Recent content by randylyons

It's just now starting to warm up, so the chickens and I have just been in survival mode these last few months. What have we been up to? Well, we have 20 hens, 2 roosters, and 10 new chicks (3 from incubator and 7 from momma hens). We also just recently branched out and purchased 100 "meat...

I keep reading threads about aggressive roosters, and I just thought I'd share my experience with them. We've had chickens for about 15 years now, and I have had somewhere around five or six different roosters. They all were protective of the hens, so I never had any complaints with their job...

Oh my... I don't cry. I just don't, however this story choked me up. I love my chickens, and although I only have 23, over half of them were raised from eggs. I'm very protective of them, so I could relate to this story. Hugs... ❤️

Excellent and informative! It's always amazing to me to find that I've been doing the same thing as most people - simply wait until they start crowing or laying eggs to determine sex.

Normally, when purchasing chicks from Tractor Supply, I isolate them away from the flock until they are big enough to defend themselves, however, THIS scenario is new to me. A friend bought an incubator and wanted some fertilized eggs to learn with. I gave her a dozen and to my surprise, she had...

We had the exact same problem. We culled him and replaced him with a Brahma. The new rooster is huge (more feed), but he is a gentleman and very docile to us. The girls have accepted him as their guardian and he is very good at it.

Question: We have 10 hens and only 3 of them are laying. I suspect the person who sold them to me knew they were approaching their "end of egg laying" stage, but told me they were young and just now entering their egg laying stage. How can I tell which three are still laying? I want to either...

UPDATE: They are all co-existing with little to no problems. One of the older hens seems to get a little irritated when the chicks are around her feet and she will "nip" at them, but never makes contact.

We suspect she was never "gone". We have two of her breed, and we think she was coming back during the day to eat and drink, but then sneaking back out to sit on nest at night, thus missing the nightly "roll call" (head count). Since we have two of them, it would've been easy to see her during...

They seem happy. I realize now that in the past, we isolated the chicks because they had no one to protect them. We bought them from Tractor Supply and kept them isolated until they were big enough to defend themselves. Now, the key is "momma". Hopefully, she'll take care of them and isolation...

We are located in Chickamauga, GA, and the only snakes we have seen in our area are Garden snakes. Also, I have a German Shepherd who hates snakes. :)

I think you're totally correct. I believe she has been hanging with the flock off and on during the day every day, and I wouldn't know it. I don't do a head count until evening when I lock up the coop. Also, she and the chicks are now safe in the coop. I won't guarantee it to be "predator safe"...

WONDERFUL!!!! I love these pics!

OK, I'm as nervous as a new father, but I took y'alls advice and am integrating them with the other girls. We took the whole box with mama and chicks and put it in the coop. I monitored them for awhile and observed the other girls calmly walking in and out of the coop and "visiting" the...

WOW!!! Integrating them with the flock? I'm willing to try it, but I'll admit I'm a bit nervous. When she "returned" I saw her out in the chicken yard walking toward the coop with her chicks looking like ducklings behind her. She didn't make it to the coop before we scooped them all up, so I...