# New Hens!



## Carly Rae (Jun 22, 2016)

Hello!

Today we got 3 new hens! They are 20 week old Isa Browns. Its been so long since we last had chickens




We got them mainly for eggs, and they are my new buddies. So far I have named one Duck. Shes my favorite.



We are going to go get another 2 within the next few days. We spent all day yesterday building their coop, and today preparing it with bedding and we decided to mesh the roof in their outside enclosure so they dont fly away on us. We were told that they may not lay for a couple weeks yet. I also scrapped up some tree branches and 2 old bits of wood to make them a roost, I was pretty happy with my efforts LOL. We still would like to change a few things around, but its fine for now.

Toby didnt know what to think of them, he got to look at them through their fence and Willow was just jealous they had a bale of hay and she didnt.

They haven't eaten much yet, we bought them Layer pellets and we have food scraps and a chart of foods they can and cant eat. I have been researching about them, mainly just about the foods and general stuff.

I'll stop here before I type a novel.

If anyone has any tips that would be great!!

I can't seem to post photos.. Ill try tomorrow


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 22, 2016)

Layer crumbles might be easier for them to eat. My girls don't care for pellets. I think pellets are designed for less waste, but the crumbles work better for us.

Enjoy the girls!


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## Carly Rae (Jun 22, 2016)

Thanks Marsha, we already bought a 20kg bag of pellets hmm, that stinks. Is the taste any different? If not id crush the pellets up for them to eat, i just dont want it to go to waste. Do you think that would work?


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## Carly Rae (Jun 22, 2016)

The pictures are working now



Here they are


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 22, 2016)

How expensive is it? Maybe put some in the food processor but don't make it into a powder. See if they will eat it that way. If they do, you'll know they don't like pellets. Pretty girls. I've never heard of that breed. I like the white on their tails.


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## Carly Rae (Jun 22, 2016)

Its not really expensive, I think we paid $17 for the bag. I sat in there with them and I broke the pellets up into smaller pieces and threw it to them. They went nuts for them that way. I think I might do that, cause I wont always have time to sit there and break them. Although I think if I put them in a container and shook it for a while it would break up enough. The next feed we get will probably be the crumbled ones.


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## Debby - LB (Jun 23, 2016)

Pretty little hens!! I've never seen those before.


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## amysue (Jun 23, 2016)

I like your new hens, very pretty!. I love the homemade roost, very creative! They will probably learn to like the pellets if they get hungry enough. You could probably break a whole bunch of pellet up at once by filling a pail 1/2 way full of pellet and gently grinding it with a shovel or even better, the head of a sledge hammer. I have done this in a pinch when surprised with newly hatched chicks.


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## Carly Rae (Jun 23, 2016)

Thank you!!

Really? I thought they were a common breed, maybe not



Thank you AmySue! It was pretty fun to make





Ill try that, I left them the rest of the pellets that I didnt break up and they were gone when I came back, so thats good



Its been raining the past few days, so they cant really get out and wonder around their pen cause its so wet. They have pushed the hay up and made a 'wall' I freaked out cause I could only see straw, then 3 heads popped up



They are so cute. \

I have a quick question. Can chickens grow bonds with humans? As in will they always be skittish and run away, or can they settle down enough just to walk up and pick it up without it running away? Isa Browns have a high family friendly rating. Mine are kind of skittish not overly, I dont blame them though, everything is probably strange for them right now, but Id love if they could settle down and trust humans.


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## amysue (Jun 23, 2016)

Once chickens realize you are the food source, you'll become their best friend. Just sit quietly with them, allow them to come to you at their comfort level. If you have free time, sit and read or draw or even nap while letting the birds scratch at the dirt and graze in your company to get accustomed to your presence. If you feed treats while spending time with them, they'll never leave you alone. My birds practically run me over every morning when I open the coops. Mine like veggie scraps, garden waste, bread crusts, old cereal, fruits and raisins. Yesterday my husband mowed quite a few acres of hay and the mower was covered in grass seed so I scraped it all off of the mower and gave it to the chickens and they went crazy over it.


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## Miniv (Jun 24, 2016)

We have over 30 hens, 2 roosters, in 2 different coops. Your girls remind me of my gold sexlinks. We have netting over their pens - not only to keep them from flying out, but to keep owls and hawks from flying IN. (Also have 3 ducks, but that's another story. LOL.) Oh, and check your fencing to make sure raccoons or ??? can't burrow or push through. I wish we could have them "free range" , but we have too many predators.

Ours don't like pellets either, so we feed a layer crumble and I mix a little wild birdseed in, which they enjoy. They come running up to me and circle around inbetween my legs when they see me with the feed bucket. I let them peck out of my scooper initially before tossing it, which encourages them to come around me.





Never thought I'd enjoy having chickens so much until my daughter got involved in 4-H.

I keep the feed bucket(s) in the kitchen to throw vegie and fruit scraps into them........Some folks feed meat scraps too, but I never have.

As for you having already bought pellets, you could buy a bag of crumble and blend them?

You are going to have so much fun with your new enterprise! Enjoy! Look forward to hearing how things go for you.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 24, 2016)

Some chickens are friendly and some aren't. Ours are all handled as chicks but as soon as they get a little older, some act like the sky is always falling and some are underfoot. We put colored bands on the legs of ours so we tell them apart at first. Their names are Reddy, Pinky, Orangey, Bluey, Browny, Whitey , Blacky...

Be careful if you let them close to your eyes if you don't have your glasses on. I almost had a very bad thing happen last spring with our chicks. I thought it was so cute that they sat on my shoulder--until one pecked my eye. Not good.

My husband is embarrassed because I take restaurant scraps home in a to-go cup. Their absolute favorite is shrimp tails. Second is watermelon. Noodles? Oh my!


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## chandab (Jun 24, 2016)

My MIL cooks macaroni for her chickens and they go nuts for it. [My BIL doesn't like the macaroni that comes in MacNCheese, but does like the cheese, so he gives her all the macaroni, and she cooks it for the chickens.]


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## Carly Rae (Jun 26, 2016)

Thats good then! I have been sitting with them every day for a while when I feed them. They all have names, we have, Duck, Cow and Henni. I named Duck and Cow and Mum named Henni. We might get ducks somewhere down the track and I want to call it Chicken. We are also getting a cat for the mice problem and my dad said its name will be Dog.

They are eating the pellets now without having to break them up. Cow has runny poop, but I searched it up and it said it could be stress from the new environment or the sudden change in feed, or a mixture of both. I'm so excited for them to start laying though!


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 26, 2016)

Coccidiosis is a common thing with poultry. You might want to put them on a preventive dose. Here, the product is called Corid. Not sure what you have there. It can cause diarrhea.

I have a broody girl and am off tomorrow to get some fertile eggs to put under her. I wasn't sure she was "committed", but she seems to be so we will go for it.


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## Miniv (Jun 26, 2016)

How old are they? Just from my experience, they won't start laying until they are about 6 months old.

Right now I have one duck and two chicken hens sitting on eggs.......Will start looking for chicks/ducklings in about a week?

We've already had one clutch of ducklings hatch out this year. All 8 went to good pet homes.


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## Carly Rae (Jun 26, 2016)

Thanks, we got ours for eggs to eat, so none will be fertile, sadly. I'd love to have chicks here. They are 20 weeks old now, well probably 21 now, which is around 5 months? and the lady we bought them off said they could lay any time from now to 5 weeks away.

So cute!!! How long do they take to hatch?


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## Miniv (Jun 27, 2016)

The chickens usually hatch at around 28 to 30 days......Ducks take a few days longer.

Yesterday I prepared our "nursery" for all the possible chicks.......We have a good sized deep metal water trough in the barn that I bed with shavings and have a heat lamp hanging over one end ready to go.....plus shallow food and water dishes ready too.

It's summer now, so they won't need the heat lamp until night time.

Just a thought......if one of your girls ever get "broody" (want to just sit on eggs) and you do want chicks, you can always buy fertile eggs and let

your hen sit on them. Have a young friend who just did that and her eggs just hatched out yesterday!


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 27, 2016)

Purchased my fertile eggs today and marked an X on each. They are under Blackie now so we'll keep our fingers crossed she stays committed. Two are blue, but the other 3 are unknowns.


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## amysue (Jun 27, 2016)

I have a flock of bantam cochin hens who will hatch anything...if you put a rock under them, they'll sit on it. I start all of my pheasant and peacock eggs that way. I tried goose eggs but they are so big that my hens were piggy piling eachother to sit on them. I think most chicken eggs incubate around 21 days, goose, duck and peafowl are 28, I think muscovy ducks are around 30 days. If the temperature in the incubator or under the hen fluctuates, it can shorten or extend the hatching time a bit.


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## Carly Rae (Jun 28, 2016)

Wow, they hatch a lot quicker than I thought haha!

Why do you buy fertile eggs? Is it so you dont have to get a rooster? Haha that is a silly question, but I have never heard of it before.

My hens are getting friendlier! I now have them eating out of my hand, they are still a bit weary when I walk around or make fast movements, but today I spent about half an hour sitting and feeding them out of my hand.

We are going to make them better nesting boxes. They have plastic tubs now, its not 'private' or enclosed, so we are using old metal oil drums cut in half and a piece of board at the front (Idea thanks to Pinterest) I will probably get old hose and use it around the sharp edges for safety. I may even decorate the outside and write something on the wood using the wood burner, If I want to go overboard haha. But we need a new grinding wheel to cut it.

I am also getting mum to get me an oil drip tray from her work so I can slide it under the roost, there is just poop all under it.

Ah, thats all ill say for now




I still cant post photos here, Its not working at all, Oh well.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 28, 2016)

No, we don't have a rooster so I have to scrounge fertile eggs when we get a broody hen. I'd rather buy fertile eggs than bother with a rooster. I know some folks really enjoy their roosters.

Pretty fun to decorate your nest boxes!


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## amysue (Jun 28, 2016)

I cannot wait to see what you come up with for nest boxes Carly, you are so creative and talented that I'm sure they'll look awesome. Just keep in mind when constructing them, if you do decide to try to hatch eggs in thr future, you'll want to make a nest that chickies can get back into when they roll out of it. A friend of mine bought those snap on kits to turn a 5 gallon pail into a nest, problem was that if a chick tumbled out, the lip was too high for them to get back under momma hen. My pheasants and peafowl like to nest in buried tires, my geese build nest holes in the straw chaff in the hay barns and sit there to hatch out. I was gifted a few of those galvanized hanging nest boxes with the roosts in the front and my hens seem to like those. I won't let them sit to hatch out in them though as they're mounted about 3ft off of the floor onto the wall. My husband build me nest boxes on the ground for the bantams after wondering what I did with all of his clementine boxes in the shop that he stored nuts and bolts in.

As for roosters, my bantam roos all get along well, as there are 2x as many hens to keep the peace. I have one roo with the laying hens for protection and so I get fertile eggs. The downside is, one; he's a jerk and two; eggs must be collected at least 2x daily and refrigerated right away or in the summer months, a lil embryo will develop, and nobody wants to crack open an egg for breakfast to find a bloody spot.


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## Carly Rae (Jun 28, 2016)

I see. I think if I ever wanted to have chicks here id probably buy eggs rather than a rooster. Well depends, im not sure. If you had a rooster always with your hens, would you ALWAYS have fertile eggs, or do the hens still lay infertile ones for us to eat? Or would you have to keep the rooster away from the hens when you dont want chicks? I don't know much about all this haha.

Aw thank you Amysue!! I have been working on the nesting boxes since 10am, its now 1:30pm. They were old diesel drums, I dont know how many times I cleaned them. Id spray loads of degreaser all over it, then rinse thoroughly. Then I used Mentholated Spirits and wet n dry sand paper to get all the rust and anything else stuck to the sides, then rinsed it. Then car wash, scrubbed it like crazy. Then I did a full rinse out, and wiped it dry. I have just spray painted the outsides mat black, I was going to cut out stencils on chickens and spray it onto the outside. But then I'd have to draw it up, cut it out, and I wouldnt have a clue where our Stanley knives are. But I am going to start on the hose now, I cant decide if I should spray paint it sky blue or white. Im thinking white will go nicer. Then I have to find some wood for the front.


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## Ryan Johnson (Jun 29, 2016)

I cant wait to see this Carly , It is sounding amazing


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## Carly Rae (Jun 29, 2016)

Thanks Ryan!

I have finished the majority of it. Its dark here now and I just finished for the day. I have the hose painted white, drying. I still need to find a piece of board for the front yet. But I am pretty happy so far. Photos are on their way


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## Carly Rae (Jun 29, 2016)

Okay. So here is before when they were just cut in half. Well that was actually taken after the first clean with degreaser.











And here is after. I was pretty happy with it. For something that was made by me anyway haha.
















So yeah. Thats what I made.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 29, 2016)

Too cute! Nest Hilton!

Here is our Blackie on the nest. Our nest boxes are just--boxes!

If you have a rooster your eggs will always be fertile. Some people think fertile eggs are much healthier for you. You will never know they are fertile if you gather them every day.


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## Carly Rae (Jun 29, 2016)

Thanks Marsha!

How often do you change the hay in your coop? I have been reading and reading, some clean theirs weekly, some monthly. I have used hay all through mine, but it gets quite dirty from their poop and all, and one still has the runs which looks like caramel sauce.

I have taken all the old hay out and laid new stuff in, its only been 8 days though, so I wasnt sure if it was necessary, to me it looked messy. I have read that sand is great in the pen, its apparently very tidy. I'd like to find something to go in there that is nice to look at, and nice for the hens. What do you use?

I am also so glad that I made these new nesting boxes, with their old ones, they would stand on the edge and poop straight into it, so the boxes were half poop. Im still keeping 1 or 2 of the old ones for outside, in case they ever want to rest out in the sun.

With feeding time, I used to put the pellets on a tray, but they kick it off the tray and scatter it all across the ground, then eat it. So now i put some on the tray and scattered some on the ground and they always go for the scattered stuff. Weird. And when they did eat out of the tray, they would hear something, turn around and poop straight on the tray. Very hygienic animals lol.

Aw! Blackie is very pretty! Looks cozy though. My dad doesn't know why I bothered decorating the nesting boxes, because they are 'just chickens'. But they are my new pals!

I thought so, I have never heard of eating fertile eggs before.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 29, 2016)

I only clean my chicken house every month or so. I use straw or bagged shavings, whatever I can get. I use hay or straw in the nest boxes. Yes, they are messy. All birds are! I don't worry about it to much. They are only in there at night. We're having company on Monday so I will clean out the house so the children aren't too grossed out.

Most chicken feeders have a bar across the top that turns. This keeps the chickens from scratching out the food. Scratching is what they do. Check them out; you can probably make your own.

Fertile eggs are a non-issue when you are gathering them every day.


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## Carly Rae (Jun 30, 2016)

Thanks for that! I might have a look at those!

I got some better photos of the girls, finally. I have just been taking photos off my phone. I decided to take my camera down to get some shots.


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## paintponylvr (Jul 1, 2016)

Wow - this thread has lots of info trading going on! Love the nests, by the way, Carly.

Isa-Browns are a hybrid chicken, so even if you have a same breed/type rooster, they won't produce like them selves. I was looking at getting some of them, but right now, my luck with birds is just about zilch!

The last 6 months have been heart breaking when it comes to the birds. I just purchased 1/2" hardware cloth to put around our movable chicken tractors - hope that that will fix the new digging into the coop problem. All the last of my free ranging birds have disappeared in the past month. Still cleaning out the eggs from our last 4 free range hens - hadn't realized that they were laying so well - found a surprising number of eggs in unbelievable areas! Found some - of course - after they exploded - GAK. Rotten Egg stank is a very real thing, LOL.

As to ground/pen/coop bedding. Do you have a floor in your coop? Or is it directly on the ground? From what I understand, chickens dig. Ours certainly did and still do. Doesn't take long and the grass is gone an the holes fill with muddy water when it rained and just looked god awful & smelled a whole lot worse... Found the Deep Litter Method demo'd on Backyardchickens dot com. I can't say enough about it! I LOVE IT. NO CLEANING the pens or even in my coops (which all sit on the ground. Our nest boxes and roosts are removable/scrub-able so we haven't yet had issues there. How the DLM works is pretty simple. You use a combination of green and brown compostable items in the yard/coop. Hay is only one - straw, wood chips, leaves (GREAT), even small branches, ,pine straw, lawn clippings, weeds from anywhere, Compostable veggies and fruits (careful with citrus) cut up from your kitchen, coffee and filters, even shredded paper (I bring it from work and shred bills here too). Then under the roosts, as chicken manure piles up/looks messy - you fork new DLM over it. The chickens scratch in it themselves - moving the chicken manure down and allowing it to compost. During the winter, your DLM will actually keep the coop warm. I'm not the best at explaining all this - so here is a good link - REsults of 1st year - DLM 

Bee Kissed - UTube vid of DLM

Here are some of the pics of my coops getting set up with DLM... These are pens with some small areas covered for "coop" & nesting boxes.

The coop next to the barn has gotten a new load of material. This is from this pasture and is a mix of leaves, pinestraw, old hay from round bales and pony manure! Didn't take long and even though "babies" not at laying stage yet, the pullets were working away at the bedding. The sandy floor of the coop is no more - I have a beautiful loamy floor in this pen...






front of this coop -






the pen with a truck cover coop -











The coop section (before we brought our birds out) - nothing fancy but feeder is hung in side away from roosts so that it doesn't get wet outside.






I have a lot of "fodder" to be used for the coops/pens - it just has to be collected, LOL. That part is WORK. I'm sure there are other ways, too. I put out the eggshells from us eating and also toss/break any into the litter that we have that may be questionable (the ones I know that are "bad" go into burn pile). Right now, our DLM is at a stand still as I don't have any mature chickens actually in any of the coops right now...





I have 3 batches of different kinds of chicks - 1 is supposed to be a cockerel and I have hopes that he'll be a good rooster.

FWIW - I have had blood spots in our eggs from pullets that have never been around roosters.

and bacyardchickens dot com is GRRREEEAAATTTT!!!!!!!!! For all kinds of info, advice, support etc.


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## Carly Rae (Jul 1, 2016)

Thank you Paula! My mum loved their nests, although it is extremely strange to the chooks, they were very curious, not I'm just hoping they actually use it!

Thank you! I really appreciate your long informative replies





My coop is directly on the ground. Although where the roost and boxes are, under is a layer of bricks to make a floor, dont think that counts though haha. DLM sounds fantastic! Ill have to try it.

I actually joined back yard chickens like 2 or 3 days before I got my chickens! I love it!


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## paintponylvr (Jul 1, 2016)

I currently use the nipples on 2 ltr bottles for watering our chicks. I have one pen/coop with some hens and a rooster - they haven't been laying (two hens are 5/6 yrs old now?) and the others ?? not sure why not. They have a commercial feeder and waterer.

Before I had so many birds get killed/die in the heat wave, I'd purchased buckets and supplies to do the bucket feeders and waterers. The bucket feeder will hold 25 lbs of feed at a time and little to no spillage/waste due to using a pvc elbow for them to reach in thru...

Here's pics from BYC that I posted on another thread. I understand that these work too. I've got all the supplies to make mine, but haven't done so yet... pics directly from backyardchickens dot com. this thread - Show me your DIY feeders & Waterers











and here's an educational vid - 5 chicken coops


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 1, 2016)

It was my understanding that blood spots in the yolk is hereditary. On a big egg farm, that hen would be culled. But I'm not sure I believe that. I get one once in a while, but have no way of knowing which girl/girls lays the egg. I have no rooster so it has nothing to do with fertility.

So sorry you lost all your chickens, Paula. The man I got Blackie from has lost all his. They set up a game camera and it was hawks. We have hardware cloth buried under the fencing of our pen about 18" out. I haven't seen any digging around it in 4 years, though do see varmint prints. The only critters that have gotten in the pen went through the garden fencing, which shares a side with the chicken pen. No buried wire on that side. One was a bullsnake, that got a chick, and one was a rat which terrorized the girls. We got both critters and found the holes where they had chewed/broken the chicken wire to get into the pen from the garden side.

But our girls are out all day and are only shut up at night. We've lost a couple that way over the years. One to a friend who came over with her dog. Now I don't allow anyone to let his dog off leash, no matter how cute and sweet.


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## Debby - LB (Jul 2, 2016)

Those feeders are just the trick! I love your pens with the deep bedding. We've lost so many chickens to the foxes since I lost my Dolly dog it's sad. We are trying so hard to get rid of them. We've got live traps out there now.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 3, 2016)

My girls were raising a ruckus when I went out this morning. Then I saw a very large hawk sail over. At first I thought it was a horned owl, it was so large. It must have tried to get in through the wired top. The girls were yelling and hiding in the house. He came over two more times, and I went for the rifle. But then he didn't come back; guess cause I was busy out there with the horses and garden. They are not afraid of the turkey vultures that live on our mountain in the summer; the wingspan of those birds is at least 3+ feet across. But that hawk scared them out of their chicken wits.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 12, 2016)

Still plagued by that stupid hawk; now there are two of them. 2+2=???!

Haven't heard any quail lately, bunnies are gone, and fewer songbirds. If they would only eat rattlesnakes and raccoons...

I've decided to keep the girls in today; we are all stressed.

I was telling mom about the hawk and she reminded me of the time my dad caught one IN the chicken house. He had slaughtered almost the entire flock.


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## amysue (Jul 12, 2016)

I had to cover my chickens with deer netting to protect them from the hawks. I found these big decorative butterflies at a florist shop that are made to be hung outside. They are quite gaudy with bright colors and they do scare off the hawks. I wired them to the top of the netting to deter hawks.


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## Carly Rae (Jul 13, 2016)

OMG, that is terrible Marsha! I hope everything goes ok!





I'm so glad that we dont really get very many predators here, and the only thing that could get into the pen are snakes, which we want to put a strip of mesh along the botton thats about 50cm high to try prevent it, not sure if a snake could get through. Although theres no long grass around the coop. We dont see too many snakes, a few here and there. Our whole pen is fully covered with mesh roofing and everything.

We got another 2 hens the other day. I also changed their names. Hoping for some eggs within the next few weeks. The lady at the poultry farm that we bought them from said that out of those hens they had gotten 4 eggs. But they had like 4 massive sheds full of hens, so 4 isnt that many, but hopefully soon.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 18, 2016)

First chick hatched this evening. Hope the other 4 hatch tonight so I can move them to their new quarters. It is a perky baby!


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## paintponylvr (Jul 19, 2016)

O, Marsha, how cute is that little one???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love watching hatched chicks w/ the mama's - even when the mama isn't really theirs...

I'm hoping to be able to produce some chicks from some of the chickens I have now. Need to see if we make it thru the heat wave w/ chicks first, though.

I have all the parts and supplies to update my hoop coop tractors, but I find it really hard to sit on the sand when you soaked thru with sweat from a heat index of 112*! So, it hasn't happened yet. Need it to soon, have to switch the babies into the nursery pen that the older girls are currently in...


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 19, 2016)

She abandoned the other eggs. Either they were no good or when the one hatched she considered her job over. Don't think I will crack them open to check. Sure hope this little one makes it and turns out to be a pullet.


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## amysue (Jul 19, 2016)

Love the pic of momma and biddie, so cute. Sorry she abandoned the others, always disappointing. They can take a few days longer to hatch sometimes depending upon temperature , don't give up just yet. Do you have anyone else to stick them under? Can you candle them? I cannot resist opening the duds to see what went wrong...curiosity gets the better of me. I want to know if it was a rooster problem or an environmental problem (temp, humidity etc). You may be able to feather sex the chick so you know what you got. You can tell once the feathers on the wing begin to pop, usually around day 2 or 3. Hen's coverlet feathers are longer than primary while roosters look almost all the same length.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 20, 2016)

amysue said:


> Love the pic of momma and biddie, so cute. Sorry she abandoned the others, always disappointing. They can take a few days longer to hatch sometimes depending upon temperature , don't give up just yet. Do you have anyone else to stick them under? Can you candle them? I cannot resist opening the duds to see what went wrong...curiosity gets the better of me. I want to know if it was a rooster problem or an environmental problem (temp, humidity etc). You may be able to feather sex the chick so you know what you got. You can tell once the feathers on the wing begin to pop, usually around day 2 or 3. Hen's coverlet feathers are longer than primary while roosters look almost all the same length.


If we were raising chickens I would definitely want to know if our rooster was any good. But this was a one-shot.


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## Miniv (Jul 20, 2016)

Wish I knew what was up with our hen too.......ONE chick hatched and she abandoned the rest of the eggs.....

I left the nest box alone for over 24 hours, but nope.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 21, 2016)

Miniv said:


> Wish I knew what was up with our hen too.......ONE chick hatched and she abandoned the rest of the eggs.....
> 
> I left the nest box alone for over 24 hours, but nope.


Well, darn. All that work for one chick. I looked at our lone chick today to see if the wing feathers showed pullet/cockerel. I think it is a pullet. The feathers were definitely different lengths. Very robust chick and quick as a grasshopper. It's fun to see mom scratch up a morsel and show Baby how it's done.

A friend in another state has a small flock of chickens. She said her rooster only likes 3 of the hens. He won't bother with the others. I think that is strange.


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## Ryan Johnson (Jul 21, 2016)

A friend of mine has a few hens and one rooster. There are a few hens that are trying to eat the eggs, she has narrowed it down to a few possible suspects but she is not quite sure why this is happening.

Does anyone have an idea as to why ?


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## amysue (Jul 21, 2016)

Once an egg eater....always an egg eater. I cull these birds from my flock before they destroy the whole clutch every day. I have heard many theories on the reasoning from lack of calcium to boredom. Giving them space to roam and lots of things to scratch at/occupy them may deter it, but often the culprit teaches others to do it.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 21, 2016)

Yes, get rid of the egg eater. She will be the one with beautiful, glossy feathers. Possibly a cracked egg was left in the nest and the hen figured out it was good to eat.

On a sad note, our chick is gone. I think mom crushed her. I found her flattened under the mother. Husband was mowing around the area and wonders if he caused the hen to get more protective and accidentally confine the chick under her too closely. It is upsetting.


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## amysue (Jul 22, 2016)

I am so sorry to hear about your little chick. That is very disappointing. Nature can be cruel sometimes.


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## Miniv (Jul 22, 2016)

Awww.......I'm sorry Marsha.....


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## Debby - LB (Jul 24, 2016)

aw darn Marsha I am sorry


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 25, 2016)

Carly Rae, how are your new girls doing? We all got so busy talking about our own girls! Hope yours are doing well.


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## Ryan Johnson (Jul 25, 2016)

Sorry to read this Marsha


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## Carly Rae (Jul 26, 2016)

Poor little Chick, Sorry to hear it, Marsha!





Oh! Yes, my girls are going fine, I've been super busy lately! New Car, Volunteer Work, School, Chickens, Horses, Fences, Blah! Got a University Open day that I am attending and In search for a School Based Traineeship and a Job. So much!

Last Thursday we let them out for the first time! They were pretty skittish at first, pretty funny actually, they were walking around outside their coop, they all freeze randomly and as if on queue they all scatter back into the coop. But now they swarm me at the gate of a morning waiting to come out.

I got coloured leg rings for the chickens online. Since they all look the same, but I want to be able to put names to chickens. So they each got a colour.

Blue: Mavis

Yellow: Henni

Green: Gretchen

Red: Myrtle

Purple: Gloria

I have a friend that has chickens. She said she noticed her young hens that had never laid before, squatting when she went to catch them. Then she said, about a week later they laid their first egg. Going by that, Gloria and Gretchen should be laying soon! They are about 25-26 weeks now.

The horses met the chickens too! I got some pretty cute photos of them with the chickens, but I have no way to post images on here anymore! Just my luck! So, those cute pictures are forever to be unseen



I was going to post pictures of my new car as well, but I couldn't.. * Huff *

Do you know if anyone can fix my uploading issue??


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## Carly Rae (Sep 25, 2016)

Hi !!!

I have some pretty cool news!

Today after work, my sister surprised me with getting me 3 Silkie chicks! 

They are 6 weeks old, and they are so adorable.





I have 9 chickens now, that was unexpected, We only intended on having three!



Oh well, the more the merrier!


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## Marsha Cassada (Sep 30, 2016)

Can you put them all together, or do you have the separate?


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## Carly Rae (Oct 1, 2016)

I have them separate at the moment. Its a bit cold here still so they come inside of a night, and they would easily escape my coop.


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## Magic Marker Minis (Oct 1, 2016)

Be careful about introducing chicks to older chickens. The older chickens may attack and kill or severely injure the chicks.


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## Carly Rae (Oct 1, 2016)

Thanks, I am aware of that.

Also Silkies are really gentle chickens and can aparently be bullied easily. So I will be extra cautious when I put them together.


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## Magic Marker Minis (Oct 2, 2016)

We have a frizzle rooster. Once we move to Missouri, we will be getting Silkie and Polish hens for him. My roommate wants to make Big Birds, Polish/Frizzle cross.

Silkies also become very broody and make excellent mothers.

Do you have any new pictures of Texas? Ever figure out if your other mare is pregnant?


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## Carly Rae (Oct 2, 2016)

Oh cool ! I've been thinking about breeding my silkies. But they are all from the same hatch, so I don't think I can breed them together. And to top that I know barley nothing when it comes to chickens, but my sister's friend that sold me the Silkies might be able to teach me a few things. And my Silkies have names now!

The biggest one is called "Einstein" and the two smaller ones that follow him around are called "Experiment 1" and "Experiment 2"






I have LOADS of pictures of Miss Texas, but I have no way to post photos here anymore, every uploading site doesn't work for me anymore and the forum's up loader says I have "Exceeded my limit"...

I have so many photos to share of my new Cat, my new car, the new rescue horse living here, and a growing Texas, plus my silkies. But it has decided not to let me upload anymore...





Texas is 6 months old this month..

I think my mare is pregnant, its still a bit early to tell, if she was pregnant she would only be 5-ish months along, and she has her big fluffy winter fluff on now so its a bit hard haha.

My sister called yesterday, she said her friend called telling her that she accidentally hatched Frizzles, and we can buy them. So in a few hours I will have 2, three day old Frizzle chicks!


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## Carly Rae (Oct 2, 2016)

YES!!! I tried my uploading site again, It works!


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## Carly Rae (Oct 2, 2016)

Here are my Silkie Chicks


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## Magic Marker Minis (Oct 3, 2016)

I don't think breeding related chickens is as big a deal as horses. Also, do not breed Frizzles to Frizzles. It messes up their feathers.

As for your mare, you should be able to put your arms around her belly after she has started eating. You should feel the baby bumping your arms or hands. Make sure your hands are right in front of her bag. You can feel baby sometimes at five to six months along.

Your silkies are cute.


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## Carly Rae (Oct 4, 2016)

Oh really? I didn't know that. How do they get the frizzle breed if they cant breed them together??

I'll have a go seeing if I can feel any movement





Thanks



I got my Frizzles yesterday. Turns out they are only 2 days old today. We went and got a heat lamp and made a small brooder. I have one Buff and one Black/Brown.


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## Carly Rae (Oct 4, 2016)




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## Magic Marker Minis (Oct 4, 2016)

The Frizzle is a result from a mutated gene that can show up in any breed. Mostly banties.

If you breed a Frizzle to a normal feathered hen, there's a certain percentage that Frizzle.

A couple years ago, one of our hens got broody and wanted to set. We left her with six eggs. Four hatched. Of the four, one turned out to be a frizzle.


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## Magic Marker Minis (Oct 4, 2016)

The yellow one will most likely be white. The black and brown one may be black with brown head and wings.


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## Miniv (Oct 4, 2016)

If your mare is only about 5 or 6 months along, you'll probably only feel a "flutter" of movement during meal time.

We have a silly hen who escaped the chicken pen/run awhile ago and began laying on a pile of eggs. So far ONE has hatched. We moved mom, chick, and the eggs

into the barn under a heat lamp. She has separated out some of the eggs to sit on and is ignoring the rest. I'm assuming SHE knows which are viable and which aren't, but haven't brought myself to removing the pushed out ones yet. The chick is several days old now and doing fine. (The dad is a big black standard cochin.)


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## Ryan Johnson (Oct 5, 2016)

Those silkie chicks are ace , reminds me of watching "Chicken Run"


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## Carly Rae (Oct 5, 2016)

I did not know that, thank you.





I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with breeding yet. I'm not sure if I even own a rooster yet lol. Although I'd love the experience.

I have ISA browns from the same hatch, Silkies from the same hatch, and Frizzles from the same hatch. Can you breed Silkies with Frizzles??

Oh cool! If she pushed them out, and they have chicks in them, can they still hatch without them under her?

I have always wanted to know, once a hen lays a fertile egg, I have heard of some people 'storing' them until they want put them in an incubator for them to hatch. How long can they store them?

I know barley nothing about chickens, I am just learning as I go lol.

Haha, Thanks Ryan


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## amysue (Oct 5, 2016)

You can collect fertile eggs from a hen and hatch them in an incubator. Most hens will lay an egg daily during the months of the year with the most day light, they taper off in winter and take a break during molting. If you keep a roo with your hens, then most of her eggs will be fertile (no rooster, no chicks). They only keep for about a week, then hatchability decreases drastically. I keep my eggs no more than 5 days before hatching, they should be kept in a cool dry and dark place and be rotated twice a day until being incubated. Storing them until you get a clutch together to hatch sort of suspends the animation a bit so they hatch around the same time. If you put each one in the incubator every day with others in progress then they will hatch far apart and most likely contaminate the other eggs and kill them. If using a cabinet incubator it is different, but they are very expensive, so most people use a box type. Once incubation begins, they need to be kept at the right humidity and temp and be rotated every few hours (I love my automated egg turners). 3 days before the anticipated hatch date, stop turning and after hatching, once dry, place chicks in a brooder. I kept silkies with my cochins years ago, got 1 frizzle roo out of 6 cochin chicks (not all inherit the frizzle gene) and everything my silkie roo crossed with that we hatched came out naked necked like the "show girl silkies" so I gave them all away as I thought they were ugly, like a defective dr. Seuss creation. I liked my silkies, they would hatch a golf ball if u put it under them, they did not tolerate the hot weather though. That was a challenge. Enjoy them.


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## Carly Rae (Oct 14, 2016)

Thanks amysue! I'll keep all that in mind


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## Carly Rae (Oct 14, 2016)

I got another chicken today!

I have 12 now.... Everyone just keeps getting them for me!

This one is from my cousin. Her friend owned 2. Then they got a puppy, it killed one of the chickens so they decided to giveaway the other one. So my cousin jumped right in and bought her straight to me haha.

Shes a brown Silkie, apparently she has just gotten clucky





She had no name so I called her "Tuffles"


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## Carly Rae (Nov 24, 2016)

My silkie chicks have grown into fine young ladies.


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## Ryan Johnson (Nov 24, 2016)

WOW !!!! Very cool carly





As ive said before you are very talented behind that camera of yours


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## Carly Rae (Nov 24, 2016)

Thanks Ryan!!


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