Recent content by Ridgerunner

I've had a couple of pullets start to lay as early as 16 weeks of age. Tiny pullet eggs. Most of mine tend to start between 20 and 27 weeks of age. But you might enjoy this story. I'm on the opposite side of the equator from you so the months are off by 6. I had 3 pullets from a breeder...

Great catch on the vaccination question. :thumbsup I don't vaccinate mine so mine go straight into the coop from the incubator or post office. If your chicks are vaccinated for Coccidiosis you have the same quarantine issue. It takes time for the vaccine to work.

I agree with everyone else, your chicks are fine. You handled it well, letting them drink. As you said, they were not that thirsty.

Your guess is as good as mine. Sometimes two or more hens work together very well to hatch and raise chicks. Several posts on this forum to show that, often with photos. Sometime one broody kills the chicks under the other broody. Sometimes they fight over the eggs or babies. I had two...

I put all of them on the same low calcium feed and offer oyster shell on the side. The ones that need it for their eggshells should eat enough. The others might eat some but not enough to harm themselves. Growing chicks, roosters, and non-laying hens still need some calcium but not as much...

Tell me about your crate. How big is it. How much room do you have for a nest, food, water, and any room left over? Is it one of those plastic ones with pretty solid walls or is it more of a wire cage? If it is the wire cage type do you need to put a smaller mesh wire around it to keep baby...

I agree they can go broody any time of the year. There are enough threads on here to prove that. A more normal cycle is for them to lay eggs and raise chicks in the good weather months, stop laying and molt in the fall to replace worn out feathers, then start the cycle again in warm weather...

They do not need that heat lamp, day or night. I'd turn it off or unplug it now and take it down as soon as reasonable. We call that a pop door. I'd open it and walk away, they are ready. I've had all chicks leave the coop and be on the run ground within 15 minutes when I first opened the...

What does outside look like? How big (in feet or meters) is your coop? Your run? Photos showing the inside of your coop could be very helpful. A photo showing the run might be helpful. When I integrate the chicks form a sub-flock. If they go near the adults they will likely get pecked. It...

Broody hens will move Layer feed down where the chicks can get it. By the time they are two weeks old my chicks are flying up to the feeders the hens use. I feed all my chickens a non-layer feed that is low calcium and offer oyster shell on the side. All the chickens eat some oyster shell but...

A "puffed up" chick is one standing around by itself, lethargic (not moving), not eating or drinking, with its feathers all spread out. All feathers, not a few. They look miserable.

Mike Rowe caught feral chickens in Miamai Florida on one episode of Dirty Jobs. In the narrative they said they could not eliminate feral those chickens but had a group of people that tried to catch them, I think mostly for fun but also to try to keep the numbers down. I'll include a link to...

I made a creep feeder. Think something to keep the feed dry with an opening the chicks can get through but not the adults. My broody hens cannot get in it to eat but they bring the chicks to it a couple of times a day. That might be because it is near where they sleep.

So your question is how to train them to sleep somewhere else. Every night when they settle down to sleep move them to where you want them to sleep and shut the door so they cannot sleep on that edge. Be consistent every night and they will get the message. Sometimes mine catch on after one...

My thoughts are that you can read not to feed them any specific thing, including many of the favorite things many of us give them as treats. No matter what you feed them or how you manage them somebody can find something wrong with it. That's especially true of anything you feed them. Corn...