|
||||||||
| Do you have a question about life on a farm? Do you want to know what the cows eat? How many pigs are born in a litter?
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Scroll down to view
questions other kids have asked or click here to go right to the question form. |
||||||||
| Dear Farmer, how long does a hen have to set on eggs before they hatch???? kay, 6th grade Dear Kay, 21 days. Dear farmer, I have a couple of questions for you. 1st, I have 26 chickens and 1 blue slate turkey hen and today one of my roosters grabbed my turkey by the back of the neck and held her down and climbed on her back just like he would do to mate with a chicken hen, but I want to know if a rooster can actually mate with a turkey, and if they can do this, what would the outcome be? I dont have to worry about this now because Hazel (my turkey) is only 18 weeks old but I have tried looking this up and have not found anything on this matter. 2nd my hens are 21 weeks old and have not started laying eggs yet but I know they will start soon, they used to get into their nesting boxes and sleep at night until I put up the sides of a baby crib across the rafters in their coop to hold extra bales of straw, now they jump up there and sleep at night until morning, when they get old enough (any day now) and start to lay their eggs, will they get into their nesting boxes and lay eggs or will they lay them in the rafters so they will drop onto the floor or will they get on the floor of the coop and lay them there? Thanks, Also, can roosters be roosters but not have spurs? christina, 8th grade, mays indiana Dear Christina, First off, nothing will happen with your turkey mating with the hens except the hens might be injured. As far as where your hens will lay, that is a good question. You can use fake eggs in the nesting boxes to give them the idea that that is where they should lay. I would guess they are only roosting in the rafters and won't lay up there. So I would predict they will lay either on the floor or the nesting boxes. Roosters take a while to grown their spurs (even up to a year) so it is possible they haven't grown them yet. Use all the other clues to determine if it is actually a rooster. Dear Farmer? What is the difference between the eggs we eat and the eggs with chicks inside them. john, 4th grade, memphis Dear John, None. The hens that have a rooster will lay "fertile" eggs. They will only have a chick develop inside if they are kept warm either by an incubator or a hen. You will never get an egg from the grocery store that has a chick in it. Dear Farmer, what is a two week old female rhode island red chick suppose to look like? Jemma, 8th grade, Palm beach Dear Jemma, I am not sure what you are asking. Red chickens are usually yellow chicks. After 2 weeks they would start to develop their adult feathers. Dear Farmer, Would a hen lay on and hatch duck eggs???Would They Raise them??? Ashley, 7th grade Dear Ashley, A brooding hen (one that is ready to set on a clutch of eggs) would set on any eggs that you put under her. The mother duck does add some moisture to the eggs from her feathers after she goes swimming, which the hen does not do. Once eggs are hatched the birds are pretty self sufficient, but a hen would probably keep track of them. It really depends on the chicken. Dear Farmer, I am wanting a milk goat for the milk, what i want to know is do you have to breed a milk goat before they start giving milk? I only want one goat and dont want to breed them. Tammy, 8th grade, connersville Dear Tammy, If you buy a goat in milk and milk her twice daily you will keep getting milk for a year or so, but her production will begin to drop off. All mammals make milk to feed their babies. So, she does have to be bred. And, eventually she will stop giving milk. Dear Farmer, Thanks for the answer but I have one more. How long should I wait before introducing my chick in with the other four hens? Should it be gradual like a few hours out in the run a day? Or should I just put her in and let them establish the pecking order. Lee, 5th grade, Bayshore Dear Lee, You should wait at least for the chick to be fully feathered to introduce it unless you can convince one of your hens to "adopt" it. If you can set it up so that everyone can see each other but not peck it would be best to have them that way for at least a week. There is going to be a certain amount of pecking due to the "pecking order" as you said and that is okay, you just don't want the younger chick to get bloody. You can try them little bit at a time as well. Dear Farmer, I have one egg in an incubator and the temperature got to about 104 degrees today in there. Can that kill the chick growing in my egg? Eileen, 6th grade, Westchester Dear Eileen, There is a chance, it really depends on how long it was at the higher temperatures. Dear Farmer, I have been hatching eggs in a small incubator but only one hatched. I know they are supposed to live together but it is way too small to put in with my hens. What should I do? Lee, 5th grade, Bayshore Dear
Lee, Dear Farmer, how big can a chicken grow? smith, 3rd grade, akron Dear Smith, It really depends on the breed of chicken. There are bantam breeds that are miniatures and they would only weigh a couple of pounds. And there are larger breeds that could weigh close to 20 pounds. What's Your Question? Ask the Farmer. Fill out the form below and click on the submit button. |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
