang out around you and even wanders into our house sometimes if we let him.
>>3722826isn't that from that tale where the woman puts an egg inside a chicken to trick people into believing she could foretell the future?
>>3724821roosters are some of the chillest pets you could have. But they don't last you that long, or at least my two didn't. 4 years and they both croacked.Meanwhile my two ducks are 10+ already.
>>3721554are they fed onions?
>>3724899I buried one of my favorite hens last year.She would always greet me when I went into the coop and would follow me around. Sisnt even flinch when I would pet her.She was 12.I have a couple more left from her batch.
>>3724790He's waiting for your letter>>3724977Only got a few runners in our flock, most hens are fine with petting and some even assume the position when they see a hand approaching.
>>3721121She's a lovely-looking hen, headed towards an interesting-looking tree.
My hen laid an egg on the couch last weekend, I let her in and she jumped in the leather couch, digging a bit next to the pillows then I sat down vnext to her. She sat down but kept turning around and around until she sat quietly, I started stroking her neck and back, she became very relax but stood up, her face got very red and then I realised she laid her egg. This is the first time I've had this happening.
>>3725280>Forgot pic
>>3725282She really trusts you.
>>3725280>>3725282Wait til it's first time she releases something else all over your couch
>>3725282If you handle the eggs immediately after they come out theyr soft. You can mold them a little bit.
Storm has passed so I took the racing pigeon out of its pen.It just walked back in instead off flying off.I think it said "fuck that, I've got a big comfy pen and all the grain I can eat- I live here now..."
>>3726105I think you might've scored yourself a racing pigeon. I'm wondering from its behaviour whether it usually lives amongst chickens.
>>3726417It must have lived with chickens, it walked up to my rooster and started having lunch with him like they were old friends.Really not sure what to do with it though.I thought about putting it in with some fresh hatchlings that I got from a breeder in Mississippi (so I know I'm keeping a rooster and the hens separate for breeding). I figure if they all grow up together they'll accept him.Or maybe I'll just get more pigeons.
>>3726417>>3726494It's not that uncommon. Pic related
My single hen started laying eggs by herself... Is it wierd for a single hen to do that???
>>3728119Nope. completely normal.
>>3728119Last year I lost a good rooster. Hens still produced 200eggs per year. Hens will lay regardless. The key to quality and production is feed.
I let the racing pigeon out again yesterday evening and it flew off around 4 o'clock.Today I let out a group of chickens out to roam the yard and left their pen door open. Went around about lunchtime to collect eggs and that damn pigeon was inside the open pen.So I guess he really does live here now.
>>3728119Don't worry, it's a completely normal process tied into their reproductive biology! The reason chickens lay unfertilized eggs at all is because the egg is mostly developed before being fertilized. The chicken doesn't know if the egg ends up fertilized or not, so she just has to go ahead in the hopes that it will be fertilized. This system works well in the wild because mating is common and most eggs end up fertilized. However... modern breeds have been selectively bred for higher egg production with no thought for the consequences the chickens will face. The hens of owners that promote physical activity usually have less osteoporosis and rarely manifest cage layer fatigue, but egg-laying is draining and will put your chicken at risk for egg binding and other reproductive health issues. Also, what size of breed is she? The problem's exacerbated in bigger ones. If you want her to have a good life, grind up the eggshells and mix them into her feed. If you want her to have a great life, look into light cycle regulation so she doesn't lay as much or chicken birth control.https://opensanctuary.org/article/suprelorin-implants-a-critical-tool-in-chicken-health/https://www.vin.com/doc/?id=3843996I don't recommend Depo-Provera though. Unless your gal starts having severe and repeated egg-binding episodes, it'll be worse for her than frequent egg-laying.
>>3728747Well written brain anon. Calcium is important for birds, egg producing ones especially. I use crushed oyster shells and ground fishbones as well as eggshells. I also heard Italians use ground coral.
Chicken just has to try a piece of watermelon.
Toy time!
>>3728731I wish birds would show up for free for me. Then I wouldnt have to justify it to my wife.
>>3729518Are those Orpington?Chill man, it's just a matter of luck and geography. And your wife has no say over YOUR birds unless they are hers of course.
>>3724821He's really handsome. Would keep.
Atenntion! By the left........ MARCH!
How smart are your chickens? Can you teach them tricks and shit?
>>3721470They're so funny when they do that>>3722816"pathetic"
>>3721105>be urban chick>get squished under tyres
>>3729571Yep I have a three blonde buff orph. Theyre good general purpose birds. But then tend to be bitchy.Its a marriage we talk about any none mundane purchase at least briefly and justifying to someone else is a little harder. But mana from heaven is mana from heaven.
>>3729707Nice birds. I had 10 buffs, but eventually replaced them with Golden comets. They just got old and unfortunately nobody around here has them.
>>3729600Sure you can teach them. They are pretty smart birds. Just pick a card trick and start teaching with rewards. Most birds will pick up on it in a few days.I constantly have to come up with new ways of amusement for miss Peeps.
>>3729707do they all have different characters?
What does starting up a chicken sanctuary entail?
So I've come to realize that I have some chicken issues.I'm hatching an average of around 120 chicks a month but I'm only taking about 90 to auction...
>>3729600Many years ago, I trained my hens to stand in a semicircle and jump for pieces of bread, taking it in turns. That's about as far as I got with tricks, but chickens do enjoy jumping to grab food. My current rooster - ever the feathery gentleman (cheers to anon >>3723616 for this apt epithet) - presents all his jumped winnings to his ladies rather than eating the treats himself. As a child I learned how to hypnotise chickens by putting their heads under their wings, and rocking them in my arms whilst singing them a special song. It puts them into a deep sleep.
>>3730388Well firs off the top of my head... Lots of land, access to clean water and lots of feed even if you free-range them just for starters. Fencing, shelters, coops.... Depends what your goal is.
>>3730388My coops were running about $1,400 for a 6 foot tall 10x40, split into 4 stalls, with roosts and nest boxes.That includes wire tips and concrete footers to keep foxes and ahit from digging under. Lumber prices have gone up since xovid hit.
I wonder what they were thinking in this moment.>my relative :)
>>3730991Yea fuck that. I built 16 x 8 run in the fall and it cost me double what I had budgeted for it in the sping.>>3730207I cant tell them apart most of the time so I have no idea. But plenty of these chickens have theyre own quirks.
Hello /ckg/, I have a requestCould you post pics of cloacas, I need them for umm... research.Thanks.
>>3731353Here you go. One from last fall.
>>3731010they want the grass
>>3731407Nah, they looked at each other and then the hens went out into the outer enclosure onto the grass soon after.
Do chickens eventually pay for themselves? Between coats for feed and time wasted shoveling shit I'm weighing whether or not they would be a good idea once food prices skyrocket and shortages come
BUMP
>>3731934If you take into account how useful that shit is in a garden it might be. Feeds still relatively cheap. It doesnt take much to make that back. If you already have a coop most of your costs are already sunk anyhow.
>>3731934I sold a dozen salmon faverolles eggs for $16 at last weeks auction.Also sold week old faverolles chicks for $13 each.It's not always as good. But even $4 a chick is pretty easy money. Most of my hens lay daily so even with a 75% hatch rate you're looking at one bird bringing in $1,000 a year in sales while costing about $20 in feed.
>>3732022Nice prices. Where are you selling fren? Do you go to local or big state auctions like state fair? I'm lately just selling eggs and it's good money.
>>3731934They make money all the time. Chickens pay off nicely. Feed is cheap, especially if you have your own land, free-range brings costs down and you can also ferment the grain to stretch it out even further.They give eggs, chicks, meat and feathers if you get into art stuff. All good income.
My latest acquisition is a bunch of roosters. They seem to get along pretty well. I'll still part them out to their respective flocks. Only payed 12 bucks per bird. I hope ladies find them attractive.
What are some good breeds for a hot and dry climate like southern california? I'm looking into plymouth rocks and black australorps right now. I don't want turkens either lol.
>>3732506Either will do fine as long as there is some water to drink. I found that moist treats like watermelon scraps, lettuce, spinach leaves .... Makes them less thirsty
>>3732526Makes sense! May I ask if you use those chicken water nipples? I've heard conflicting opinions on those It seems.
>>3731951Your chickens are a bit off
>>3732655I don't use them since I have two large springs on the property. However if you are strapped for water, why not. Save where you can. I can't see how they are bad. Just get appropriate size(not for hamsters).
>>3731934Remember this..... Even chicken shit is money. Free fertiliser. Chickens are also pest control and productive birds. They pay off 100% and relatively easy to keep.
>>3732449Its just a local auction house, every 2 weeks.But I'm pretty rural so it's popular.They do goats, sheep and cows in the morning- chickens, ducks, turkeys etc in the evening. Last week they had 2 emu eggs that I really wanted but they went for $55 each.I could sell chicks on Craigslist but then I'd have to deal with people. On occasion I get poor prices but they're usually more than acceptable.I've found that the trick is getting there early to drop off birds so they're at the front of the auction. People spend more money at the start. Sometimes the bird portion starts at 5 pm and doesn't end until almost midnight.
>>3732726Thanks for the tips. What's the price on turkeys? Over here they going for 30 on a normal day, can be higher on weekends and holidays. Also are there any quails to buy?
>>3732726Emu eggs??? Aren't they endangered species or something? 55 bucks....... But they huge and like dark green right? Never seen any irl.
>>3732751There's a couple guys that sell quail eggs, there's always a stack of them.One brought in about 800 eggs a month or two ago. I didn't see him last time- he's probably hatching them for quail season (people will buy a couple hundred, salt their corn field and charge people from Florida to come out and hunt).Cheapest turkey I've seen was like $45. They usually go for $85-$100. But they're also usually monsters. Peacocks are also common and always go for over $100.Ducks are usually good money makers.I've seen Asians in bidding wars right before Chinese new year.>>3732767Emus were popular for a short time as a meat alternative here but never really caught on. And ya, the eggs looked like softball-sized avocados- texture and color wise.So I run multiple incubators so I don't have one giant hatch to take to auction at once. I forgot that the auction is actually every 2nd and 4th Saturday, technically not every other weekend so I had eggs stacked up to sell and wound up putting them in an incubator off schedule. So I have one finishing up hatching yesterday and one starting to hatch today.I found that if I take in small batches of different birds people will bid war over the small groups but if I take in a large group of the same type there's enough to go around so prices don't get as high. So I'll split an incubator into 4 breeds at a time.Today I started a batch of faverolles, ameraucanas, marans (for auction) and then some olive eggers and a couple Easter egge combos I've been working on to raise until they start laying to sell to people who are looking for specific colored eggs. Pic is an assortment I collected 5 minutes ago. Sorry there's no white eggs to compare with but I only have 2 birds that lay white eggs (polish) and they don't have the greatest rate.
>>3732948Oh ya.Quail eggs are cheap. Like 3 bucks a dozen.Some people will put 1 turkey egg into a random mix of chicken eggs instead.of doing a 6 or 12 pack of just turkey eggs and everyone of course jacks up the bid on a bunch of ahit mixed eggs just to get the turkey egg- usually goes for $10-$12.
>>3732948Based post. Good info. Thanks. Have a pic of my girls.
>>3733133Forgot to say. Quail eggs are pretty popular with hipsters for salads and toasts. They are cheap tho. Great looking eggs you have there. Easter is coming soon and I think we should set a record or two price wise. Best of luck!
Bonus to owning chickens:This group likes cleaning weeds from the blueberry bushes.Another group cleans out around the pecan trees.Yet another group cleans out around the irises by the front porch.
Out of curiosity, how many chickens do you guys own?
i love generals chicken
>>3724895folklore? fwhich country?
>>3733708Like 50 in breeding groups.20 or so hens that I'm waiting to see what color eggs they lay.Another dozen in the "retiree" pen that are old hens who don't lay anymore (or very rarely) but have served me well over the years.A few more just because they're fun (Polish, Ayam Cemani).And at any given time theres 100-150 young birds that range from a day old to 6 months that are for the auction.
>>3721105HEY! You can't keep animals in an urban setting. They are going to spread disease and kill EVERYONE! Someone call the police
>>3734096sir this is a popeyes you're scaring the other customers
>>3733708I own twenty. Plus 18 ducks. Soon to be 11 ducks. I have 15 chickens due to arrive any day now. Im going build a few smallercoops to start breeding them. Provided I can scavenge up enough material.If I lived on a bigger property Id probably have more. I really like birds as long as theyre not in my house.>>3730203Hows the poop situation with her?
I have chickens for over a months now and I usually let them run around in my garden which wouldn't be a problem if they didn't regularly leave some extremely watery shits which I can't properly scoop up leaving me with little choice other than throw some sand on it. Should I grind up active coal and add it to their food? Man I love these chicks, but the watery shits are really annoying.
>>3734227Most of a chicken’s shits should be solid, though they often have a few looser sticky ones a day. Search watery chicken poop and compare to see if it might be caused by a disease or just stress. Otherwise, might be caused by diet- feed gone off or too high of a protein % is common but there are tons of possibilities.
>>3734096People in my city actually think this way and even successfully got chickens completely banned a few years back on the basis of chickens being unsanitary and smelly. Families who already owned chickens were grandfathered in for the life of their current chickens and forced to get them all microchipped. The worst part is that leading up to the vote they even had all the families' chickens inspected and found that NONE of them were kept in unsanitary or smelly conditions but the ban still passed. Fuck uppity suburban cunts.
>>3734227Just wait till they start scratching. Theyll dig up everything.
>>3734293I don't actually mind them destroying what's left of the garden, it's just that I like to play with my dog in it too so I clean it up every day after the chicken go bed.>>3734227For every 10 solid shits I find there is one that's either completely gooey or half wet. They all seem to be well, laying plenty of eggs (4 dwarf wyandottes - every day 2-4 eggs normally 3). The only additional food to their main feed they get from me is some canned corn, but not even that much.For now I'll just add some coal to their food every day for a week and hopefully it gets better. pic related, me as the janny
>>373370839 hens and one roosterPlus seven ducks. Sad to say, we lost three after a marten attack two weeks ago
>>3734290Jesus Christ! I've never heard aninthig as stupud as that. Is that even legal as in thay can't mess with your property. The fuck!Have a pic of some of my birds.
>>37337085 breeds, divided in flocks of 25, five roosters one for each flock plus 12 turkeys, 30 quails, 4 Guinea fowl and Miss Peeps. Latest count.
BUMP AGAIN.
Poor little chicks will be in the mail for awhile. Need to start breeding my own.
>>3730991You're not kidding man. The fuck is going on with the prices? I mean, there is a lumber yard near where I live and we get weekly quotes??? It's going up and up.
Thinks is chicken but is not.His name is George.
>>3723956What is this???????? A WEBM FOR ANTS?
The house is filled with cheep cheeps.
My beautiful 14 week old polish chick got wry neck the other day. Can't figure out the cause but it's painful to watch. She's actually a lovely chicken; she loves to be held. Yesterday I came home and when she saw me she made these clucks of contentment like she was happy to see me.I dunno what to do though. We're trying to feed her. Vitamin e, tuna (she likes tuna) sunflower seeds, incase it is vitamin e deficiency. But I'm guessing it's injury. She seems worse today than she did two days ago when it started, but then we were hand feeding her and she seemed better.
>>3736995I cant get chick starter feed until tomorrow. Think ground up meal worms will do for a day? Should I get some grit?
>>3736975Man, that is a glorious turkey
>>3737024I wouldn't give them mealworms. Maybe some boiled or scrambled eggs and nutridrench if you're really worried. If they just hatched yesterday or today then they're still feeding off their yolk. Just make sure they have water and warmth in that case.
>>3737024Do you have layer pellets or scratch?You can just smash pellets.Corn meal is just ground up corn and would be fine.Although chickens can go three days after they hatch before they need to eat i get them on solid food as fast as possible.
I've separated out 35 birds for auction tomorrow.But I hatched out 65 this week.
trying to introduce 8 chicks to an enclosure with 2 fully grown ones and the 2 are already getting territorial and pecking at the small ones. what's the best way to deal with this
>>3737138Larger birds can/will kill chicks if there's no mother hen to protect them.There needs to be as small of a size difference as possible.You should probably split the pen until they're larger.
>>3737160figured as much and will be doing so
>>3737088>>3737091I cumbled in a hard boiled egg. Itll do till I can get to the feed store.
>>3733708I have one rooster and eight hens.
>>3732465My God, those are handsome roosters. They look like the chicken equivalents of Alsatian dogs - tough, watchful birds. Are they a particular breed?
>>3732655I have this style of waterer and recommend it for being sturdy and reliable, easy to fill and clean.
>>3721105
>>3721105>How are your chooks, anons?Not very good ;_;Pray for her
>>3737987I have a couple broken chickens.One just went south one day. Stopped getting up on the roost and isn't putting weight on one of her legs. She eats fine but doesn't move around much. Been like that for over a month now. I put her in my separation pen. Another one has been limping for years (she's like 12 years old) but recently also started having trouble getting up on the roost so I put her in with the other broken chicken to keep her company.Isolation pen was used as a hatchling pen for awhile so there's a ramp up into the roost box and limpy seems to appreciate it. There's 2x4's to roost on but both birds just sleep in the nesting boxes in the back.I need to paint one of those handicap symbols on the ramp...
I hate getting up early early on Saturday.But I was third in line for drop off at the auction. It seems as though birds at the front of the line sell for better prices.The auction starts with "junk", which is usually farm type supplies then they do large livestock (goats, sheep, cows) and then chickens so its usually 4-5 pm when chickens start.Last couple of auctions they didnt finish until almost midnight because there has been so many animals.I think people get bored/tired of hanging out and they just want to get some chickens and go home so more people bid against each other at the beginning.Dropped off 45 birds, 3 breeds, of various ages (trying to see what the ideal age is as far as profit vs how much time and feed I have into them).
>>3738455Sounds like Springfield Auction. I think the Juvenile stage is the best time to get rid of them desu. Old enough if someone looking to breed them they don't have to wait a long time young enough that feed cost should still be relatively low. Got 4 gamebird bittys from there they doing fantastic w8ting to see the sexes on em.
>>3736975Turkeys make me think of Samurai.
>>3734349>For every 10 solid shits I find there is one that's either completely gooey or half wetThat sounds like cecal poop. There’s a couple pouches right between the small and large intestines where hard to digest stuff is shunted to and kinda ferments for awhile. It’s normal and there’s not really much you can do to influence it.
>>3738455Welp. The auction sucked. Tons of birds as usual but buyers just weren't there.Birds that I sold last auction for $13 went for $4 today.Random mutt crossbreeds went for the same price as breed standard purebreds.
>>3740613Are you a time traveller or do you come from a 3rd world country?
>>3741056Oh good. Im not the only one.
>>3737987How is your poorly hen, anon?
Will Roosters get along with each other if there's no hens around? Will they still fight?
>>3742689Depends on how well they know each other and the breed. I personally wouldn't risk it, but I recently bought 5 roosters who behave like they're best buds. I still parted them out to their respective flocks.
Bumping with birb
I’ve never had any sort of livestock, and I’ve never been in a chicken thread, but I want to just say I love this community. It warms my heart to see that there are people who choose to ethically obtain their meat and treat chickens with some sort of respect
>>3743626It's not just our community fren. Take heart. Most farmers care a lot about their livestock. Ultimately that's where food comes from. Happens that we love our birds or at least they keep us fed and warm.
>>3739320Oh man! That sucks. Today was normal day for me at least. Prices were acceptable ( dropped of young roosters for 13 a head), Easter eggers were predictably winning all day long if late for the game, but good layers went for 15/18 regardless of breed. Eggs are going crazy lol. I wish you happy Easter and a great season. Don't worry about one bad day.
>>3739069Those pouches promote nutritional intake right? I googled this but found out there is not much literature on this organ. Care to elaborate maybe?
This years chicks are growing. One was sickly I nursed it but alas...I got 5 random what look like easter eggers. One mystery brown bird and 8 jersey gaints.
>>3743858Sweet. I wonder what the misery bird will be. I also have future chickens. Fresh, she's still announcing succes.
>>3743868*mistery*, sorry
>>3743857https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259434365_Function_and_nutritional_roles_of_the_avian_caeca_A_reviewThis is a fairly decent and detailed summary and also covers pretty much everything I remember learning about the subject and more. If you want to look up more literature, caeca, ceca, cecum, and cecal are all keywords to try filtering with; most articles tends to just be about the microbata though.
>>3743626Meat?
>>3744256Yep, once you stop laying enough eggs it's into the oven for you!
>>3721105cock
Bumping w sleepy ball birb. Night cam
>>3743954Thanks for the link fren. I'll look into it.
>>3743854I don't understand why random ass Easter Eggers are doing so well and yet my breed standard Ameraucanas aren't getting any love. Their eggs are a gorgeous deep sky blue. Maybe people just don't understand what they are.>>3744263I have a retirement pen for my old birds.I know it's not cost effective but they did their duty well and it just doesn't seem right to ace them. Some eventually stop laying but I still have birds that are in the 5-8 year range that manage to squeeze out enough eggs to pay for their feed.
>>3744339I put it down to people being stupid. As in Easter, so I have to buy Eastereggers. Or ducks on a Chinese New year. Or turkey on xmass and so on. It's seasonal I guess. Cudos on retirement plan for your birds. My oldest is 12 and haven't had eggs for years but I just can't bring myself to do it. She's too sweet.
Umm.. Guys... Is are you seeing a rake in the upper right corner of every post too? What's the meaning?
Monitoring this thread.
>>3744597Well, good buddy, I'm sorey to say it means the day of the rake has come and you and your leaf pals are all gonna get what's coming to youse while us genuine certified non-leafs have a good laugh at your expense.
>>3743954Fascinating, thanks brainanon.Caecal droppings are awful shit, though - nothing worse than tracking some through the carpet or getting it on the brake pedal.>>3744339>>3744586Years ago, I was given 11 ancient hens, the remainder of a flock kept on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital, before it closed down. All Shavers, in decent condition, but they didn't lay much, if at all. Miss Pecky Sharp hadn't laid since I got her, and about two years later I took in an unwanted mutt bantam rooster. Well, this guy just took to Miss Pecky, doted on her, cuddled up on the branch with her, jumped on her etc. From memory she was a low-ranking hen and possibly all he could get, but he was devoted to her, so much so that she started laying again after years of retirement.
I just checked and holy fuck, the price of 2x4's at my home depot has literally doubled since this same time last year. And that was during the initial lockdown when everyone was working on their home. Looks like i'm not building a coop anytime soon.... at least it'll give me more time to look at plans.
>>3744339Forgot in last reply. Maybe you should try mixing up the eggs. You know, like blue, olive, brown and white and put up a picture with a sign like: MY CHICKENS Eggs or something if it's allowed.Just a suggestion.
>>3744602Leaf? As in Canada? I'm not Canadian. So no rake. No, really what's that. I hoped it meant we got sticky forever comfy thread.
>>3744621You might wanna get checkin' yer calendar today, eh, buddy?
>>3744607That's a lovely story. I love it. Happilly ever after. Miss Pecky and mutt Rooster sounds like something from Lady and a tramp.
>>3744626Awww man! Now I just feel stupid.
>>3744608If you're not in urban area and have access to your own wood... Might as well try to build it yourself. Prices for lumber are super crazy and I see no end to it. Like ammo. Maybe you can get it from builders, you know the excess wood from projects or something.
>>3744645Yeah I wish man lol. I am in suburbs and don't have access to anything like that. I looked at the plywood too and it was just as bad :( Just gonna have to wait.
>>3744652Have you checked those ready made coops on the Internet? If you're in suburban area you shouldn't have to deal with coyote of fox problems. Try looking up some.
Okay, so it's nearly Easter. What the hell can people do with 50, or even 90 eggs for Easter?? I mean, I'm not complaining about the money, just puzzled about the consumption of such a huge amount of eggs.
>>3744657Lol nah I wish. We have coyotes, raccoons, bobcats occasionally, hawks, possums. I've seen the premade coops and they seem way too small honestly. http://www.simplesuburbanliving.com/2016/03/how-to-build-simple-suburban-chicken.html?m=1 This is what I plan on building for now
>>3744676Well, just trying to help fren. It's a nice project. At least $1500 nice. How about starting with smaller an build it up?
>>3744683Oh no you're good! Sorry if my "lol" made it sound like I was being an ass or something. And hmmm maybe yeah! I was only planning on getting like 4 chickens anyway.
>>3744664Holesterol addiction incoming. Meh, it's just a tradition and a nice one at that. You're suppose to share those 50 eggs with your community not eat them yourself. At least that's how we do it.
>>3744688No problem fren. 4 birds are pretty easy. Don't go building Ritz hotel. I'm a farmer and we tend to be on the pinchy side of spending. Go small. You'll do fine.
>>3744688Also forgot to mention, how about reclaimed Wood? There's always plenty of that around. Shit gets demolished all the time. Just find some and ask if you can take it.
Easter eggs, natural colour died with onion peels and parsley leaves and other herbs.
>>3744688I've got one of these coops: https://www.omlet.us/shop/chicken_keeping/modern_chicken_coop_eglu_go/. I'm not a fan of plastic things usually, but it's been great in all weather and the hens seem content in it.
>>3744721Quite magical and a charming tablecloth. Please put me out of my misery and tell me the name of the herb leaf from bottom right, I just can't remember it.
>>3744717Oh yeah that's a good idea! I've been looking on craigslist and offerup recently, so that fits well. Thank you fren>>3744726Thanks for the link! I will check it out.
>>3744740You mean this one right? That's our wild mayoran. I don't know what's it in English.
>>3744740Oh, the tablecloth is from my granny. Easter, It was her favourite hollyday. We just kept it after she passed for memory.
>>3744749Glad to help. Have some birbs.
>>3744753Yes, that's the one, but I wouldn't call it marjoram. I can't for the life of me think of its name. Maddening.
>>3744774I'll ask my douther when she's back from school. She's our herb expert. Will reply to you. Lovely pic.
>>3744721Very nice and traditional
>>3744774Potentillia raptens is Latin name. Just got her msm.
Moar chickens
>>3744815Potentilla, yes of course - I kept thinking Pulsatilla, and knew that wasn't right. There used to be a patch of it on my driveway. Many thanks to your clever daughter.
>>3744835Np, glad to help.
>>3744835O, forgot to add that they are edible. Especially the flowers. They originate from North Africa but a slightly different version is common throughout Northern hemisphere. Good for salad. Not really chicken related, but pic is. I love birds
>>3744835Also a gift, silver bantam sebring. She just had her first little egg.
>>3744616I had a nice khaki egg layer that I tried that with.Someone ripped the tape to take the egg and she only sold for $10.Shady shit.Last auction some folks had some FBC Marans and each pen had half a dozen eggs in a carton taped to it.So I'm looking at securing the egg to the inside of the wire so its visible but not accesable.I can tape one of their eggs on when they start laying but I'm trying to think of how to put an egg onto a pen with birds that aren't laying yet and still seem honest, like "eggs from siblings" or something. Same thing when I sell olive egger hatching eggs- the eggs are blue but maybe tape a piece of olive shell into the carton with a note explaining the cross and what the hatchlings will eventually lay.
For those who are trying to build with current lumber prices (myself included) I've been looking at other options.Friend gets free boards from work that are used in packing the copper rolls for his press. They vary a little but are generally 1"x5"x48".I'd have to design everything around their size, but they're free.Another buddy just made a coop from an old trampoline. (I've seen pics of those before).I also have a friend that is redoing their pool deck and the old one is made from those composite boards (recycled plastic). They warp in the heat if not supported well but might work as slats instead of plywood to build a roost box.And there's always pallets.
>>3744929Might work. Also might bring a family member to watch over your stuff while you scope around. Auctions like you said can be pretty shady or downright brutal. I always advertise, but it's really 50/50. I guess it's just down to season and luck on the day.
>>3744936I just hate dealing with people for private sales. The auction makes things very easy. But if prices continue to suck I'll have no other choice.I'm just finishing up this week's incubation.Mostly Ameraucanas but there's some F1 olive eggers, some BLR wyandottes and I hatched out 4 F2 olive eggers since one of my original F1 hens is laying right now.F1's are guaranteed to lay olive eggs but the F2's are random and can be one of a dozen different colored eggs depending on how the F1 genome split when it made the embryo. Those are the most exciting when they start laying.Storm came through last night and I lost power. Ran to a friend's place to get a generator (I know, I've been meaning to get one) so incubators were down for about an hour and a half. I had them on battery backup for a computer but I think that only bought me about a half hour before it died. So its going to be a crap shoot for the next 3 hatches to see who all survived.
>>3742689I saw a guy who had a decent sized flock with 2 roosters.They stayed in an old barn and free ranged together. The roosters split off the hens, like one had a dozen and the other had about 10 and they seemed to stay in their groups without issue. But its all luck of the draw from what I've seen.When I get a new rooster I'll usually get a few as chicks and raise them up and choose the best rooster based on breed standard and temperament. When they start as chicks together they seem to get along a lot better. I wouldn't personally introduce mature roosters to each other. Even my sweet Salmon Faverolles rooster that I can pick up will go over to a pen when he's out and try to fight other roosters through the wire.
Anyone here from socal or similar area? Curious what breeds are good for the heat.
>>3743626same. i'm not into chickens but i like watching these threads. here's a webm that doesn't belong to me
>>3742273The vet revived her somewhat but she's still a cripple. When she tries to stand her head just flops around upside down. She manages to get it semi-upright to preen or eat sometimes by back-peddling into a corner and kind of flipping it back, but I don't know how she's going to learn to use her neck again. It's so floppy and useless, and living the way she is now isn't much of a life.At least she clucks happily away when you give her attention. We've spent far more than is justifiable on her though
Cooking with Miss Peeps.
>>3744926What a pretty hen she is. What kind of information do you keep on her leg tag?
>>3746582Not that anon but $20 says its a silver seabright.
>>3746582Again, not that anon.I have a dozen breeding groups.Crested cream legbars x French Black copper marans.Amearaucana x barred Marans.Plus another 4 purebreds.There's 100 birds in my flock.They all have names.I know what each bird lays.
>>3738438Pic related looks like wry neck
>>3746582Bantam sebring. Date of birth and veterinary number.Miss Peeps is duch bantam. Pic related. Sharing a salad.
Easter preparations.
>>3745889>PoperHah, knew it was someone from our part of the wood. >>3744828 are yours, right? Prelux?
>gf bought another polish dwarf henTHIS NEEDS TO STOP
>>3744721These are amazing!
>>3747016Yes. Slovenia ftw!
Sad but true.
Putting pics on eggs.
>>3747625Cute
>>3747076Nice. Very /k/ leggings. Birb is nice also.
>>3748024ThanksShe's pretty chill
>>3748209Bird or gf? How many of these do you have? I mean polish dwarf silkies of course.
>>3748283Both (but mostly the hen)Only have one right now, she's more of a padovana woman usually
>>3748316Lol. You should still count yourself a lucky man. I wish to you many kids and birbs.
>>3748320Thanks mate (forgot pic)
Hey! Is there any way to clean my chickens nostrils? They have all kinds of dust clogging them. They had a bit of cold and combined with sandbaths... You know.
>>3748614I use a piece of dry grass stem bent in half to make a flexible and gentle scraper.
>>3721105I'm gonna have to kill my rooster
>>3748676Thank you. My first thought were those ear cleaning cotton sticks, but I'll give grass a try. The weather is just so unpredictable this year.
>>3723496how do they stop someone from just rolling up and selling eating eggs as hatching eggs?
>another egg bound chickenGoddamnit, I hope the epson salt bath works
>>3746820A hundred chickens, all with names? The most I've managed is 30-odd named chooks. What sort of things do you call them? My colleague has offered me his surviving hen Ponky, the other two who were killed by a dog were named Inky and Pinky.
>>3745673>>3738438>>3748842Good luck and best wishes for your unwell hens, anons. https://youtu.be/jQ7JVfnhDME
My hen's keep shitting on my eggs. Any advice?
>>3748323>tfw your chicks have matching 'dos
>>3748859I try to get a "series" of names, sometimes one name just flows into another.I had a couple Crested Cream Legbars and one got named Einstein. Another became Eisenhower. That flowed into a pack of Golden Comets I got at the same time and one became Kennedy. But the other comets became Kurtsy Loader, Martha Quinn and Downtown Julie Brown (Kennedy and the rest were 4 MTV VJ's back in the 90's).I named one Zelda because she has little triangle shaped marks on the ends of her neck feathers so I went into a princess theme. Her sister is buttercup (princess bride). Another group is Lady Fontaine (Cinderella's evil step mother) and her step sisters Drizilla and Anastasia, with Jacque and Gustav rounding out that group (the mice turned into pumpkin drivers).Sometimes the names make sense- I have a heavy body Faverolles rooster with a flowing yellow mane named Fabio. One Blue hen I just kept saying "wow, she's pretty" so ya, her name is Pretty now.Other times a name just pops into my head, like my rooster Scooter.I have a Wellsummer and that made me think of Summer Glau, and I loved her character in Firefly/Serenity so she's named River.I could go on but you get the idea.It makes genealogy a lot easier for breeding when I can recognize a bird and not just try to look at a number on a legband.
>>3748760My local auction pretty much works on the honor system.Is it a pack of wyandotte eggs or brahma? Luckily the seller wrote it in sharpee on the carton...A pack of brown eggs from the supermarket will typically be from specific breeds of chickens. I only have one group of hens that lays eggs like that.There's so many colors that usually someone whos bidding on eggs is looking for something specific and correct eggs are easy to distinguish.
>>3749223Makes sense. We're heavily regulated tho. So veterinary number is required for Hatching eggs and certificate of health for eggs for consumption. You could in theory just sell them from your driveway but you're legally responsible for that.
Miss Peeps checking out her nesting boxes. Spring is here.
>>3749451Pic
At least 1h of petting a day.
>>3748676That's the best gif ever. It's like the other hen is saying THAT'S NOT HOW YOU LAY EGGS STUPID! HAVE A PECK SO YOU REMEMBER! cool stuff.
>>3726494How's your pigeon getting on?
>>3749789He was content in the pen for a couple days but then started flying around so I let him out and he flew off.Both times that he flew off he circled around and headed north west which is towards town.A couple days ago I was getting gas by the towns water tower and I swear I saw him with a couple other city pigeons.
>>3749423We actually have similar regulations on selling eating eggs but nothing on selling hatching eggs. Same with goat milk (not legal for human consumption but you can buy it for other reasons).I actually saw an ad on Craigslist the other day. Guy leaves his eggs at the end of the driveway. Said there's usually change there but best to bring exact change- he just trusts people to leave money for what they take.
>>3737987Excellent use of newspaper
>>3749918Hmmmm... I grew up on goat milk. Why is it considered unsafe? I mean it's pasturized right? Hatching eggs require vet I'd because of lineage tracing. At least that's the reasoning behind this.
>>3750215Pasteurization requires processing the milk at proper temperatures for a set amount of time in a sterile environment- you cant just do it on the stove and pass any type of certification and most hobby farms aren't going to spend the money on equipment. Its the raw milk that's illegal for human consumption.We do have NPIP certification for eggs/chicks but it's not a requirement. People who sell eggs online for $50 a dozen usually have that but if you're at the local auction and getting $6 a dozen you'll never break even on the certification.
So after the power outage and scrambling to get a generator things seem to be going well.On day 19 for one of the incubators and one chick is out and 3 more are pipped. I've had a couple early hatches this year and I'm guessing its humidity issues because the weather goes from stormy and muggy to dry and clear constantly.But atleast that incubator is doing something. I spot checked the other two incubators and saw movement in eggs so keeping my fingers crossed.Also got a new egg (well, this is egg #2 like this in the last week).Its olive with purple-ish spots. Not sure who its from because it's in the main pen. I have a batch of F1 olive eggers in there but they're only 3 months old so thats a little soon to lay. I have some older olive eggers in there but I don't recognize this egg so not sure whats going on yet. Hard to get a decent pic but here it is.
My new and only three chicken, I had six but a fox ate them last month when I left the door open. For now they are afraid, during the day they don't want to go out the henhouse and if I take them out myself they keep close to each other and nearly don't move.
hi chickengeneral. I come from /herp/ with an idea.I currently feed my boa constrictors an alternating diet of frozen/thawed rats and day old chickens. However they're already big enough that day old chickens aren't a big enough meal. I'm in an area where live chicks are easy to get.My idea is to raise chickens from hatchlings to a few weeks old (100-150g weight) and then slaughter and freeze them for snake food. 6 per snake per year is all they'd need. Next year do the same thing for longer, based on the proper meal size.Is this gonna be more trouble than it's worth? Would it be hard to just find a chicken farmer that'll sell them to me at the appropriate sizes?
>>3750520>Is this gonna be more trouble than it's worth? The answer wholly depends on you. If you have the space for a brooder setup and an easy way to dispose of shit, you should be fine. If you’re living in an apartment, it would probably be less hassle to buy them instead of raising them. >Would it be hard to just find a chicken farmer that'll sell them to me at the appropriate sizes?Probably not easily right away. Most people usually only raise up birds to sell for holiday seasons, they’d need to be able to plan your order many many months ahead of time even though they wouldn’t actually be raising them long.
>>3750548thanksGot a house with a yard and a compost pile for waste, so I'll look into the costs involved. While it's a good thing to vary diet, the alternative is just big rats for 3-5 bucks each and I've only got 4 boas, so if this is gonna cost much more than that it just doesn't make sense.But I'm crafty so might be something I could DIY with spare heating elements and etc.
>>3750574>4 boasMight be cheaper to just order frozen quail or chickens in the sizes you need from rodentpro or similar.
>>3750597I've looked into it, but I am not happy with the quality from rodentpro. I use Big Cheese and Perfect Prey, and their only bird option is day old chickens. If I'm not ordering everything at one place the shipping costs add up quick.It's kinda the whole reason I came up with this idea. RodentPro has good selection but too many instances of piss-smelling mice all tangled together with turds vac-sealed in with them.
>>3750574I bred boas (boa boa and rosy boas) kings, dragons and pacmans when I was younger.So you can imagine how many rats, mice and crickets i went through in a week.I did the "breed your own" and it was never worth it.I would pick up a box of 1,000 pinhead crickets, 50 pinkies, 30 fuzzies (weekly) just for shit I hadn't sold yet.Then I had to buy mice and rats for the breeders.I tried to expand out to chicks but the big girls either didn't want it or if you did pound for pound $ it just didn't make sense.Plus the smell.
>>3750820oh for sure, I'm more thinking of once a year have a couple dozen chicks for a few weeks, then gas and freeze them. Not breed them or even keep them long term, just buy a year's worth of chicks and raise them to eating size. I know what it's like to breed rodents and know I don't want to deal with that, but I figure I can deal with baby chickens for a few weeks a year.
>>3750277One on the left looks like a pimpled arse! Green egg is pretty, though and I'm impressed with your set-up.
>>3749913You'll be forever keeping half an eye out for him.
So one of my wyandottes has gone broody.I gave her a few ping pong balls a few days ago. I've gone through broody hens before and sometimes they'll sit for months to the point that they start losing belly feathers. She's in a "double" sized pen that i was going to use for an oversized flock but im getting short on space so split it down and she didn't flinch while I was in there building.So I took a few eggs out of the incubator from the batch that are hatching right now and replaced the ping pong balls with them.
>>3751302What a sumptuous hen she is.
Grow little birdies, grow. Hurry up and get your feathers so you can stop stinking up my house.
>>3727000you need a ground-level layer of chicken wire. Perfect for coons to grab your chickens as is.
>>3732726where is this magical wonderland of late night farm auctions?
>>3751869I'd like to know, too. It sounds like a great night out. Do they serve food?
>>3751869>>3751895I looked for auctions like hes been talking about locally. Couldnt find much. Best I have is county agricultural fairs. But thats a summer only thing and well covid.
>>3751869>>3751895>>3751950I don't do Facebook, but they don't have a normal website.facebook/rrgoatsale/(/an/ thinks the full url is spam)They have a short menu of like burgers, fries, corn dogs and drinks. Just enough so you don't have to leave when you've been there for 10 hours.
Finishing up this week's hatch (on the right).Left is last week's hatch.
>>3751863On it. Thx
Got my first couple of chickies today. I'm keeping them in the coop for a couple of days before I let them free range. Though they seem reluctant to go up into the roosting box and were presumably just going to sleep on the ground if I hadn't moved them both in and covered the entrance. Is this normal, and will it take long for them to head into the roosting box of their own accord? Is it okay if they don't really perch to begin with but sit in a corner instead?
>>3752903When I move chicks out of the tubs and into the pen they always have issues going in to roost.I spent 15 minutes tonight rounding up a couple pens worth that haven't figured it out yet.In the summer its not as much of a big deal but if they get in the habit of sleeping on the ground it becomes a nightmare to break that habit and get them to roost when its cold or raining.My big pen has a roost area in a covered area but new birds always seem to roost on a 2x4 wall under some jasmine and when it rains they get soaked. Usually takes 3-4 days of me moving them after sunset or herding them before it gets dark until they start roosting with the older birds where they're protected.But once they start roosting in the common area its rare that they roost elsewhere.
>>3753245Thanks, so you’re saying they usually do get the hang of it and you’ve just got to push them for a bit until they do? It’s so wet and cold here I don’t want my poor girls sitting on the ground.
>>3752453>6 hour drivestill pretty neat.
>>3753411Chickens are creatures of habit. Sometimes you have to force those habits.
>>3753486They're all over.Pretty sure you can find one closer.
>>3745547The wild ancestor of chickens lives in tropical south east Asia. They all deal fairly well with the heat as long as they have plenty of shade and water.Buy them in the socal area and you can expect that if a breeder can keep them alive, so can you.
Anyone in here raising ducks with their chickens? Got 16 muscovy ducklings arriving next week, and once they're ready they'll be joining our 18 chickens (and additional 16 chicks once they're ready). All free range.
So I put a rabbit hutch into one of the chicken pens and the chickens dug an escape route for the bunny.So apparently they have been conspiring because they are totally buddies...
>>3754434So cute!
How does a chicken act she she's old and ready to die? I have this hen who just lays down on the grass and refuses food and water. Her crest has gone droopy and it's like she's given up on life. She won't eat food or drink water. She's five years old.
>>3755315Depends on the breed but 5 is a decent age in most cases. It's possible she's gone deaf and/or blind.
Itt >some random chickens>that one anon with the beautiful chicken I'm fine with this
>>3754430Was just over at my neighbours' flock this morning, they have about 15 ducks. Say they kinda wish they hadn't gotten them to begin with, they are ridiculously messy and way more demanding in comparison.
>>3725559He gets all the chicks
>>3755689That hurts man.
>>3755874Eh, I always liked the laced feather pattern. Reminds me of scale armor
Absolutely blessed thread. All my chickens are at home with my folks though and I haven’t seen them in months :( By the way, is there like a technical term for that soft chortle sound they make that’s not quite a bawk?
So it was girls' first day out free ranging yesterday and they had a great time. Perfect sunny day interrupted only by a brief snowstorm. They both went back to the coop to lay and to sleep without prompting, they're real smart animals.I've been recommended to make them a dust bath made from dirt, sand and ash from the fire - has anyone done this and if so can you just dig a hole in the ground or will it get super messy?
>>3756548If it becomes the designated dusting spot they will tend to poop away from it.About the only place a birds tends to avoid now that I think about it, strange.
Another auction day. I almost didn't want to go after the dismal results last time.But I dropped off 4 dozen eggs and 22 birds. Theyll atleast pay for feed.
>>3756288Probably no real technical term. I just call the noises by the inflection they have or purpose they serve. Chickens make so many noises it's fun how you become acquainted with what they all mean.
>>3722816This is some disney villain shit.
>>3754434OMG, that's the cutest thing in this thread!
frens :)
>>3757903Unfortunately that hen (Muffy) passed away today.She went down hill rather quickly.She has always been extremely friendly, since she hatched. She wouldn't run away when I went into her pen and would even sit contently in my lap if I picked her up.I have been waiting for her to start laying but never got an egg from her. I believe she was egg bound.Buried her on the sunny side of my greenhouse because she always brightened my day.
>>3758115I cannot for the life of me work out what the fuck is going on in this photo
>>3758947Seduction.
>>3758781I'm so sorry to hear that. She was so lovely. Any other kind birds in the flock?
More cooking with Miss Peeps. Goulash edition.
>>3759326I have friendly birds, but nobody like her.She acted more like a puppy than a chicken.She was so friendly that I actually wanted to breed her with a happy rooster to see if I could get an extremely friendly line going.She had a pair of sisters that were pretty chill also (I took them to auction already) but I still have the parents. I put 18 eggs from that flock in the incubator a week ago. The hen that lays the egg she came from is very specific (large, round and has a slight purplish tint)- so we'll see if any other cool chickens hatch.
Oh ya.I have another early hatch going right now.Day 21 is Tuesday but they started hatching yesterday evening.I'm at 8 right now.Some Ameraucanas, some F1 olive eggers, an F2 olive egger and a Faverolles. They were less than halfway through incubation when I had that power outage. Had 4 incubators running at the time (one was in the middle of a hatch) and this is #3. #2 had a 95% hatch rate last week so between this one and the the other 2 I'm pretty happy. Was definitely worth the mad dash to go get a generator.
>>3759366I hope you get some cool birds too.We have shit weather rain/snow so everything slowed down. I'll just skip the next auction or just sell eggs.
anons I found one of my chickens dead today. It was right under where they all roost at night, and besides the fact it’s dead there appeared to be nothing wrong with it. I’d still like to hear what you guys think might have happened, because I have nine other chickens and while they appear healthy right now I want to know what to watch out for. I’m distraught over this chicken. It’s my first loss since I started raised them and I raised this one since it was a chick.
>>3759646Sorry for your loss, senpai.I don't know anything about chickens so I can't comment but one of the knowledgeable anons in here will probably be glad to offer some thoughts.Did you bury him?
>>3759670Yeah, and I saved some of it’s feathers to remember her (it’s a hen) by
>>3759646Could it just be old age? Without any signs of her having problems before her death it's difficult to say what the cause was.
>>3759749I had these chickens for about a year and I raised them since they were chicks. Looking online it seems that chickens live 5-10 years so I can’t say it’s old age. My main theory right now is that it ate something that the other chickens didn’t and whatever it was killed it
>>3759777Bird autpsies from your local agriculture extension office are usually pretty cheap if you have a burning desire to know.
>>3758781Oh no! RIP bunny-loving and day-brightening hen Muffy.
>>3759646She looks like a sweet hen. Sometimes chickens just die suddenly. In the past few years I've had a couple of hens die unexpectedly, one was running for food and keeled over, dead before I picked her up, one young one I found in a coma after laying her sixth ever egg, she died later that night after never regaining conciousness. Another was fine at breakfast and rigor mortis on the patio by lunch, no signs of disease or distress. In many ways a blessing as they went quickly, but still a shock.
>>3759777She could be egg bound, stroke (various reasons, but some breeds are prone to it),Poison is a low possibility since other hens are fine also age and condition...One anon suggested autopsy and I say why not if you can spare $25.
Miss Peeps play time again.Toys status : wrecked
>>3760369Have you ever tried building Miss Peeps a dust bath, or does she go outside for that?
>>3761104Ah, she has her own dust box. Look, she's the most spoiled barby doll ( insert random celebrity) hen in the world. She's just spoiled rotten and her beak knows no bounds. She can't live with her kin anymore.....ok?eh?
>>3761104She's more bound to me than to her kin is what I'm saying.
>>3761104Miss Peeps real estate portfolio :- 4 nesting boxes- every sqere inch of the house- will extort for food mafia style- will poop and pretend it was some other birb- whatever she wants. At this point she's more like a really small dog then a chicken. We just love her.
>>3761104Smug bird for you.
>>3761104Our chickens and llama fucking love it when we have debris burns in the pasture. They roll in the ash, and the chickens spend weeks scratching the ash.
New thread >>3761228
Thinking about actually getting some chooks! I have a few questions though if someone doesn't mind answering. (this goes for both chickens full-grown and chicks as id like to raise them.what are some appropriate restraint and safe handling techniques? Im a bit nervous about chickens, because of the wing flap and stuff... so wondering how I could hold them safely (chicks included)How should I prepare and provide food? What food is best for them? (food type, how is it prepared and where does it go when it is given.) assisting with health care needs (how do I pick up on distressted behaviour that may signify this?) , as well as what signifies illness? what care will be able to rectify this?How would I groom them? Do they require grooming at all?What kind of housing should I get for them?sorry I understand that its pretty loaded but an answer would be greatly appreciated!
>>3761663>Smug bird for you.You might want to start with a book on raising chickens. Here's a list: https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/chicken-books/
>>3761721Disregard the quote. Not sure how that happened.
>>3761663I'm no expert but here's the best answers I can give.I've seen people picking up adult chooks by just grabbing by the legs and hanging them upside down but besides being efficient is probably not best practice. I normally opted for holding them by the body with my hands over their wings they'll perch on your arm or sit in your lap if you let them.You should be able to buy premade feed from an animal feed store or possibly a pet or hardware store. This may be very easy or difficult depending on where you live. There's different feeds for different age ranges (laying hens need lots of extra calcium for example). They'll eat most kitchen scraps besides citrus and potato peels and will do some of their own foraging depending on how much free range they get.Illness can be hard to detect. You'll normally notice a behaviour change of some sort and a colour change in the comb/wattle is a decent indicator too. The normal "broody" nesting state could come off as sick too. On /chg/ I've seen fermented feed (put seed and water in covered container and leave for a few days) and aloe vera leaf in the water as suggested remedies.Adult chickens take dust baths to get rid of parasites. Give them somewhere to do that and they'll groom themselves. Just make sure that the environment is reasonably clean for the chicks.Google "chicken coop" and you'll find plenty of options. As long as they have an outdoor they can hang out in, an indoor they can sleep in and somewhere more secluded that they can lay eggs in they'll be happy. For chicks you'll need a completely different setup that's more controlled and includes a heat lamp. A big box indoors with some newspaper or sawdust in the bottom should do.
