@Stravager and @NatJ thanks for your input! I only have 10-12 birds of each breed, and I found a few more with slipped wing, so having to cull all of these is going to put a pretty good dent in things. The White Rangers have another month to go, so I'm keeping an eye on them right now...
I'm so jealous! I wanted some Aloha eggs, but couldn't find someone who would ship. Can't wait to see your cute balls of fluff! Wishing you all the luck!
It's looking like that's the case? I'm confused because I raised 21 CX to processing on basically the same food access schedule in a very similar setup, except I kept them on meatbird feed throughout, and had less trouble with them. Both of these breeds are supposed to be hardier and less...
Update on my Freedom Ranger New Hampshires and White Rangers (3m broilers). They are now ~8 weeks old. At 6 weeks I had to process one of the NH for a varus/valgus deformity. It was barely 1-2 lbs fully dressed...
Has anyone had Angel Wing show up in their meat birds? Any idea what causes this in chickens or what to do about it? Should I remove these birds from my breeding population? I have 2 month old Freedom Ranger New Hampshires (dual purpose but optimized for meat) and White Rangers (CX derived...
Something weird happened in the shell gland while the chicken was laying the egg. Usually I get odd shaped eggs similar to this when my girls are under stress, they had something scary happen while the egg was in the shell-application portion of their egg making system. Older hens can also be...
I'm gonna agree with @aart on this one. It really depends on how old/big the cockerels are, whether they've peacefully lived together before going in the cages, and how willing they are to fight. And remember, it could change in a moment. I like to have a spare isolation cage or two available...
Yup, your babies will be olive eggers. How olive depends entirely on how dark the chocolate coloring genes are that dad passes on. That baby is looking roosterish to me due to comb development and pinkness, but it's a guess at this point. It's too early to tell, and I could totally be wrong...
Have at it! Better solve it soon, or other chickens will pick up the bad behavior- it can be very hard to break. Sometimes you can try all the things and nothing works, depends on the chicken. Good luck!
Sounds like you have an egg eater, and your presence reminds her that there are eggs to eat. Several options: Use rolling nest boxes so the eggs roll away from the hen where the chickens can't reach them just as soon as they're laid. Put fake ceramic eggs in the nest boxes and collect the...