Search results for query: *

I'm reading "The broken spears" an account of the conquest of mexico from the Indian perspective. There are two passages in the book where they talk about the Indians giving the Spaniards eggs and live hens. Just wondering what kind of birds were kept by the Aztecs back in 1519?

What did people feed chickens before you could by feed in a bag? Just thinking I've been spending a fortune on feed. I don't think Grandma did it this way.

How old do dual purpose roosters have to be before they lose their pin feathers? We buy straight run chicks and process the extra roosters ASAP. At 12 weeks old they still have pin feathers. How long do we need to wait to process until we get a clean bird?

I'm on my forth batch of dual purpose birds. I want the next batch to be Red Broilers. I'm wondering how long do I need to keep these birds in the brooder before I let them join the older birds? I've heard two months old is a sweet spot for most birds, but that might be too long for a meat bird...

I got the call from the post office. My order of chicks had arrived. The next day the feed store got their order of chicks. I bought 6 different breeds from the feed store to mix it up with my on line order (that came with live packing peanuts). They had baby turkeys (poults?) at the feed store...

I received my cockerel chicks in the mail on Christmas eve. My older pullets are laying an egg almost every day. When should I expect fertile eggs? How will I know when to buy and use an incubator? I bought an egg candler, when do you use them? Do fertile eggs turn off egg consumers? Do they...

So I read an article here on Historic Breeds for meat. The article talked about the different ages traditionally classified as up to 12 weeks for broilers, 20 weeks for fryers, 5 to 9 months for roasters, and over a year for fowl. I've been wanting to reduce the flock size, so I thought we...

I'm wondering about how to manage the flock so that I can have a regular supply of product: I'd like to get about 4-6 eggs per day, even in the winter. I'd like to process 1 chicken per week maybe two. My coop is 8X12 with a 4X8 partition for chicks and 6 pop-out nest boxes. The county says I...

I got 11 extra birds with my small order of straight run Barred Rocks from Ideal. I like Ideal. Any help identifying these birds would be appreciated.

Our new Chiweenie puppy was doing fine with the new pullets in our back yard. However one night we could see through the window that he was chasing them around the coop. I corrected the behavior, but noticed it happening more often. One night I went out to check on the coop and noticed one...

I placed a small order with Ideal Poultry for a Christmas eve delivery. I picked them up from the Post Office today. I'm happy with the order, but there is this one thing that puzzles me. "If your order consists of a very small number of items (less than the equivalent of a quarter of a box)...

Finally got the skin on the coop. The 18 chicks are out of the garage and in the coop! Just need to trim it, paint it, screen the eves, put a roof on it, etc...

8 RIR are 7 weeks old and 10 Bard Rocks are 6 weeks old. I'll have the skin on the coop by Sunday. I want to move them in ASAP. I removed there 250 Watt heat lamp from the brooder this morning to start getting them acclimated. Morning temps tend to stay above 20 degrees Fahrenheit. These are my...

I have a few basic coop layout questions that I need to resolve before I start framing the coop tomorrow morning. 1.) Can the pop door be near the nest boxes? or under the roosts? 2.) I was considering large vents with doors on hinges. Should the vents be up high, in the middle, or down low...

I'm building a coop and wondering if one of the automatic doors would stand up to a raccoon?

I ordered the chicks before I built the coop. The oldest (8 Rhode Island Reds) were born on Oct 1. The youngest (10 Barred Rocks) were born on Oct 8. I need to finish this coop soon. I have to be at a wedding for a few days. Wondering if I can leave them with food and water for 2 or three days...

I have eight 10 day old Rhode Island Reds and ten 3 day old Barred Rocks. My brooder is 2 feet by 4 feet. I've got them separated with 1/2 inch hardware cloth dividing the brooder into two compartments. Is this necessary for chicks? When can I pull out the divider? The 3 day old Barred Rocks are...

8 Rhode Island Red chicks are 1 week old and I've received 10 new baby Bard Rocks today. I've started clearing an area for a new coop. I'm planning on having a deep litter coop on a dirt floor. I'm in a high desert location in the Eastern Sierras. I'm debating whether to go to the trouble of...

I'm almost finished with fencing the yard. I have 17 chicks due by mail October 3. Checked with animal control who told me I could have 22. Now I need to build a coop and a run. Can't wait to switch from store bought eggs to backyard eggs! This is a great site!! Brian