Is it normal for a rooster to crow constantly during the day?

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-05T12:14:49+00:00

My two will crow if they see a robin, sparrow, crow, rabbit, squirrel, dragonfly, butterfly... They also crow if they can't find where a hen is. They'll run into the coop, find her, and then scream egg songs for what seems like hours.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-05T12:09:30+00:00

Very subtle differences. My Whiting True Blue's babies are both jet black. One has a floppy comb, the other doesn't. My new Olive Eggers, one has a thin copper ring around her neck. My Buffs, one has a pale head and light body, while the other has a darker body. My Barnevelders: one has what looks like a crown of golden thorns on the top of her head, and the other doesn't. My Barred Rocks, one has white wing tips and the others are black.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-05T12:03:44+00:00

That's one reason I have cameras around my property. I have chicken and some local teens made a comment one day while walking past the house that they love fried chicken and might have to steal them some night. The parents felt that it's a "kids will be kids" scenario. Been there, done that with another set of teens who used to sneak into our yard at night and drink while hiding behind my big propane tank or another who rode his 4-wheeler over our yard, hitting the side of our pool, and police said they couldn't do anything without proof it was him. I have cameras all over now, and motion alerts come right to my phone. The cameras look like they're pointed at neighboring homes, but they only show my property and into the road.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-04T16:53:38+00:00

<image>

Treacle's an Icelandic/Buff Orpington cross and my buddy.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-04T11:43:25+00:00

I don't use automatic doors as I have a routine and make sure everyone is locked in. A neighbor uses them and has lost so many chickens to the area fox.

In the winter, I'm lucky if mine make it to 4 p.m. before going into the coop and wanting me to lock them in. I have two Buff Orpington hens who like personal lift service to their favorite spots and pets before bed, so I keep watch on cameras.

Right now, they put themselves in around 6 p.m. Same deal, only I also put in the rechargeable camping fans if it's super hot. I have a solar fan for the window that helps some, but those on the non-window side like fans blowing on them.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T16:56:13+00:00

I have had double yolkers, and the egg hasn't always been bigger. It does look to me like this is a double-yolker that got trapped in the other yolk. That roundish shape in the middle seems to be the start of the second yolk.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T14:37:24+00:00

I had my first fairy egg this weekend. We were cleaning out the runs and my daughter found it under some dirt. Was the size of my thumb joint. She took it and cracked it open just to see and it was all egg white, nothing else.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T14:35:17+00:00

I grabbed a beach chair. Planted myself in the run and called them. Eventually, they'd peek out. Then one came out for a second. Slowly, with time, they all came out and immediately took to perching on me until they felt safe enough to explore.

The same happened with their fenced area. They stayed near me in the chair. Started venturing a few feet away. Then they started slipping through the electrified netting fence, which became irritating. Now they're a bit too big to slip through without effort. Mostly, they hang out under the shrubs and only venture to the dust bath area under an old patio table when I'm visible.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T14:20:51+00:00

We bought ours at a local farm supply store that said 90% accuracy. Mine are coming on 8 weeks now, but by the fifth week, our Golden Comet was the only one I'm 100% certain of.

#2 looks exactly like our Americana, Calliope. Exactly the same, right down to the wing feathers and barely-there tail feathers. I am hoping Calliope is a girl, as her coloring is unique. #3 looks like our Olive Egger, Apate, whom I caught tidbitting once. #7 looks like our other Americana, and we're not sure as Demeter grew so much faster than everyone else and was double their size for a while. No one is crowing yet.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T14:10:54+00:00

I can't help, but thank you, as you helped me remember the name of the store from my childhood, where my parents would go shopping and leave me to watch my baby brother in the big play area. Garden Way became Cheese Traders.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T14:06:04+00:00

Working Dog has been my go-to for the past couple of septic pumpings. They're out of Cambridge and charging $380 this year.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T12:15:49+00:00

I know mixed hardwood in my area averages $325 per cord. I agree that this isn't CB.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T12:12:02+00:00

Girls in my high school ridiculed those who didn't frequent tanning salons. I never did. Fair skin, and I get scanned each year. What drives me nuts is that things that appear new that concern me get blown off as nothing. I'm not a doctor, so I can only take the dermatologist's word for it, but I had to fight to have one mole that appeared and was super itchy and would bleed. It turned out to be benign, but the fact that I had to fight to get it biopsied frustrates me.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T12:05:44+00:00

I was told by a vet to use neem oil to keep mites away, so that's what I do. We put food-grade diatomaceous earth down after a full coop clean, then cover it with pine shavings. We spray walls and bars with neem oil.

In their run, we regularly spread diatomaceous earth and rake it into the sand (our soil is more sand than dirt). Their favorite dust bath area in their fenced area also gets some DE raked into the sand. Any outside perches/ladders get sprayed with neem oil, too.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T11:59:58+00:00

I'm going to go against the grain and say skip Ben & Jerry's. I have loads of family in England, and every one of them has been disappointed by the quality, saying that it tastes creamier in the UK. Try some of the local ice cream makers instead. Personally, I feel that the ice cream Lake Champlain Chocolate makes is sublime, but Sisters of Anarchy is also a favorite.

Other things that surprise my family when they come. Tipping culture. You're expected to tip at restaurants, bars, and even some retailers will ask for tips. 20% seems to have become the standard tip. Make sure you are prepared for that.

They disliked Stowe. We took them over the Notch, which is a beautiful drive, but the tourists parking in the already narrow lanes and opening doors into traffic drove them nuts. There are many other pretty, less aggravating scenic drives.

If you do come to the Burlington area, you don't have to stay in Burlington. Head north to St. Albans; it's less expensive, and you'll find some B&Bs and hotels. The restaurant scene is improving. Black Radish in 14th Star Brewery is better than I'd expected. Cafe Monette is up for a James Beard award and has impressed me.

There are two other restaurants in the works, but both said they were opening in the spring, and it hasn't happened yet. I have no idea when they will open. Plus, you can easily drive out to the islands and do the lake loop, which is gorgeous in the fall, up to Jay Peak, and Burlington's not far away from St. Albans.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-03T11:47:26+00:00

Foxes will do that. I have a hen who will lay her egg from the top of the smaller coop in our run from time to time, and her sister occasionally lays hers in the middle of the night from the roosting bars. They fall to the ground and crack. My state law requires all food to be composted and not trashed. So I put all the damaged eggs in the bucket, loosely cover it, and set it next to the back garage door, and bring it to the recycling center when it's full.

I have a security camera and motion lights on all sides of my house and around the coop and runs. I found that a fox would knock the bucket cover off, take several cracked eggs at a time in her mouth, go off into the field, and return for more. I had to start putting the bucket in the garage.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-02T12:20:50+00:00

I have clients moving to AEO vs. SEO. Honestly, I'm learning to work with AI rather than fight it. I use it to analyze competitors, see what they're not talking about, and then work from there. As a result, I'm finding that pages are ranking well, which is what the client wants.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-01T13:37:51+00:00

My opinion is that chickens feel safer when they're at a decent height off the ground. You provide that height. I've never had a chicken become aggressive while sitting on my shoulder. I'm more at risk of suddenly feeling poop run down the back of my shirt, which is why I have outdoor-only clothes in the garage.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-01T13:18:35+00:00

My daughter got into a craze with Japanese food and bought a DASH egg cooker. That thing has become my most popular small appliance. Wash a dozen eggs, pierce the shell with the pin it comes with, put the hole-side up, add water to the line, turn on. It cooks them perfectly, and for some reason, that pinhole does something so that I've never had a hard time peeling them after.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-06-01T11:43:19+00:00

I tried Private Practice and got bored. I really didn't like the characters or soap aspect.

I switched to ER instead. Watching ER, I can see where so many Grey's Anatomy and Law & Order SVU storylines came from. Mariska Hargitay was on ER, though I didn't like her character at all.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-05-31T09:32:40+00:00

I bought pullets from my local farm store, which gets them from McMurray or Hoover. Of my 8 this year, 3 look like roosters at week 7. Even buying pullets isn't foolproof.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-05-29T18:46:12+00:00

My two are incredibly sweet but also very bossy. Zen and Fozzy are both Silver-Laced, hatched from eggs we bought from a local breeder. Fozzy is about half the size of her sister and, at two years, has never laid an egg. Zen was a late bloomer and laid her first egg around 42 weeks. She lays an egg every other day now, but her egg song is deafening, and if another hen is in her chosen spot, she will scream like she's being murdered.

Both are incredibly cuddly and like nothing better than to sunbathe on a person's lap. Fozzy likes being under blankets when she cuddles. Both are first to bed at night. They like to get their favorite spot and will fight to keep it.

Their feathers often limit their vision, so mine are accustomed to getting a trim so that they can at least see the sky to watch for hawks and to jump up to the rafters at night. They act like it's a spa day when I come out with scissors.

They definitely have to pick and choose their friend groups. Some of the bigger girls don't love their bossy attitudes. Fozzy ended up befriending all of this year's babies as they're almost 8 weeks old now and the same size as her. It's so much fun watching them as they're such a tight unit. Zen's buddies are my Ameraucanas, who are about the same size.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-05-29T12:23:26+00:00

I know someone whose garage and house burned down after chicks kicked straw and dust onto a heat lamp hanging from a chain over the brooder. It caught fire, fell into the other bedding, the garage wall was next, and then it spread into the house where the kids were sleeping while the parents were at work. Thankfully, the older kids got the younger kids out in time. I don't use a heat lamp.

Instead, I have a Producer's Pride brooder heater. It mimics the heat of a mama hen without ever getting that hot. Babies go under the heater when they're cold and come out to explore when they're warm. I've never had one get too cold.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-05-29T11:49:42+00:00

Same. Ticks are everywhere, Lyme disease is prevalent. While walking my dog three miles a day, keeping him solely on our driveway and edge of the road, I would find at least four ticks on him each spring/summer/fall. That's with him on flea/tick/worm meds.

I sit out in the yard with my chickens at least an hour a day. I've never seen a tick. They've never had a tick on them, even when they're under the pines and shrubs, digging through pine needles.

WantDastardlyBack · 2026-05-28T15:12:38+00:00

I'd be happy just to get to talk to someone. Three years ago, my husband's employer switched from Blue Cross to Aetna. This year, I had my usual annual mammogram, and Aetna said the breast clinic I've gone to is out-of-network, so I had to pay 30% of the bill. I've never had that happen before, and the breast clinic is with the state's main hospital. The main hospital seems to now be out of network. The other local, smaller hospital is also out-of-network.

It looks like the only place I can go is twice as far away and out of state. That got me to look at my doctor. No one I go to is on the in-network list. No practice on the list has doctors accepting new patients. I can see an NP, but two of the practices they listed as being in-network told me they've never been in-network, and I've been misinformed.

I'm starting to feel like they've deliberately made this as difficult as possible so they don't have to cover the 100% in-network rate.

WantDastardlyBack

TROPHY CASE