Recent content by Urchin

Ella still sits on the eggs whenever P.J. is taken out for soaking, but otherwise has no interest in them. It's just fascinating to watch. Ella hatched P.J., so maybe she just really wants grandchildren?

The very best source of Vitamin D is sunlight. If your chickens can get outside for even just half an hour a day, they'll get the sunlight they need to manufacture their own D. I have three indoor hens who don't get much direct, outdoor sunlight. One of them has to be closely watched because...

It's just weird because Ella, the temporary nest sitter, has absolutely no interest in eggs unless P.J., the injured broody, is not on the nest. I guess Ella figures someone ought to be sitting on those eggs. I'm keeping wooden ones in there to encourage P.J. to stay broody. Her foot looks...

It could be because she's just young and her system is having a few hiccups. Other reasons are a deficiency of calcium, like you mentioned, or of vitamin D. But if your hens are getting a complete layer feed, these shouldn't be a problem. I don't know if soft shell eggs are any harder to...

I have cohesive bandage. I love those things. Should I be soaking her foot? This morning I just took off her wrap and gauze pad, sprayed some more Veterycin on it and rewrapped it. The antibiotic stuff can only be used once a day per the instructions on it, so I'll put that back on in the...

Thanks! Good to know. I'll keep treating her as I am and keep an eye out for infection. I have vets available to me if needs be.

I have about an 8 month old silkie who was out foraging with the flock this evening when she squeezed her way out of the Designated Chicken Area and into the area of the yard where I had burned some tree branches earlier in the day. Long story short, the silly little thing got spooked by the...

I had a couple of hens test out the nest boxes a few days before they started laying. Maybe she's doing that, if that soft egg isn't hers.

I have a broody silkie hen. I tried the whole putting her in a wire cage thing for four days (didn't break her), but she ended up scratching on the wire and causing abrasions on her foot. Now I'm treating bumblefoot in her and just letting her be broody while I do so. The swelling in her...

Her full name is Mozarella. We have a lot of cheese chickens, but that's what I get for letting the kids name them. Thanks for the information. I'll assume that the liquid I found on the side of her head was some water from drinking then shaking her head. I guess it's back to trying...

I realize this is an odd question, but since I'm puzzled, I'm asking it anyway. Ok, on to the background. We have a silkie hen, Ella, who's about sixteen months old now. She's an indoor chicken who lives with the two grown chicks she hatched, both hens. The day before yesterday my...

Funny! I have three indoor silkies who have a pen in my mudroom. I made it out of those wire grids you can make storage cubes with. They are about a foot and a half tall. Two of the silkies are chicks raised by the third, so the only time I had trouble with any of them trying to leave was...

I have an eight foot fence enclosing my yard because I have one full-grown black sex link hen who insisted on flying over the other fences I installed. I started out with a four foot one, then when she kept flying right over, I put two more feet up on top of it. She'd flap her way up on top of...

Well, not exactly without butts, but without a cocyx, so there's nothing for tail feathers to grow on. Arucanas can be rumpless or tailed and the Manx Rumpy never has a tail. Quote: Mine is smaller than the other chickens, too. And of course the much larger bantam cochin rooster...

I don't think it was a dust bath. He wasn't lying on his side flopping around like he was having a seizure as dustbathing chickens usually do. It was very deliberate act. He was very careful making those circles in the woodchips. It was very much like he was making a nest, even though I've...