Poultry Central - The New Zealand Poultry & Chicken Forum

Hi John, they are only 6 months old! They're not Shavers who start to lay at 18 to 24 weeks old. Give them a few more weeks and you should find their first tiny eggs in the laying box. These heavy breeds take a bit longer than light breeds. Unless your coop was previously inhabited by some other cho...

Hi Chris and welcome to PC. Do you suspect your hens have worms? Usually you can see worms in their droppings if they carry an infestation. I use chopped up pumpkin seeds as a preventative against worms. The pumpkis seeds have some tiny little spikes which get hooked on worms and paralyze them, allo...

Hi Georgia and welcome to PC. Was it the Rare Breeds auction where you purchased the chickens? If their combs are bright and red and you don't see any obvious signs of mites - you may have an egg thief. That can be hedgehogs or rats - or even dogs. We recently caught 7 big fat hedgehogs and now we h...

HI KBB and welcome to PC. That's very unusual that so many chickens go lame all at the same time. However, what you decsribe very much sounds like the paralysis form of Mareks. If they can still walk and eat and drink I'd leave them to it and see how it develops. There is nothing you can do (unless ...

Hi and welcome to PC! Yes, there are Buff Plymouth Rocks out there - and I've seen a lovely breeding group yesterday! The breeder is contemplating letting them free range - all breeds together - so if you are keen on fertile eggs please give him a ring asap. I post his phone number here but will del...

Hi Pravin and welcome to PC. Sorry it has taken so long to get your first post approved.

Hi Geoff and welcome to PC. Sorry for the delay!

It's difficult to say what causes the crusty white covering of the earlobes in your chooks. Facial mange is one possibility. Here is a photo of an affected Pekin: https://thisnzlife.co.nz/make-hens-like/

Hi Mitsy, sorry to hear about this. It's such a devastating disease. I cull promptly. When they are sick they shed mega amounts of virus which persist in the environment for a long time. However, there are people who have persisted with treatment (Remdesivir as an antiviral), had the chook in a hamm...

Have you had a look at the Rare Breeds Breeders directory?

http://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/directorye.html#chooks

Let's hope you'll get a better hatch rate next time. Best of luck!

Hmm - better than no hen... Are you going to try again?

3 chicks out of 12 posted eggs in an incubator actually isn't that bad. A rooster chick will have dark feathers in his wings from early on. They can be reliably sexed at 2 weeks old so I hope you won't have more than 1 rooster. Bets of luck with raising them!

Hi Ilvon,

lovely to see you are hatching eggs in an incubator. Are they Faverolles?

I leave eggs for 3 more days just in case there's a late hatcher.

I hatch eggs for as long as I get fertile eggs which usually is February.

Hi Grenoble and welcome to PC! Sorry to get to your inquiry only now. There are a few possible reasons for a swollen abdomen: egg bound, internal laying - and just plain obesity. These are the erasons I know about. If your hen is egg bound you should be able to feel the hard shell of her egg when po...

I agree with Mitsy - it's up to how healthy your chicks are. I only bring in fresh blood if I absolutely have to. I have line bred (father x daughter, mother x son) for decades now. Sometimes brother x sister. Occasionally I get a hatch where too many chicks have something like splayed leg or hatch ...