I have 3 game hens I got at a rather scruffing-looking swapmeet, and I get one egg every 4-5 days. How do I tell which hen is laying the eggs?
I have one evil hen, who picks on the others unmercifully, and would love to "soup-pot" her, unless she's the one laying the eggs. Then, I will just put her in solitary confinement.
One of them is quite sweet, and after just a week is already eating out of my hand. I would love it if she was the layer.
I've read that you can look at their vent and tell; how does one accomplish that? Do you turn them on their back, or hold them over your head? What do you look for?
Eeegads....I can't believe I'm going to do this!
One other question, while I'm at it...
Do all chickens have red eyes? These have red/orange eyes and they kind of creep me out. My baby barred rock seems to have grey eyes; they're a lot easier to look at. Will they turn red?
Last, but not least: I have a chicken tractor with an open 8'x5'x5'tall run and a 3'x5' x 3' tall enclosed box on the back. Inside the box is the nest box. Both the open space and the box have roosts. The other night, it was going to get down to 30 degrees, but the hens didn't want to go into the box area (I had put a lot of straw on the floor, to block the winds). At roosting time, should I force them into the more protected area at that temp? What about lower temps?
Thanks for all your help; I searched on these questions, but didn't find answers to them in the 30 minutes I spent looking through the selected posts.
I have one evil hen, who picks on the others unmercifully, and would love to "soup-pot" her, unless she's the one laying the eggs. Then, I will just put her in solitary confinement.
One of them is quite sweet, and after just a week is already eating out of my hand. I would love it if she was the layer.
I've read that you can look at their vent and tell; how does one accomplish that? Do you turn them on their back, or hold them over your head? What do you look for?
Eeegads....I can't believe I'm going to do this!
One other question, while I'm at it...
Do all chickens have red eyes? These have red/orange eyes and they kind of creep me out. My baby barred rock seems to have grey eyes; they're a lot easier to look at. Will they turn red?
Last, but not least: I have a chicken tractor with an open 8'x5'x5'tall run and a 3'x5' x 3' tall enclosed box on the back. Inside the box is the nest box. Both the open space and the box have roosts. The other night, it was going to get down to 30 degrees, but the hens didn't want to go into the box area (I had put a lot of straw on the floor, to block the winds). At roosting time, should I force them into the more protected area at that temp? What about lower temps?
Thanks for all your help; I searched on these questions, but didn't find answers to them in the 30 minutes I spent looking through the selected posts.