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Dear Farmer, What type of soil do you think that corn will grow best in: woody-soil, sandy-soil, rocky-soil or regular soil? Why? Jana, 6th grade, Bennington Dear Jana, Corn can grown in lots of different soil, and it is hard to answer this without more information, but regular soil is probably the best choice. It will hold in the nutrients the best. Dear Farmer, I have a hen that has been laying on eggs for more than a month is that normal? jose, merced Dear Jose, That IS normal if the eggs are not fertile. They should have hatched by now if there were chicks incubating inside. Do you have a rooster? Hens will get broody and want to set on eggs whether they are fertile or not. You have get her up, remove the eggs and then get her away from the nest until she gets over being broody. Dear Farmer, can i get a chicken if i am not a farmer? abigail, 4th grade, laguna nigaul Dear Abigail, Lots of people keep chickens in their backyards and they are not farmers! You just have to have space to build a shelter and neighbors that are okay with having chickens next door. Dear Farmer, I was just wondering... How many sets of feathers does a fowl grow before it's an adult? Doug, 9th grade, New Smyrna Dear Doug, Hundreds. The down is still underneath the feathers, but the chicken will have it's adult feathers by about 4 months old. Dear Farmer, How long are cows supposed to live? Natalie, 8th grade, Chattanooga Dear Natalie, They can live up to 20 years depending on how well cared for they are. dear farmer: i need ur help for my project am doing How many weeks dose it talk a baby chick to grow into a adult chicken? chelsea, 6th grade, v town Dear Chelsea, About 16 weeks. Dear Farmer, My rooster likes pecking my hen when my hen gets to eat the food first is there something wrong? Oh yeah, my hen is newly bought and I want to know when she will lay eggs? Michelle, Grade 5, Bayshore Dear Michelle, Have you ever heard the phrase "pecking order"? The rooster thinks he is the boss so he wants to eat first. The hen should start laying eggs after about 4 months depending on whether the days are nice and long. Dear Farmer, how can you tell if a chick is growing inside the egg? please awnser fast im in 3rd period and we only have 20mins to finish our assignment AHH!!!! destini, 12th grade, alaska Dear Destini, I am sorry I did not get back to you in time for your class. Farmers tell if there is a chick inside the egg by shining a light inside. It is called candling. If there is a dark spot you know there is a chick inside. Dear Farmer, I have a bunch of chickens, i need to know how to tell how old a hen or rooster is and how long hens will Lay eggs? Justin, 6th grade, Woodville, Ohio Dear Justin, Check out the description at the top of the page for your first question. Hens have all the eggs they will ever lay inside them when they are born, so it really depends on the chicken. I would say they lay at their most productive for at least 3 years. They also take a break during the winter when the days are shorter and won't lay if they are setting on a nest. Dear Farmer: Do the roosters work by waking up the farmers? Jiana, 3rd grade, Morrisville Dear Jiana, Actually roosters crow all day long! They crow to show their territory, they crow to attract females, they crow because they are hungry. . .you get the idea. Dear Farmer, How do farmers get the chickens to lay the eggs? Jensina, 4th grade, Morrisville Dear Jensina, Chickens lay eggs about every 28 hours whether the farmer wants them to or not. The farm helps by giving them a safe place to lay their eggs, feeding them nutritious foods and gathering their eggs each day. Dear Farmer, I have a bull and a cow. My bull wants to mate with the cow like everyday. Sometimes like even 3 or 4 times a day everyday. How do we get the bull to be less active? Jane, 7th grade, fresno,ca Dear Jane, There is really nothing you can do except separate them. There are times in the year when the cow is actually in heat and the bull would know that and that might make him more active. Dear Farmer, When do they start to lay eggs? How many eggs are they likely to lay in a lifetime? How long is their lifetime? Mason and Jenae, 3, Cohuna Dear Mason and Jenae, Are you talking about chickens? Hens start to lay after about 4 months. The have thousands of eggs inside them and lay between 800-1,000. They can live for 12-15 years, but generally 7 is an average if they are well cared for. At always depends on how they are taken care of. Dear Farmer, Do cows eat grass? maria, 2nd grade, happy Dear Maria, Yes. Dear Farmer, How can you tell a hen from a rooster without having to wait till they are 4-5 months old? Sally, 12th grade, amesbury Dear Sally, Unless you have an expert at sexing chicks you are pretty much stuck until they get the adult feathers. Dear Farmer, We have a chicken with one chick we have keept the moom and the baby away from rhe other chickens, we wanted to know when we can put them back in the coop with the rest of the chickens, the baby is about 9 weeks old and look like a small chicken not a chick anymore bryanna, 6th grade, colton Dear Bryanna, I think you are safe in starting to introduce them. Be aware that there will be some fighting with a new bird. The mother hen will probably still protect the chick for a while. Dear Farmer, how many times a year does a hen sets on eggs to make baby chicks? millie, 7th grade, carencro Dear Millie, Usually just once a year in the spring. Dear Farmer, WHY DOES MY CHICKENS ATTACK MY SICK CHICKEN? MADISON, 5th grade, FRANKLIN VA Dear Madison, Chickens are not very nice to each other and will pick on a sick or injured bird in their flock. Dear Farmer, can a chicken rooster and turkey mate? No they cannot--they are two different breeds. Dear Farmer, how long does it take for a chicken to develope all its feathers????? amy, 7th grade, mckinney Dear Amy, About 4 months. Dear Farmer, what do you call on the female chicken which has not yet lay egg? jhun jun, third year high school, paniqui Dera Jhun Jun, The females are called hens. There isn't a different name before they lay eggs. Dear Farmer, Why do you feed chickens rocks? Bryce, 7th grade, Williamsburg Dear Bryce, Chickens do not have a stomach like ours, they have a gizzard that grinds up their food. And, what causes the grinding is tiny bits of pebbles and sand. So, they will swallow some small pebbles they are not really eating them. Dear Farmer, What is the most dangerous disease that sheep can get in a area and how do you prefent this risk? Karise, year 9 but grade 7, Christchurch Dear Karise, There are many diseases and parasites that affect our farm animals, it is really difficult to determine the most dangerous. Probably the most dangerous problem that affect sheep in an enclosed area is parasite infestation. It is not really a disease but it can be fatal to your whole flock. The best prevention is a deworming schedule and rotation of grazing area if possible. Dear Farmer, how old does a hen have to be before she will lay eggs 5th, baltimore Hens are usually at least 4 months old when they begin to lay. Dear Farmer, can chickens and turkeys live together in a coop? livvy, 8th grade, usa Dear Livvy, There seems to be conflicting information about this. You can't feed the chickens the turkey's production food, so if you are trying to get the turkeys to grow quickly they should be fed separately. Also, the turkeys carry different diseases and parasites than the chickens. But, I have seen accounts that there were no problems. It depends on the size of your area and what you plan to feed them. Dear Farmer, I am hoping to do the chick kit at my school and had a question or two. First, I'm not sure yet how to tie it in to my curriculum (I know, big first) - I thought about introducing it when I teach plants and plant fertilization... orrr I thought about just doing it in general regardless of what I'm teaching. I basically just want to get out of the textbook with the kids. What do you think, do you have any suggestions? Thanks a lot. Lisa, 5th grade teacher, Illinois Dear Lisa, That IS a big question. And, you are located in Ilinois which actually has a wonderful resource at the University of Illinois Extension: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/eggs/. If you email back with your address in the message I can send you to our chicken expert. The chicken embryology program is an excellent life cycle curriculum and fits in almost anywhere. Dear Farmer, hello, I incubate my own eggs, but all that hatch are roosters. why? christine, 7th, rochester Dear christine, It is just the luck of the draw unfortunately. Maybe pick a different hen's eggs to incubate? Dear Farmer, I have a jumbo x rock meatbird my parents got her to butcher but I dont want to eat her, so I talked them into letting me keep her as a pet. she is about 20 weeks old and very heavy, I want to let her lay eggs and I was wondering if this type of chicken is a good mother hen? Also what kind of chicken would come out of a cross between a jumbo x rock and a partridge rock? Would the combination of them make a bigger chicken? I would like to try that and see. She is the best chicken we have, she is not afraid of the dogs or anything and she is very lovable.Also can a chicken rooster and a female turkey have babies together? What would they be like? Can the chicken rooster fertilize the turkeys eggs and would they develope into babies? Heather, 6th grade, Lakeland Dear Heather, I am not sure if the jumbo x rock is a good mother or not, but regardless all hens will lay eggs. The mothering part does not come in until it is time to set on eggs and you may or may not want her to do that. It is hard to tell what the chicks of a cross would look like. You'll have to wait and see. A chicken and a turkey cannot mate. They are different breeds. Dear Farmer, At what age do roosters begin to crow? Ally, third grade, san diego Dear Ally, 4-5 months usually. Dear Farmer, what age will my chicken have a wattle and comb? corey hutchison, 4th grade, grimsby Dear Corey, 4-5 months usually. 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. |
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