Do you know of any web sites that have pictures of chickens? I have ten gold wyndot (sp?) and a rooster. The man who gave him to me said he was a Cochin but the pictures I've seen don't look like him. He's white with a blue beak, purple waddles and crown, and has long white feathers on his head and feet. He also has a fourth toe on the front of his feet, something I've never seen on a chicken (I DID have a cat with six toes once). If you can give me the addy to a web site with good pictures I would appreciate it or tell me what you think this rooster is. One more question.... I would like to have some bantam hens. I plan on buying some from the feed store when they get the babies in. I am going to try to have my hens setting to hatch about the time the bantams come in so I can slip them under the mothers and get her to raise them along with her own babies. Is this plausable and what would be the best breed of bantam for this? I appreciate your help.

A slsot of questions! The rooster sounds like a White Silkie! Silkies have webless feathers, so they are more like fur than feathers, but he may be a cross-bred Silkie????Silkies are bantams, so if he is large, he is a cross. The blue and purple, extra toes (actually a purebred Silkie would have 5 toes) give him the Silkie designation. Have you looked under his "feathers"? Is his skin blue/black? If so He IS a Silkie (bones will be black, also.) You must know that you cannot "plan" to have your hens setting at any particular time! This is not in your control--or the hen's, for that matter! When a hen (who is of a "setting" breed) has layed a clutch (and clutch size may vary for every hen--10 to 50 eggs), her temperature drops a degree or two, and she becomes broody. Only then will she set! So tell the feed store, you will pick up a few chicks whenever you have a setting hen--and you must get them day old to put under your hen AT NIGHT when all her chicks have hatched. If they are older, they may beatup the newly hatched. If your hens chicks are larger than the bantam chicks you want, they likely will bully them--size means a lot to a chicken. (Except some bantam roosters????) If they are "different", The hen may not want them, so be prepared to raise them on their own. And not wanting them may mean savaging them! Some hens will mother anything--mixed sizes and colors. You will not know this until you try it--with each hen. Likely your hens WILL be setting fairly close to the same time, but not necessarily! Hen hatching is not always easy, but I prefer it to an incubator myself--but I use both, the incubator the least! And large hens may squash bantam chicks, as they are so much smaller, the may not feel them under their feet. Experience both happy and sad must guide you in your project. Not meaning to discourage you, it is too good a project to abandon your plans, but BE PREPARED and ENJOY. CJR

Thank you so much for your help. I can't explain what it means to have help readily available. I should be looking at my first problem. Laying. I have ten hens and only have gotten one to two eggs a day for the last week or so. I started including whole milo in their diet and I have at least gotten one egg a day instead of none, so maybe it's helping. I don't mind raising chicks on my own. When I was a child we always had baby ducks or chickens at easter so the raising was the thing. When they got older we took the ducks to the 'duck pond' at the local university and found homes for the chickens (we lived in town) but now that I'm 9 miles from town I'll have all the darned chickens I want! LOL! Thank you so much for your help! :o)

Do you have to leave all the eggs in the nest so the
hen can see the clutch before she becomes broody? How
long do you leave them? Anything elese that will help
her get in the mood? Thank you. (City gi

You do not have to leave ANY eggs in the nest for a hen to become broody. Nothing you do will "get her in the mood", although we think we are helping by leaving eggs in the nest, it is Mother Nature who determines it--the hen or you have nothing to do with it, really. Some hens lay 8-10 eggs and that is her clutch and she sets. Others will lay up to 40 eggs before becoming broody (can you imagine a nest like that if you left the eggs???) And, of course, some breeds and some hens never set, but will lay a clutch, rest a few weeks without setting, then begin to lay again. And if a hen does get broody, she will set on an empty nest for weeks! Her temperature drops and she cannot help it--it is programed in to hens!! Well, the thing to do, if you want to leave eggs, is to DATE in pencil, the egg layed each day. Leave only one or two in the nest if you sincerely beleive it will help. But put the others in an egg carton in a cool place. Leave 2 of the oldest ones in the nest, the same 2 eggs all the time. When you have the number of eggs you hope to hatch, start eating or using the extra eggs, and if she sets, take out the old eggs you left there, if they are over 2 weeks old and dump them. Give her the number of freshest eggs that she can cover easily to hatch and you're in business! 21 days to chicks--and they will all hatch the same day--well usually. Be sure no other hens can lay in her nest, even if it means moving her to a separate area! Good luck. CJR

Are there any characteristics, that I can tell if I have a Dominique hen or a Barred Rock hen?

i just love silkies, i got 1 recently. he's a white cockrel. ne 1 here have ne 4 sale or trade? please im me, or if u want to share ur "poultry knowledge" with me i'd b happy, so...... just e-mail me!!

Since this is about weird roosters I guess I'll tell about mine. For the last couple of days my little red cochin bantam has been sitting on eggs. The weird part is,he's a rooster! He even pecks if you try to take the eggs. I just wonder if someone could tell me if that's normal,or is he a broody rooster!

I have recently moved to the country and are in the process of building a barn. We will have a few horses and later cattle. I would like to have a couple of chickens, free range for eggs. I do not know anything about buying,feeding, if they need a nesting area or anything else that might be important. I would appreciate any advise anyone can give me. Thanks

Keeping hens.

People keep hens for lots of different reasons, some for exhibition/show, some for production or utility, some for both! Your choice of breed depends on what you want from the hens and often also depends on what is easily available.

Housing.
Hens need a dry and draught free place to sleep at night. They need to be kept safe from vermin (weasels,rats,mink,fox etc) They'll need perches to sit on, nest boxes to lay their eggs in and litter on the floor to scratch about.
They like light well ventilated homes and Hate damp and draughts.
I'd always fit a droppings board under the perch/perches. It's just like a shelf. Most droppings are voided at night and if you sprinkle the board with sand or shavings it's an easy job to scrape the droppings into a bucket every couple of days (they are great in the compost heap) and this helps keep the pen sweet, clean and healthy.
Perches can be made from about 2x2inch timber with the corners well rounded off and sanded smooth. It's handy if it can be removed to clean (but it must be firm and never wobble!)
Hens need about 10 inches of perch space each. Keep all perches the same height or you'll have fights for the highest spots!
The droppings board can be fixed about 2 feet from the ground the perches 3 inches higher.


It helps if the hen house/coop is easy for the owner to maintain. So a shed you can walk into is easier than a small pen..but both work.
Nice ..but not essential some form of battery or electric light. Useful for adjusting daylight length and for checking on the hens when it's dark!)

It's worth spending extra time building your hen house carefully to make it as easy to look after the hens as possible. Imagine doing daily chores in Winter, when it's windy, when it's raining ..or if you're asking someone else to take care of them while you take a break. Keep everything as simple and well made as possible. If it's a big pen make sure you can get a barrow through the door. Make sure handles, latches and bolts are easy to use.
Situation… is there a good well drained path from the coop to your house. A nice long stroll may be fun in Summer but when it's blowing a gale it's no fun at all. (you may as well learn from my mistakes…and boy have I made some)
For 6 hens.
I'd go for a 6' X 4' house with a perch along the long side with a dropping board beneath ('bout 18" wide") I'd cover the floor with a good layer of wood shavings/leaf litter or peat (about 3 to 6 inches deep)
I'd have two nest boxes 12 to 14" square fixed to the end of the house about 1 foot from the ground. Line them with soft hay or similar.
I'd have a pop hole (small door way) about 10" wide and 12" high into a covered (clear corrugated plastic makes a good roof)and wired in run the same size as the house and I'd have a pop hole from this run to a larger run/yard. The covered run allows the hens a dry scratching area and means you have a protected area for them if you have a lot of predators about. It's also handy when you are out and about you can leave the birds safely. Keep the floor of this run covered with 6 inches of dry litter…leaves, chopped straw shavings whatever you have.
They'd need a water trough (metal fountain designs are good, birds need not less than 1/2 pint per bird per day) and a food trough or hopper. They need a corner of the run as a dust bath (a shallow wooden box 18" square x 6 inches deep filled with sand or dried sieved soil. This helps keep them insect free)They need a container of grit and a container of crushed shell.
Breeds.
Look at the hatchery sites eg mcmurray.com and get them to send you a catalogue. Read the breed descriptions and see what appeals! I'd go for a Heavy breed of hen as they're generally far more placid. Avoid anything excitable to begin with. Don't get a cockerel the first year. You could get one in 12 months if you're keen. (That way the hens will be mature and matings are often best with age on one side. Cockerels can be a darn nuisance and also good fun but wait 12 months and see.)
If you want eggs and meat go for Utility or production strains. If you want good layers that are also generally sensible birds try Rhode Island Reds, or the sex link crosses eg red sex link or black sex link. Personally I'd avoid leghorns and other light super egg layers as they can be really flighty and easily upset (no offence leghorn lovers!) or try a mix of breeds but go for the placid breeds eg Australorp, orpington, dorking , etc to begin with.
Anything else…
Yes lots but this is an epic already ..buy a good book or borrow one from the library. The Gail Damerow book has good reviews. "a guide to raising chickens"
Good luck and have fun!