Recent content by NatJ

I'm glad it worked so well :)

If you can, I would provide a MUCH bigger brooder before you go. But if you can't do that, just fill the food and water and hope for the best, then check as soon as you get home. Whenever you can manage it, giving them a bigger space will help them get used to cooler temperatures, so they can...

That looks like an Easter Egger to me. Pea comb, muff/beard, and dark feet are all common in Easter Eggers, but not in most other breeds. (Purebred Ameraucanas would have those traits too, but they tend to be expensive and not very common, so much less likely to be put in your box as extras.)

If you want them to have grass, can you let them out briefly each day, under supervision, so they can eat some grass then? (That works if your presence is enough to keep the neighbor's dog away.) You could grow grass outside their run and bring it to them: either dig up chunks of sod, or cut...

When do you think Easter Eggers first started being a thing? As far as I can tell, for quite a while, the chickens being sold that came from Ameraucana lineage were being CALLED "Ameraucanas," not Easter Eggers. Example from McMurray Hatchery: "We have been breeding Ameraucanas since the...

Oh, good. I just wanted to be sure :) If you get an overwhelming urge to make chicken clothes, maybe crochet some chickens and then crochet sweaters for them. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/crocheters-thread.1605777/page-18#post-27566021 I'm not sure there. I've never tried it, and...

As a joke, yes. As a practical matter, probably not. Chicken feathers work best if they can ruffle up or lay down whenever the chicken wants them too. A sweater or a vest gets in the way of that. Clothing over feathers or fur does not work as well as clothing over bare skin like people have.

I agree about giving them more time. I agree that they should be fine staying in or fine coming out. The particular reasons I suggested taking them out: With that many hatched, and no pips, the hatch might be over-- in which case the chicks might as well come out now as later. If the other...

A Buff Brahma would have feathered feet and a pea comb. I can't see the feet in the first photo of this thread, and it's hard to tell combs on tiny chicks (I'm fairly sure it is either single or pea, but which one can make a big difference when determining breed.) I think I see extra-puffy...

I agree, too much salt is bad. This is just plain wrong. Some salt IS found in what chickens normally eat. Go read the label on any bag of chicken food. Or read articles about the bad things that happen when chickens do not get enough salt. Here is an example from the University of Maine...

My preferred method: raise the males long enough to be sure which ones they are, then make plans for butchering day. You can eat them at any age or size. Younger ones are smaller and more tender, older ones are bigger and more likely to be tough (so cook old ones into something like soup.)

I would take out the chicks at this point. Yes, you can take out the empty shells too, or you can leave them in-- it shouldn't be a big deal either way.

Not quite how I would put it. I would say that "Easter Eggers" are any chickens that lay blue or green eggs but do not belong to a recognized pure breed. It doesn't matter whether they are descended from Araucanas, or Ameraucanas, or Cream Legbars, or directly from the original blue-layers...

I would give them fresh water right before you leave, check them as soon as you get home, and hope for the best. Unless their brooder is way too hot, they should not actually die in the time you are gone, even if they dump their water in the first hour. If they do not dump their water, they...

Wrong. A black Sumatra does not have the blue gene. If it has the blue gene, it will be a Blue Sumatra. When you breed two blue Sumatras and get 25% black chicks, those black ones have NO blue genes. They cannot give blue to their chicks. Very good point. But since no-one actually responded at...