This morning I found my black hen, CoCo, dead, on her side in the nesting box. I was reading previous threads and people suggested if their comb was a dark purple, it might be a heart attack. In my girl's case, her comb and wattle were very pale. She has a pretty red set usually.
***Edit***
She...
TLDR Version: Hard clay and rock ground. Gets super wet when it rains a lot. Does drain eventually though. Gets full sun in most of the area. What can I Grow here? If I can't get veggies going I might just make a fruit tree orchard next year.
Full Story:
I have this space I want to try to grow...
I'll admit it. I was a bit lazy at collecting my eggs when it was cold. One of the girls would lay on them every morning. At one point, maybe 3 weeks ago, I brought a batch of eggs in. They were probably about a week old at that point.
Today, I opened one for my dog and about died from the...
My Rhode Island Red, Lemon, started molting in November. She dropped feathers on her chest, belly, back, and saddle areas.
I'm hoping someone can point me to a good read on the molting process. How long can it go on, how long before she starts laying again? Will all her feathers be replaced or...
Picked up 3 barnyard breed chickens from a local farm.
2 pullets and one laying hen.
I can't remember how old she estimated the pullets to be. I believe the second pullet, Sage, is laying now. I saw her in the nesting box and there was an egg there later that wasn't before.
I already have two...
My Barred Rock, Fennel, is surely a girl, right?
She is 15 weeks old in this photo. She is now 18 weeks old. No eggs yet. The Buff Orpington, Ginger, is the same age. No eggs either. But Ginger is doing the little squat thing when they let the rooster get on them. Fennel isn't.
Judging by her...
I have about an acre of area I free range my ladies in. Lots of grass and bordered by woods with a variety of trees. My dad tells me I need to spray the yard for fleas and ticks. Just the other day I pulled more than 10 ticks off of me from doing yard work.
I'm concerned about my flock being...
Took a vacation so I can get to work on the new chicken run and coop. I'm planning on doing this project over a long period of time.
This is where I started:
It was all overgrown with saplings that I cut back previously. There was a small building made of cinder blocks, but it was falling...
Alright. Here are the girls at week 3. So far they are all thriving. Very active little boogers. Also much more comfortable with being handled. Also the dog, Noodles, being very interested in the babies.
Got a lot of work done today prepping the new coop/run site. There was several decades of leaf on the ground. This part of the property was used as a dump and burn site. I'm digging up tons of old household items, broken glass, cans, bottles, etc.
Because of this I have decided I can't use the...
Looking to expand my coop/run for my girls. Currently I have 3 hens in a small coop made from scraps. The run is probably 8-10 feet long by about 4 feet wide. Today I added 3 chicks, so will have a total of 6. So in a few months I want to have them in a bigger coop and run. I have a space about...
Just added these day old chicks to the flock.
Buff Orpington (Ginger)
Barred Rock (Fennel)
Red Laced Wyondotte (Clove)
I started with 3 chicks last year. My barred rock (Pepper) was taken by a fox. My Easter Egger (Chives) was injured by the fox, then was out in the woods during a tornado. She...
I got two Barnyard breed "pullets" back in November. They should have been about 10 weeks (roughly) at the middle to end of November. One of them (Kiwi) started laying eggs at the start of February. So far I do not believe Pinapple here has started laying eggs. I'm starting to get concerned...
So I got the Run-Chicken T-50 door. I wanted to set up the app so I can set specific times to open and close. I pop open the battery/gear box to get the Batch number. It says it should be XXXX-XXXX. 8 Numbers total. However I have the first 4 numbers and the second set is a number, letter, and a...
So this "pullet" is about 16 weeks old. The feathers on the neck are more rounded tips. The comb and wattle are pretty small. Much smaller than my other hens at the same age.
However...This single tail feather that is curved has me worried this pullet is not a pullet.
It's a "Barnyard Mix"...
UPDATE:
I gave her electrolyte water in a dropper and she began to drink that readily. I decided to make her some oatmeal and see if she would eat that. I placed it higher up, at chest level so she could eat easier. For about two hours she just stood in place eating the oatmeal. I made it a...
Could be anything. 🤷♂️
So my first flock was going great. Until what I'm told was most likely foxes, took 2 of my 3 ladies. They had just recently started laying and I was getting an egg a day from each. I was concerned about the Rhode Island Red being alone. She was calling out for the...
Update: The Rhode Island Red returned, but no clue where the other two are. Hoping they decided to roost in a tree.
I have 3 ladies missing in action right now. Normally I let them out in the morning for a few hours. They never wander off the property. I am on 5 acres of mostly wooded hilly...