Recent content by Kat MacK

Someone may have already mentioned Backyard Orchard Culture as a way of keeping the fruit trees at a more desirable size. If not, check out the Dave Wilson Nursery website for articles and videos how to. We've been doing it for seven years. Our chickens free range under our orchard trees ( we...

We stopped allowing our big girls into the garden/orchard when they started scratching up tree roots from the fruit trees several years ago. Now we raise mostly bantams, most of those serama, although we have an OEGB that is the top hen. We fence our lower raised beds to keep the girls out and...

I'm guessing that the last two chick photos will grow up splash and blue, respectively, but would LOVE for someone who's raised Seramas to let me know if I'm mistaken.

Blue, with some red leakage. Photo in my second post above.

PS: mom and dad

We're hatching our first Serama hatches this spring, and I have a question for those of you with experience raising chicks: what do early coloration patterns suggest about adult coloring? We're seeing four typical patterns in our chicks:

I use a mindfulness app called Headspace; it's made a dramatic difference with my lifelong insomnia issues...and it's just made available for free a whole section of activities and meditations for dealing with the COVID-19 situation. Try it! It may help you keep a more even keel for the next few...

Thinking about doing a hatch for in-home entertainment purposes during the next few weeks. We have two asthmatics and a quadriplegic in our house (thankfully two of those people are under 18, so more resilient), so we're limiting our contact with the outside world. Three weeks of candling and...

Mom and dad

I just hatched 5 serama/OEGB crosses,my first ones. OEGB hen is hatchery stock, a combo of browns, while the Serama roo is show stock, mostly blue with some rust leakage on the shoulders. The chicks were born with the chipmunk pattern but are growing in wing feathers that show barring. Any idea...

My rule of thumb is, if the animal isn't in pain/suffering, I wait and see. Chickens in particular are amazingly resilient. The little critter might heal on her own. If someone trustworthy with experience recommends a splint or some such, I'd try it. I'm thinking a vet wrap adjusted just so...

If the vaccines conferred immunity (like most human vaccines do in most instances), I'd be a lot more likely to use them. I don't see the point in vaccinating for Marek's, for example, when what the vaccine does is partially repress symptoms so the bird lives longer but sheds the virus to other...

What region are you in? I've heard that dry hatching success rates vary a lot depending what the local air humidity is.

I think it also depends on the breed. I'm finding my ODs seem to always have a hard time getting through their membranes even though other breeds in the same hatch make it out fine. The membranes feel tougher to me when we've done assisted hatching with the ODs.