Recent content by castillofa

I have a RIR roo over two Americaunas going right now. We are expecting our first set of eggs to hatch on Saturday. I am new to backyard chickens and was curious to see what would pop out. I'll post pics of the chicks when they hatch. It is fun to mix and match. :-)

Our first attempt at hatching resulted in two chicks. One was too deformed to survive and had to be culled. The other is just fine. They were the only two of the thirty six we started with. Purchased a set each from a hatchery online and from ebay. The eggs that did not hatch seemed to be full...

Same here. Fall down and all that'll be left is clothes and hair. Chickens can finish off just about anything, quick like. ;-)

Since chickens are omnivores, I have not been surprised by the endless array of "foods" they take to eating. I have seen a frog, all sorts of bugs, basically, if it moves, it gets eaten. I make sure that I go through the run with a magnet to make sure that no metal objects are out there. My...

If you think that is fun, our guineas seem to lay on the run. I mean while moving, since we find eggs in different places all the time. Some are under a bush, in the middle of the run out in the in the open, and othe times in the hen house flour, but never in a box.

... when the noise the chickens make is dull compared to the children. ... successfully explaining to toddler which came first, the chicken or the egg. ... you find yourself telling the chickens how your day went and actually believe they understand you. ... buying a chicken related gift...

I am still new to raising chic, but I do have a question. Is there really a downside to having a mixed flock? If they are all dual purpose with similar dispositions, I could only see having additional color variations. Any info and or comments would be helpful. :/

I agree, don't give up. Last year was our first year a trying to raise poultry and the puppies we had at the time devasted our flock. Since then, we have firmed up our lower fencing with 4x4 livestock fencing with a combination of orange snow fencing (had it in the shed, so we decided to recylce...

Hello, I am a new member who will be raising both guineas and chickens. I hope that they get along. lol. I expect to be thrilled with the prospect of bug control and egg production from both species. Here are some pics of our new crew.

This is my second year attempting to raise chickens from chicks. My mistake last year was not having a secure perimeter fence that prevented unwanted guests, i.e. our goats and dogs, from getting into the chicken area. I waited until they were able to jump (fly) out of the deep basin I using as...

We really appreciate the positive folks that y'all are. It is nice to know that others out there are interested in providing a healthy and happy way to feed our families, while teaching our children the importance of raising and respecting the food that we consume.

Hello to all, My family is new to homesteading. This is our second attempt to raise poultry. We have learned quite a bit from our mistakes last year, like better fencing, higher fencing, adequate security, y'all get the point. We have ordered a mix of guineas, broilers, and heritage breeds...