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I have now seen one of my Barred Rock hens crowing, multiple times. It's very bizarre. On top of that she's started being really bossy, chasing some of the other hens and even attacking the rooster. Our only rooster right now is a bantam who is not terribly macho, I'm wondering if we got another rooster if she would behave herself. I hate to get rid of her as she's my favorite hen, she's very friendly and a good layer, but I can't have her terrorizing everyone else.
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Feb 1, 2012 15:09
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Hello, it is nice to see so many people keeping chickens. I currently keep two Copper black maran (or at least that is what they are closest too as they probably aren't purely that breed) hens in my back garden, who are free to roam all day If no-one minds I'll post a couple of pictures of my two girls here. First one here is Janet Jackson (named my by my little brother) being caught trying to walk into the house:  This is Zorro (named by me) having a break during the past summer months in the flower beds. 
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Feb 1, 2012 21:03
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I... I.... I think I'm gonna need more hens. Roo seems to have his favorites and poor Rusty and Godzilla have lost a lot of back feathers. I'm keeping them separated with Spaghetti in the run because Roo doesn't seem to like Spaghetti much. He chases her a lot to mount her, but then he scares her away when I give them treats  .I really need my tax money to buy materials to start building a bigger coop, and leave the one they use atm as a nest coop. I'm thinking of getting a buff bramah and a jersey giant, but I don't know how a jersey giant would do in a Southern California summer .
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Feb 2, 2012 00:25
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I think you should get easter eggers.  E: Or speckled sussexes so I can live vicariously through you.
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Feb 2, 2012 00:35
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I have a Jersey Giant in Louisiana and she does just fine. They are hardy birds, even in heat. I too would recommend Easter Eggers though. They come in so many different colors and have fuzzy beards/ear muffs.
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Feb 2, 2012 00:58
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how big can easter eggers be? Also I wanted to get another barred rock hen like Spaghetti because I love the stripes  Sooo if I manage to build a decent 4x8 feet chicken coop, I could add up to four more chickens and that'd be my limit. I'd love to get a bugg brahma, an easter egger, a speckled sussex (omg just googled the breed and they are so pretty  ), and a barred rock or silverlaced wyandotte.drat chicken keeping is addictive...
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Feb 2, 2012 01:09
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Easter eggers aren't a breed specifically so they kinda end up all over the board, but I think they come in everything from 4-8 pounds. But um, I've only barely looked into chickens so don't quote me on that.
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Feb 2, 2012 01:18
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Yeah I know easter eggers are amareucana mixes, I just wish they'd have a more uniform size of 5-7 pounds, Roo is a big boy and smaller hens might be a bit fragile for him and his horny ways atm .
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Feb 2, 2012 01:22
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Geokinesis posted:If no-one minds I'll post a couple of pictures of my two girls here. Awwww. Both of your chickens are so pretty! I love the brown/black feathers on Janet. The pattern is so beautiful! Chido -- why don't you make some of those cloth chicken saddles (is that what they are called?) for your poor hens. Ya'll like dressing up the birds after all.
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Feb 2, 2012 02:08
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I think she just needs an excuse to get more hens. :p Roo is a horny dude.
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Feb 2, 2012 20:11
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c355n4 posted:I think she just needs an excuse to get more hens. :p No problem with that. More hens means more pictures! Go! Chido! Go! I live vicariously through your images.
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Feb 3, 2012 01:34
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Chido posted:I... I.... I think I'm gonna need more hens. Roo seems to have his favorites and poor Rusty and Godzilla have lost a lot of back feathers. I'm keeping them separated with Spaghetti in the run because Roo doesn't seem to like Spaghetti much. He chases her a lot to mount her, but then he scares her away when I give them treats Adopt a VS hen from the hatch this year dooo itt.
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Feb 3, 2012 03:18
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I'd love to do that but VS lives in Nevada now , so I won't be able to get any goon peeps.
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Feb 3, 2012 06:28
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Most EE's are at least medium sized, so they should be ok. If you want EE's, I'd suggest buying from Myer Hatchery, since they are the only one who's EEs will consistently lay blue or green eggs. Speaking of eggs, how is everyone's hens laying right now? Mine are loving the freakishly warm weather, I'm getting between 4 and 5 dozen eggs a week from 11 hens.
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Feb 5, 2012 08:31
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Easter Eggers sound lovely, also a great way to surprise people by giving them such a 'strange' coloured egg every now and again! Also it has just snowed here so I spent a bit of time trying to clear some ground before letting the hens out this morning. However it was no use, they poked their heads out the coop and went back inside, I may have to try harder. 
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Feb 5, 2012 09:10
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New backyard chicken keeper reporting! I'm thrilled to find this thread here, I figured there probably be a farm animal thread in PI but this is perfect. I just moved into a house that has a chicken coop already built on the side, and they left us a chicken as well. She's only one or two years old, and she's definitely laying pretty good. I'm not sure what time she does it yet, but we're pending on an egg a day for the last 5 days right now, we even had a decent snowstorm the last few days and the temperatures have been pretty low. We're in Colorado, so it does get cold, although it's been remarkably warm this winter. Anyway here's a couple pictures, hopefully you goons can help us come up with a good name.   She's really pretty, looks black but her feathers glow green and purple in the sunlight. I had no idea there were so many varieties of chicken until I skimmed this thread, do you guys have any idea what she is? We are most definitely going to get a couple more, it seems to me that there is plenty of room in the coop. It measures about 65 square feet, with 50 outdoors and 15 inside. I don't want any more than we need, so I'm thinking 2 more is probably the sweet spot. Coop pics   She's not really a camera whore, she just follows me every loving where I go. The previous owner never let her out of the coop, I have once. The yard is pretty much 100% dirt, so all there is for her to munch on is weeds. There are a lot of predators around here, we are pretty much right on the foot of the Rockies, but it seems like the coop at least is pretty well locked down. We only have chain link fence a few feet high, so I'm not so sure that it's a good idea to leave her out unattended. One of my biggest questions is what is the general consensus on how long chicks have to be kept indoors? I would imagine that it probably wouldn't be safe to leave them outdoors until at least May, so I'm just trying to figure out when we should get everything started. I found the link someone posted for jackshenhouse.com and I'm going to browse that, but any advice on raising chicks for the first time would be appreciated. We have 2 cats, but we also have a spare room that we can devote entirely to the chicks and keep the house predators away. Edit: Just checked my local ordinance, 10 chickens allowed with no roosters and no permit. 4 square feet per bird, so I do have plenty of space. the good fax machine fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Feb 5, 2012 |
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Feb 5, 2012 19:23
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Chicks need to be kept warm and indoors until they are fully feathered. You could try buying a grown hen at a feed store (some stores sell poultry too), to keep her company, since one hen alone is too lonely, you'd need to keep at least 3 for them to have a sense of being in a flock. You could also make a bigger enclosed run for them using some sturdy welded wire. I would also reinforce the wall of the run, since chicken wire is too flimsy and any predator can tear it if they really want chicken for dinner . Btw I think your hen might be a jersey giant or australorp, I guess it depends on how big she is .
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Feb 5, 2012 20:00
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Are there any rescue chickens you could adopt? It's always nice to provide a new home for an unwanted animal. Also, your black hen is very cute. She sounds quite friendly since she follows you around. You could name her Shadow. 
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Feb 5, 2012 20:06
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marauderthirty posted:Edit: Just checked my local ordinance, 10 chickens allowed with no roosters and no permit. 4 square feet per bird, so I do have plenty of space. That's for the sleeping area, a chicken needs about 10 square feet of run space if you are gonna keep them enclosed. Edit: I keep all my chickens --7 of them-- in a rather small coop i bought.http://www.petco.com/product/112389/WARE-Premium--Chick-N-Villa-Chicken-Coop.aspx We had the intention of only keeping 3 chickens, then we adopted Roostroyer, then we caught a stray hen... then we bought spaghetti... then there was this cute leghorn pullet at he feed store... so the coop sleeping area is not enough anymore. What we did is we fenced a huge area in the back yard, I boarded all the wired sides of the coop, added a roost inside, and now 3-4 chickens sleep in the tiny room of the coop, and 2-3 on the perch. I leave the coop open all day and I only lock them once they are settled down and sleeping. I'm gonna build them a bigger coop when I get money, so I can leave that one for nesting, and also because Roo needs more girlfriends to have surprise sex with So basically I wouldn't worry too much about the sleeping area, but they do need a lot of running space. Chido fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Feb 5, 2012 |
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Feb 5, 2012 20:23
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2 hens, one nest spot....
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Feb 5, 2012 20:59
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WrathofKhan posted:Speaking of eggs, how is everyone's hens laying right now? Mine are loving the freakishly warm weather, I'm getting between 4 and 5 dozen eggs a week from 11 hens. We're averaging two a day from four hens, as it's midwinter here. Overnight we got six inches of snow, so yesterday evening snow proofed the run (and outside the run) so there would still be grass & extra shelter for when they came out this morning. Our garden looked like this first thing today:  But the hens weren't bothered by the snow for too long (temperature felt less cold than it had done for the last couple of days and there was no biting wind).  We brought Dora, the small, wheezy hen inside for a few hours every day when she was on medication. We've continued this when the weather is cold, damp and windy (not good for her breathing). The warm kitchen soon lets her catch her breath and relax, plus we make sure she gets enough food (she's also the bottom of the pecking order) and a chance to preen and try out new treats the others will eventually get. Best news of all is Pip, who was drat as near bald when we got her. Three weeks after she came here some feathers started coming through on her back:  Fourteen days after that:  No wonder she'd been stuffing her beak so much. Pip's been looking miserable the last week, which is not surprising considering how many feathers were breaking through her skin. It's can't be a pleasant feeling. Hopefully the snow will melt soon and Spring will come along with warmer weather and they can get the whole garden to spookygonk fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Feb 5, 2012 |
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Feb 5, 2012 22:38
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marauderthirty posted:New backyard chicken keeper reporting! She looks like a black sex link to me. Once she has a friend to hang out with she won't follow you around as much. (Unless she thinks you have treats) Couple of pics to share: Tiffany:  Spikey:  Bill watching Vanna lay an egg:  Trixie:  Spookygonk, can't wait to see what your girls look like all feathered in! meriruka fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Feb 6, 2012 |
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Feb 6, 2012 01:24
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I agree that she looks like a black sex-link, she's way too small to be a Jersey Giant, and she's not fluffy enough to be an Australorp, plus her comb is on the big side for an Australorp. You should get her some buddies, a lone chicken is a lonely chicken. Check out Craigslist to see if anyone in your area is selling. If you decide to get chicks, they need to stay inside until they are fully feathered, which takes about a month.
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Feb 6, 2012 05:57
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marauderthirty posted:New backyard chicken keeper reporting! I'm not so sure she's a sex link as most sex links have brown on their chest. As for advice on chick raising, make sure you get a heat lamp as chicks are supposed to be kept at 90ish degrees for the first week, 85 for the second week, and so on. Once they are fully feathered you can put them outside. You may want to introduce them to the older hen slowly though as she might pick on them.
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Feb 6, 2012 06:36
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Also, as dumb as this may sound to you, but you could get a chicken diaper and let her hang out with you inside the house while you get chicks. I doubt your cats would try to eat her, there are a couple of stray cats that come to hangout into our backyard, and they haven't tried to ea our chickens yet, probably because they are too big to look like an easy meal.
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Feb 6, 2012 07:03
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Twitter posted:chickam2008 Ladies and Gentlemen... get your names ready!
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Feb 6, 2012 10:02
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I wonder what breeds of eggs will be in this year's Chickam? I know that the Birchan Marans eggs were difficult to incubate last year, but I'd love to see some more Birchan Marans chicks just because their little white butts are soooo adorable! Birchan Marans chicks are like little penguins. What type of chick was the famous Piggles? That was a very cool-looking chick too.
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Feb 6, 2012 14:47
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Megatron has been limping and favors her left leg since I let them out this morning. I worked yesterday afternoon and didn't get back home until 6pm, by that time the chickens were already in the coop so I couldn't tell if she was already hurt. She got some big scratch on the top of her foot, in between the right and middle toes. I washed her foot to try to remove as much poop and dirt as I could, and the scratch doesn't look deep, it's semi scabbed and it seems it only peeled off some scares off her skin. I have her on a crate in my room for the moment because she doesn't walk much and she just lays down outside. I put some ointment on her wound to help it heal. I hope she doesn't have any broken bones or anything.
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Feb 6, 2012 19:05
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Hey Rusty, I just took the egg you laid. You mad?  Awww you got mad 
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Feb 6, 2012 20:13
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Awwww. Stealin' her eggs! Poor angry bird...I mean hen!  Rusty is very pretty though. I'd love to pet her but she's looking a bit broody there.
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Feb 6, 2012 21:12
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Inveigle posted:Awwww. Stealin' her eggs! Poor angry bird...I mean hen! Rusty is one of my smallest hens, she's at most 4 pounds, and that's just a wild guess. she pecks my nieces when they try to get the egg from under her, but when I do it, I just lift her up with one hand, grab the egg, and put her back down, and she only gives me the stink eye you see and gets all fluffed up. she eventually gets over it, if she doesn't then I get her out of the coop and close it.
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Feb 6, 2012 21:17
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I checked with the Humane Society, and they don't have any chickens. I haven't tried calling any feed stores yet, mostly due to the fact that all that BFE stuff is out beyond the east side of town and I live on the west. Craigslist yielded a few results, but once again all these people live out in the boonies and I couldn't decide whether $25 for a chicken was fair or not. So I noticed just a few hours ago that my hen is eating her own eggs. I was checking up on her to see if she laid an egg yet today, and I noticed 1 1/2 destroyed eggs on the floor in the enclosure. They were about 2 feet from her normal nesting spot. I wasn't sure if she had just stepped on them or why she didn't lay them in the usual place, but after I threw them out I noticed her pecking at the stuff that was still stuck to the bedding. I read that it may be a calcium issue, so I gave her some cheese and getting some oyster shell later. Any suggestions on what else it could be? I'm all worried about her now. Edit: Also, judging from a picture from a seller on CL I'm about 99% sure my hen is a Black Australorp. the good fax machine fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Feb 7, 2012 |
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Feb 7, 2012 22:57
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Sometimes they just squish them on accident and decide to taste them. The guy at the feed store told me what to do whenever you have an egg eater. You take an egg, poke it with a needle, get all the yolk out, and fill it full of mustard. You then put it back in the egg-box. (He also said to mix the mustard with pepper but birds can't taste spicy so I didn't do that.) I know it sounds crazy but it's worked twice for me. Oh, and $25 for a chicken is definitely too much if it's just a yard bird. hypoallergenic cat breed fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Feb 7, 2012 |
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Feb 7, 2012 23:11
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Chido posted:Hey Rusty, I just took the egg you laid. Aww I love the grumpy, pouty, floofy chicken look. They are hilarious. As I've said before I've seen four or five hens in the same nesting spot ALL doing that at the same time. They were all White Plymouth Rocks too so all you saw was a mass of white with multiple heads. And angry long bawking.
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Feb 7, 2012 23:22
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Well I learned another thing about chickens, hens like to steal each other's eggs to lay on. Oh the chicken drama
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Feb 9, 2012 18:57
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It sounds like you've got an egg eater, which could be why they left her in the coop when they moved. The advice about filling a egg with mustard sometimes works, I've also heard people say they've had good luck with putting a wooden or plastic egg in, because the chicken can't eat it. It can be a very hard behavior to break, and worse, she can teach it to other chickens. In my area, a pullet that has just started laying, or is about to lay goes for around $20, so that price doesn't sound outrageous to me, but chicken prices can vary a lot depending on where you are. In other news, a friend of mine ordered 25 Easter Eggers from Meyer Hatchery that should arrive today or tomorrow, and I'm getting six of them. I'll try to post pictures of the little fuzzy butts when they arrive. :3
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Feb 9, 2012 20:21
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WrathofKhan posted:In other news, a friend of mine ordered 25 Easter Eggers from Meyer Hatchery that should arrive today or tomorrow, and I'm getting six of them. I'll try to post pictures of the little fuzzy butts when they arrive. :3 I'm facebook friends with the Meyer hatchery and they just posted this video. I wonder which ones are yours
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Feb 9, 2012 20:23
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Chido posted:Well I learned another thing about chickens, hens like to steal each other's eggs to lay on. Oh the chicken drama I've got one who will lay outside the nest boxes about 50% of the time, and whenever she does the other chickens kick her eggs around through the dirt. It's like full time drama at the chicken high school cafeteria.
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Feb 9, 2012 20:35
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Twitter posted:Velvet Sparrow @VelvetSparrow I'm tempted to suggest they get some Transylvanian Naked Necks...
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Feb 10, 2012 02:21
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Velvet Sparrow on Livejournal posted:On the subject of chickens, we're planning on having our annual event--Chickam--on Easter weekend in April--the 7th & 8th. We'll set the eggs in the incubator on March 17th and 21 days later should have chicks hatching! We haven't chosen the breeds we'll hatch yet, but I'd like some MilleFleur Belgian d'Uccles, plus some chicks from our own hens. Several folks around our neighborhood have chickens and sell eggs, so I may get some eggs from them to add to the mix. We'll be web broadcasting the hatch live, with sound, then we place the cam in the brooder box 24/7 for the following 8 weeks so you can watch the chicks grow up. It's been VERY popular in the past and is fascinating and educational for adults and kids alike! See my website for details, here, scroll down to 'Chickam': http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickLinksChickam.htm I wonder if any of last year's chickens are laying eggs yet? I'd love to see some of Peepsquire's chicks.
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Feb 10, 2012 02:25
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