Hi,

I have been surfing the web and reading all I can find about chickens for several days now. The best info I have found so far came from your pages, Robyn. You did a wonderful job and I can only imagine the amount of time you have put into all of this.
I think I will be able to learn a lot more about chickens by hanging out on this board. Be warned.. I'm here to stay! :rolleyes:

A bit about myself and my chickens (I'll try and keep it short).

I am 43 and live in the Adirondacks (Upstate New York). Have been living here for the past 12 years or so. My house is surrounded by nature and I have hundreds of acres to play with although most of it is woods. I worked for most of my life as a travelling juggler/magician and then went into the restaurant business, but it has always been my dream to have a little farm.
One could consider me a hippy, I live close to nature and recycle everything. I recently reduced my working hours to two evenings a week, and the rest of the time is being spent on starting up my farm. The farm mainly consists of organic vegetables and herbs as well as flowers. (and chickens)
I built a chicken coop last autums. I wish I had looked things up on the internet first because I made some mistakes. (Like I forgot to put ventilation holes in). However, there is a lot of contradicitng info on the internet. I've read on sites that a coop must have a window, and other sites will say that a window is an absolute no-no. I do have a window in the coop but it doesn't open. The chickens were flying against the window when I first got them, but putting some stickers on the glass took care of the problem. I also built a pen and they can go from the coop into the pen where they are protected from wild animals (and from my cat)
I had one heck of a time finding chickens. And finally, two weeks ago the big day arrived.. a lady from work sold me 5 hens and a rooster. (or so I thought)
They were very scared of me at first and they would try to escape and fly all over the place in a panic each time I entered. That first day I found out that the chickens poopped in their food and drinking dish, so I went to the city and bought an automatic drinking dish and a chicken feeder. That helped a lot.
By day number two I had all my chickens named but the rooster I named Sissy because he would make sure to hide behind the chickens each time I entered the pen or the coop.
I went in often and talked to the chickens to make them feel more at ease. Now, understand that my cat (her name is Mousti and she's 8 years old) is being treated like a queen and it seems that I will be treating my chickens like royalty as well. I love them so much already.
The first two days I only got 2 eggs, I was told that the chickens might not produce eggs right away when they are moved to a different location. From the third day on I had 4 eggs a day. I was wondering why only 4 eggs, because I have 5 chickens. I didn't have to wonder long. The chicken that I named Julia started to crow. I renamed her (him) and his name is now Joe. But Sissy (my other rooster) never crows?? I can't figure this out.
After Julia started to crow I asked a neighbor to look at my chickens and tell me if he could pick out "the rooster". While we were standing there looking at the chickens, former Julia, now Joe, started to talk like a chicken (like tok tok tooook tok tok toook). Huh?? But most of the time Joe crows, so I assume that he is a rooster.
Sissy on the other hand never makes any noise at all. I have been around the chickens constantly and he is the only one that never makes a single noise. Another mystery.
Mousti made acquaintance with the chickens shortly after they arrived. Curious, she walked up to the pen and the chickens got scared out of their minds. They made an awful noise and it scared her off and from that day on she stayed away from the pen. All went well until two days ago Mousti decided to go take another look. The chickens went into a panic, I had to put Mousti in the house and it took almost a half hour before the chickens finally calmed down. I only got 1 egg the next day. Lucily it has been hot so Mousti sleeps in the house all day and by the time she gets outside I have already closed the coop for the night. But I am hoping that eventually she and the chickens will get used to one another.

The chickens produce different eggs. I usually get 1 green egg, 1 brown eggs and 2 white eggs. Now today the chicken that lays green eggs gave me a pretty funny egg. It was very small, not much bigger than the top of my thumb, almost smaller than a robin egg. Why is that? Does that happen often? I can't wait until tomorrow to see if she is going to have a normal sized egg or not.

I do have a question about brooding. I would like to have more chickens, especially since I sell the eggs and as soon as I put a 6 pack of eggs in my vegetable stand it is gone. People keep asking for more eggs but I only have that many a day. So I would like to have chicks as soon as possible in order to get more eggs by next summer.

Questions..

From what I understand after reading up on the internet, a chicken that wants to set will set on any egg, fertilized or not. What happens if she sits on eggs that are not fertilized? Do they just go bad? Should I look with a flashlight every once in a while and remove the eggs that are not fertilized? Or should I just let her sit on them and see which ones hatch?

I have 6 cages in my coop (made out of wood). I put hay in the cages and they look good. Now it seems that all chickens lay their egg in the same cage. It is a cage that's pretty high up. What if a chicken broods in a high cage? How will the baby chicks come down? I did make a ramp, but will they be smart enough to use it?

How often is a chicken ready to set? My hens show no interest in staying on the eggs. They just go in the coop, get rid of their egg and go back outside in the pen. Do I give them a hint by leaving the eggs just there for a few days?

How often are eggs fertilized? Does it only happen a certain time of year? What makes a chicken want to set?

Thanks
Chris

Welcome! Your message is going to give me a workout but comments and answers are below.

"I worked for most of my life as a travelling juggler/magician"

I was a professional magician in my early teens but could never juggle.

"I've read on sites that a coop must have a window, and other sites will say that a window is an absolute no-no."

A window is a good idea for ventilation. It should use hardware cloth (rabbit wire) and be well secured. The criss crossing should preven them from trying to fly into it. In the winter, cover the windows with plexiglass or clear plastic. The windows should be at least 4 feet off the ground so dogs, foxes, etc. don't peak in them and scare the chickens. My father put the winter coverings on like I asked but he permanently affixed them so our chicken coop's 4 windows are completely closed to ventilation!

"And finally, two weeks ago the big day arrived.. a lady from work sold me 5 hens and a rooster. (or so I thought)"

How old are they? Do you know?

"That first day I found out that the chickens poopped in their food and drinking dish,'"

That's their favorite past time. Plus, mine roost over their bowls so they're all poop by morning. I just use dog bowls and wash them daily since I only have 4 chickens. I tried the long chicken feeder but couldn't clean it easily, and they still went on it.

"By day number two I had all my chickens named but the rooster I named Sissy because he would make sure to hide behind the chickens each time I entered the pen or the coop."

The dominant rooster will be the first to approach you, to threaten you, not to hide behind the others. Since you have that other rooster for sure, it's possible that Sissy is a non-dominant rooster.

"I renamed her (him) and his name is now Joe. But Sissy (my other rooster) never crows?? I can't figure this out."

Roosters may not always crow but usually do if they're mature. By 6-month-old, most roosters are acting like roosters.

"While we were standing there looking at the chickens, former Julia, now Joe, started to talk like a chicken (like tok tok tooook tok tok toook). Huh?? "

That is the call that roosters make to say, "Hey girls, there's some good stuff (food) over here. Come eat some so then I can sneak up on you and take advantage of you!"

"But most of the time Joe crows, so I assume that he is a rooster."

No assumption, only roosters crow.

"Sissy on the other hand never makes any noise at all. I have been around the chickens constantly and he is the only one that never makes a single noise. Another mystery."

Chickens low on the totem pole won't make much noise. My hen, Poulet, is completely quite.

"But I am hoping that eventually she and the chickens will get used to one another."

When cats come up to my chickens, the roosters make noise but none of them freak out.

"Now today the chicken that lays green eggs gave me a pretty funny egg. It was very small, not much bigger than the top of my thumb, almost smaller than a robin egg. Why is that? Does that happen often? I can't wait until tomorrow to see if she is going to have a normal sized egg or not."

Are these standard chickens or bantams? I've never heard of a chicken laying an egg that small! Mutant or slightly smaller eggs can be common with certain birds or following stress or illness. I had a hen who used to lay just a thin shell (broken) or bits and pieces.

"I do have a question about brooding."

What breeds do you have? About half the breeds will brood but the other half have been bred so that they will never sit on eggs or be mothers naturally. The birds will be over 6-months-old before they start wanting to brood. Brooding is best done from mid spring into early summer. You don't want a chicken to set eggs too late in the year as the babies must be at least 2-months-old before cold weather hits.

"From what I understand after reading up on the internet, a chicken that wants to set will set on any egg, fertilized or not."

Yes.

"What happens if she sits on eggs that are not fertilized? Do they just go bad?"

The eggs will rot. The hen should lose interest after 3-4 weeks.

"Should I look with a flashlight every once in a while and remove the eggs that are not fertilized? Or should I just let her sit on them and see which ones hatch?"

You have at least one rooster. It's pretty likely that your eggs would be fertile. I wouldn't candle the eggs with a flashlight because the hen would not be happy.

"What if a chicken broods in a high cage? How will the baby chicks come down?"

They'll fall down or stay in there. Hens aren't smart enough to figure it out. You would have to move the chicks down yourself when they're about a day old and mostly all hatched.

"I did make a ramp, but will they be smart enough to use it?"

Nope. Our box has a 6" lip on it. The chicks stayed in the box for 24 hours after hatching and wouldn't come out, even with a ramp. I finally had to lift them out; the hen attacked me but I got them out. I had to set up a box on the ground for them to brood in at night because they couldn't get back into the main box even with the ramp.

"How often is a chicken ready to set?"

Most broody hens want to do it once a year but some hens are always ready!

"My hens show no interest in staying on the eggs. They just go in the coop, get rid of their egg and go back outside in the pen. Do I give them a hint by leaving the eggs just there for a few days?"

If they are a variety that doesn't brood, they won't take the hint. If they are a breed that likes to brood, then yes, leaving the eggs should encourage them to brood. You could also incubate the eggs yourself.

"How often are eggs fertilized? Does it only happen a certain time of year? What makes a chicken want to set?"

So many questions! If you have a rooster, he will probably mate with each hen daily. A single mating gives fertile eggs for about two weeks. Mating is more often from early spring to early summer and then again in the fall. A hen will want to set when something trips in her brain and puts her into a daze. I don't know what that is. Some hens, as mentioned, have that trigger removed and will never set eggs.

Ta da! I need to get back to work!

shew robin!!standing ovation for you!!

Oh thank you so very much for all your time to answer.
And as an extra bonus.. I get to know another magician! (Although I'm retired as a magician now). I am still a member of the IBM.

My window is only a foot off the ground, but I will make sure to buy some plastic and put it in front of the window.

**How old are they? Do you know?

The lady told me they are all around a year old. However, Joe does not have a comb on his head so I assume that he is not fully grown? Joe on the other hand looks like a real rooster, he has a beautiful crown on his head. Thanks to your answers I understand now why Sissy doesn't crow and why Joe talks like a chicken sometimes.

As for the eggs being fertile.. if I understand this well, the rooster does the wild thing with each hen every day so most of the eggs are furtile? Doesn't that mean that they won't last long to eat when I sell them??

The chicken with the green eggs that produced a real tiny egg yesterday hasn't given me an egg yet today. She usually lays her egg around 2 in the afternoon, any time now..

I don't know what kind of chickens I have as I don't know anything about them (yet) other than that they have feathers and lay eggs. The fact that English is not my native tongue doesn't help much because I have never heard of any particular brands of chickens, I just call them chickens. I looked up "bantam" and the Dutch name for it is "krielkip" If I remember well those are a small kind of chicken and definitely not the ones I have. I saw some pictures and my chickens don't look like that.
I have two white chickens (including Joe), they are not particularly large, but since Joe doesn't have a comb on his head I assume that they are not really a year old. Then I have two brown chickens and they are pretty large. Sissy and the other chicken are golden brown, not too big and not too small, somewhere in-between the white and the brown chickens.

When I have time I'll try and find some pictures to see if any resemble my chickens.

Glad I asked about the high cages. I think I am going to make an additional cage for brooding purposes, one that is low on the ground.

I also wanted to mention that I have 6 cages, they are fairly large, I've seen all 6 chickens sitting in a single cage once. I have two rows of 3 cages on top of one another and then there is plenty of space between the cages and the ceiling of the coop. At night when it gets dark, most of the chickens sleep on top of the cages, not in the cages.

Thanks again for answering all my questions, and when I find out what kind of chickens they are I'll let you know!

Cheers and have a great weekend.
Chris


:D

as long as the eggs do not get to a certain temp they will not begint to grow. i put mine straight inthe fridge and they will kepp just as long as store bought just dont let them get i think dont quote me on this ask robin but i think its like above 72 degrees. as for the white chickens they may be leghorns or meat hens. the brown ones may be americauans. just type in breeds of chickens on your search engine and you will find some pics of different birds. hope this gives you some help. my rooster mated multiple times a day but only some eggs were fertile let us know how you do!! oh if you would like some different kinds my friend at www.hatchingpost.com sells and ships chicks

sorry misprinted it www.thehatchingpost.com she has lots of pics to if youd just like to comapre to your irds!!

Thank you! My white ones definitely look like leghorns!
But the brown ones and the golden ones I haven't found pictures of yet. I don't think they are americaunas.

I am wondering if one of my chickens is thinking about brooding (would be nice!) Usually they all lay their eggs in the afternoon and they all lay them in the same cage.
I go in the pen once an hour just to say hi and to bring them some treats, and whenever there is an egg in the coop I take it. Then right before dark they all go in the coop and I shut the door. When I go in after them to shut the door usually 5 of them sit on top of the cages and 1 sits in a cage, but not the cage where they lay eggs.
Now today I was out from 2 pm until 10 pm. I took two eggs before I left and expected to see two more when I got home. As soon as I came home I went to the coop to shut the door for the night. I peeked in with a flashlight before shutting the door. 5 chickens were sitting on top of the cages, but one was sitting in the cage where the eggs are supposed to be so she must be sitting on the eggs!! (crossing my fingers)

Unfortunately she is sitting in one of the high cages, so if she is really brooding then I'll have to worry about the babies falling down when I'm not there to help them down, but I guess it is too soon to worry about those things. :rolleyes:

Don't count your chickens before they hatch! :P
Your hen may have just been late laying or in fact gone broody. If she stays put for a few days and looks like she's a zombie, then she's brooding.

This is the best site for chicken photos to look at:

http://www.feathersite.com//Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html

At a year old, a rooster should look pretty much like he will. Keep in mind that with some breeds, males do NOT have big combs.

Meat chickens usually won't go broody if you have those.

Fertile eggs won't go bad any faster than infertile ones BUT if they get warm, over about 80 degrees F, embryos will start to grow. Of course, in Asia, they eat eggs with full grown embryos! Yuck!

You speak better English than most Americans. I never considered that it wasn't your native language.

my leghorns brooded very well but she would only brood when there were 7 egs. dont ask me why but all my hens laid in the same box and then she would go do her duty when there were 7 in the box so it may have been 3-4 days before she went broody so you may want to try leaving eggs in there for a couple days but just go in and mark them with a lead pencil the date they laid and let some build up in the box then they may set on them!! robin has great info on all that stuff!! this is just stuff i have learned from letting my hens sit we have hatched ( well the hens have) a total of 14 babies. hopefully you can hatch some to!! hope some of this is helpful


and that is gross about the people im asia eating the eggs that way!!! i didnt know that!!

Oh my, the chicken saga just took a turn in an unexpected direction. I am having friends staying over for a few days. One of my friends grew up around chickens. I took her to the pen this morning to show off my chickens. She told me I have three different kinds of chickens and they are in pairs. Of each kind I have 1 hen and 1 rooster. She pointed out that Joe (the dominant rooster) was slightly bothering the other two roosters but he did not bother the hens. We sat there and watched the chickens for a long time. She was right. Joe was after two creatures for sure. The third one now identified as a rooster is the biggest creature out of the 6, so it could very well be a rooster.
She said it is not unusual to have 4 eggs every day even if I have only 3 hens because one of the hens can easily lay 2 eggs a day.

The hen that was sitting on the eggs the other day was no longer sitting on them the next morning. I guess she just thought it was a comfortable place to sleep.

On Friday night I found a nice carboard box. I put some soft hay in it and put it in the coop. Then I put an egg in it to give a hint to the hens. When I entered the coop on Saturday morning I laughed out loud. I guess the hens had given ME a hint. The egg was kicked out of the box and was all the way on the other end of the coop.

where ever they normally lay i would leave the eggs in there for a couple days and see if any of them take interest to the eggs!! did your friend tell yu the type they are?

No she didn't know. But she said that the white pair (that is Joe and his partner) are known to lay more than 1 egg a day. I have been going over all the pictures this morning, but it's a bit slow loading with dial-up. I'll get them all viewed before the day is over!
Thanks for that link, Robyn.

Good luck finding out what they are!! mt keghorns laid in the morning and evening also

We finally got DSL at home but we had dial up so I feel your pain. We could never watch movies or even open half the sites out there!

Let us know if you find a match!

With 3 roosters, keep an eye out that they don't turn on each other.

My only hen that lays (I have two hens) sometimes lays two eggs in a day.

My mother called a while ago to say that my older rooster they found hanging from the wire fence. He had gotten his huge back dew claw (if that's what it's called) stuck apparently when he was jumping up, maybe fighting with his son. If they hadn't found him, he would have hung there all day until I got home, possibly with bad consequences. Last night, he went to roost in the run, and I had to chase him with a stick to the coop since I close them up since the fox incident.

Poor rooster, Robyn! Good thing he's all right.

I watched the pen closely for several hours today as I was repairing a fence right next to the pen. My 'dominant' rooster (Joe) is constantly after the biggest creature in the pen, the one my friend says is a rooster also. Sigh, what to do?

On top of that, Joe is starting to get very bold with me. He hasn't attacked me yet but I have a feeling that it is only a matter of days now. Each time I come in the pen he gets closer to me. He'll stick out his head and stand completely motionless, watching me. Then he'll take two or three really quick steps in my direction as if he wants to take a leap at me, but then he stops. LOL it gives me the creeps. The only way to divert his attention is to throw birdseed in the pen. As soon as I do that he loses all interest in me and he starts picking the bird seed. It's funny that Joe is the dominant rooster because he is the smallest creature in the pen.

As for the dial-up, it is a true pain, but I live in the middle of nowhere and there is no cable available here. I'm lucky to have a phone connection!

oh please do be careful!! i am terrified of big roosters after what my rooster did to me. he was the same way at first hed just kind of stalk me but then as he built up courage he would do damage and not stop!! i used to have a to carry a wiffle ball bat in there with me to keep him off when i got babies or eggs out!! and that usaully didnt work.


Robin,
how is the rooster doing? is all ok?

Oh no, that doesn't sound good at all!! I have been carrying a stick in with me lately. What do you mean it doesn't help?

I've been very, very nice to my rooster, talking to him all the time and giving him the best treats, thinking if I am nice to him he will be nice to me. I wonder if I should just NOT be nice to him and show him who's the boss before he attacks me?

I'm on my way out the door to open the coop right now. Crossing my fingers..

I have two roosters and before that, I also had two roosters. They did fight, sometimes covering the house with blood but they never actually hurt each other bad. They would tend to fight only for a few days until one would win, and then the winner only would be the mean one with the loser acting more like a hen, submissive to avoid conflict.

Be nice to the rooster. If he attacks, it's because he's programmed that way. It's not you or him hating you. It's his duty to defend the flock from dangers, even perceived ones. Bring a stick with you, one with a v-shape at the end to push against the rooster's neck if he attacks but don't threaten him with it otherwise. I've lost two roosters who gave their lives to save their loves (hens) from predators. The first rooster I had lost a battle with a hawk but saved 2 of the 3 girls with him at the time, one having to have stitches. My precious Beebee, the only chicken I've ever hatched, died defending that same hen from the fox attack, no trace of him found. Sugar was also there (my big mean rooster) and did nothing even though he was the dominant rooster! He was on the high roost and I guess thought his own life (and the lives of the two hens with him) was more important than the rooster and hen roosting down below (that hen, Salty, was too heavy to roost up high). Anyway, roosters are courageous but misplace their protective desires on us chicken slaves! [Ok, maybe not misplaced, maybe he knows I eat his breathren from the grocery store!]

LOL I guess that gives me an advantage, I am vegetarian and they won't have to be afraid. Although I WILL make chicken soup should Joe get really mean. I'll give it to my neighbors to eat.

Thanks a lot for the tip, I will find a V-shaped stick. Sigh, I wish I didn't have to worry about all that. Maybe Joe will never be really mean? It's going to be 3 weeks tomorrow since the chickens arrived here. Joe's attitude has changed from being scared to being on guard to measuring me up. Heh, give it another week and I could be covered with gaping wounds and blood oozing all over the place. :blink:

I've never gotten gaping wounds. My pride was hurt more than I ever was. I have lots of animals, and the rooster injuries aren't that bad. Of course, that's because I do what I can to prevent them. It's funny, my mother used to say that the roosters would never hurt her because they knew that she was a better person, etc. but then she came in crying one day when she was throttled. I just said, "I told you." Guess who does all the egg collecting now?

mine old rooster left some pretty nasty scars on me we turned him loose by accident and he is now a forest bird lol we seem him every once in a while roaming the woods on our property i never though of a v shaper stick!! we always used a plastic ball bat but after a while he just attacked it and went around!!

*shudders*
All of this doesn't sound good at all!! Joe has still not made any attempts to attack me. But each time I come in the pen he looks at me funny. It really helps to bring some bird feed in with me. I throw it in front of him and he starts picking like crazy, forgetting all about me.
However, I'm almost out of bird seed and I won't be able to go to the store until about the 20th of August. I'm hoping that someone can pick some up for me before I run out.

Are sunflower seeds good for chickens? I have tons of sunflowers (I have about 200 giants and 100 smaller ones). I was thinking about giving them some seeds, do chickens eat that? The seeds I am giving them now are not as large as sunflower seeds. Can they choke on things that are too big?

my chickens eat sunflower seeds all the time. i feed them pretty much anything but i have heard never to feed them crackers?? robin will know wether this is true or not but we feed them bread and all sorts of stuff.they are good eaters!!

That's good to know. I will start feeding them some sunflower seeds. I have some left from last year. And soon I'll have a ton of sunflower seeds, my sunflowers are starting to bloom now. I was told not to feed them onions, garlic and wet bread. So far I noticed that they love potato peels and tomatoes. But the bird seed is on top of their list of favorite foods. They also like the bread. They don't care much for green stuff like spinach, parsley, etc.. although they seem to like lettuce.

mine like to eat some grass also i usaully pull up some weeds from garden or somewhere and throw it in there evry couple days. i have never heard the garlic or onion? maybe they just dont want bad breath ha ha ha sorry just had to say it!! but thanks for that info!!

I feed my chickens wild garlic but regular garlic and onions aren't a good idea (I forget what chemical it is that they have that's not great, also for cats). Wet bread would be more apt to have mold, etc. so that makes sense. I toast multigrain bread for my chickens which they love. They eat spinach, parsley, other greens, and lettuces (not iceburg) but prefer kale as far as leafy greens go. I feed mine a small handful of sunflower seeds once a week as a treat. It's ok to feed some but not a ton as they are fatty. My chickens have not choked on them. I'm not sure which crackers are supposed to be bad. Perhaps they are considered bad because they could get stuck in the chicken's throat or maybe just because of hydrogenated oils and too much salt. Potatoes and tomatoes should be fed sparingly; I think they also have some chemicals that aren't great in high amounts.

Oops thanks for letting me know about the potatoes and tomatoes. I believe the reason why one should not feed chickens garlic or onion is because apparently you can taste it in the eggs, or so I was told.
Glad to know about the kale, because I have tons of that stuff. Kale seems the only thing here that doesn't sell. I can't even give it away, people don't want it, so I guess I'll just feed it to the chickens.

They LOVED the sunflower seeds! I tried to make them eat out of my hand but they weren't that bold, they waited until I put the seeds down.

Hi Fairchild, why not post some pics? I like them.