Coronavirus Concern Up

[Lazy Gardener]

It's always been my opinion that a 3 y.o. roo misses the mark at least as often as he hits it. And, a good roo, who is up to date on his target practice can easily keep 24 hens satisfied. So... Every few years, I keep the best cockerel. He is integrated into the flock along with the pullets of that season. The ol' man tolerates the cockerel until the day he doesn't. (usually when the young 'un is about a year old.) When that day comes, I remove the ol' man, and the cockerel, who has been thoroughly trained takes over the leadership duties.

 

[Britesea]

thanks!

 

[Daisy]

 

[BarredBuff]

@Britesea I think two roosters is a good number for 25 hens or so. I believe in a back up.

Did you separate your broody hen out? I always have better luck like that.

 

[Chic Rustler]

 

[Britesea]

@Britesea I think two roosters is a good number for 25 hens or so. I believe in a back up.

Did you separate your broody hen out? I always have better luck like that.

I've got 2 Grey Dorking cockerel chicks in my order, along with 6 Grey Dorking pullet chicks, 4 Welsummer pullet chicks, and 4 Black Australorp pullet chicks. Then I have 1 last rooster standing from my old flock (Cogburn), and about 12 older girls- a mix of Americauna and Speckled Sussex that are all about 4 years old now. (I'm getting an average of 3-5 eggs a day from them now). I've lost a few to predators, and a couple just ... died, for no reason I could see.

We had our broody hen in the secondary coop which was built for ducks originally. It's smaller and low ceilings so no roosting in there. We didn't block the door so she could get out and eat and drink. Interestingly, when she left the building, one of the Leghorn pullets always stood at the doorway, as if she was guarding the nest for her, but she never went inside.

It's been 9 days since we put the eggs in the incubator. We candled them last night, and although I could see the yolk as a darker mass, I couldn't see any veins or anything like that... so I think they aren't growing.
eta: My DH pointed out that our flashlight is only 300 lumens, so maybe it isn't bright enough to see what's going on?

 

[CrealCritter]

ArcGIS Dashboards

ArcGIS Dashboards

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[Britesea]

we still have just the one confirmed case in our county. Sometimes it helps to live at the back end of nowhere, lol

 

[BarredBuff]

I firmly enjoy living in a sparsely populated location. Sometimes it is not sparse enough...

 

[Chic Rustler]

ArcGIS Dashboards

ArcGIS Dashboards

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everyone always says we are overpopulated and need a plague. I guess they got their wish