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I hadn't used supplemental heat in previous years, but with our first below zero cold snap this year my rooster and several hens suffered frostbite. I added two red light heat lamps, like I used when they were chicks. Unfortunately, this seems to have them confused. I thought the red lamps...

I just ordered my first round of meat birds - just 11 because I wanna start small (and I'm ordering a few layers for a friend, so the meaties round out my minimum, but they will need to be processed right when my 7 dual purpose cockerels are ready. In the future we'd like to do 25 birds, once a...

I've been raising chickens for a few years and love it. Mostly layers, but will be starting some Cornish X for meat next month. I'm looking into raising a few turkeys next year for meat - Midget Whites, if I can find somewhere to get just 4-6 poults. I just had a chicken tractor built that...

We have barn cats. The opossums and raccoons keep finding their food and water. We've gotten rid of 2 opossums and 2 raccoons in the last week! Is there any way to make food available for the cats, but not the wildlife? My current thought is to start putting the cat food out in the...

I love my Welsummers, but my rooster got eaten by something (fixing that situation) so I can't breed for more like I'd planned this summer and I am down to 2 Welsummer hens. I also have 2 Ameraucanas and 1 Buff Orpington. So, I tried to order 10 more Welsummers through a local hatchery and...

My chickens have been happy with their coop for over a year. For about 2 weeks, though, 5 of my 6 hens have been roosting outside of the coop - on my patio furniture, fence posts, etc. the other hen has been broody. The weird thing is, they've still been laying in the nest boxes. Any ideas...

We butchered a young cockerel two days ago. We read that aging him for two days in the fridge should make him tender enough to eat. But he's still in rigor in the fridge. Is this normal? Should we be able to flex the legs before we cook him? Did we do something wrong? Husband is convinced...

I feel like my fifteen 4-week old chicks (slow growing breeds) are just too big and stinky to stay in the basement brooder much longer. So earlier today I put them in the coop with my other chickens (four 3-month olds). They have a 22 x 5 foot run, but I usually let the 3 month olds free range...

I've owned chickens about 2 months. In March I ordered 15 straight-run chicks (the minimum) for delivery this week from The Fancy Chick. The plan was to keep only the hens, leaving me with about 7-8 chickens. Then I ended up with 7 one week old chicks and 2 full grown hens in the meantime...

So, when we asked our family friend to build our coop, we knew he'd come up with better ideas than we could. So we told him our size requirements, etc. and let him work out the details. I told him I wanted to be able to open the door for the chickens to go into their yard without having to go...

I have one definite cockerel and 2 definite pullets. The other chick, however, looks kinda in-between. He/she has a slightly bigger comb than the two pullets, but it is still much smaller than the cockerel. His/her coloration, especially on his/her head, is lighter than either the cockerel or...

I'm looking at buying a few Runner ducklings later this summer. I live in Ohio and had planned on ordering them from Meyer, since they are close enough that I can pick-up day-olds from the hatchery. However, when I placed my order tonight, which included some chicks, I found that the Runner...

My chicks are 5 weeks old. I can tell which of my Welsummers are boys vs. girls, but I'm not as sure of my Barnevelders. One of them has a significantly larger comb so I'm certain it is a cockerel. The other 3 have very small starts of combs. Could I really have gotten so lucky to only have...

Saw this ad on Craigslist: Baby chickens for free - they are about a month old and need a great home please contact me asap i live in a apartment i got them for my daughter and now they are too much lol Um, you live in an apartment and got chickens for your daughter and were surprised that...

Would anyone be interested in a section on "Gardening with Chickens"? We could discuss ways to use chickens (or other poultry) in the garden - to eat bugs, 'till beds, etc. and discuss how to avoid problems like chickens eating garden plants that you want, etc.

I have 3 week old chicks. My main goal with the chickens is to use them as partners in gardening. I'd like to decrease the amount of mowing we do and eliminate our need for chemicals by having chickens eating grass, bugs, etc. I've read a few books on the subject, but I still have a few...

I have eight 2 1/2 week old chicks. Four Barnevelders and four Welsummers. One of the Welsummers suddenly can't walk. They were all fine yesterday. Not sure about this morning. I might not have noticed since I was rushing to change their water and get to work. I've been giving them some...

Needing some ideas for a name for my coop. It will be delivered tomorrow. :-) Some details: It's about 6 x 8 and barn red with white trim (to match our "century barn"). We run a horse boarding business and our place is called "Nutwood Farm". Named after the small town that used to be...

So the 6 x 8 coop we are building should be pretty secure from nighttime predators. However, my husband thinks that a few t-posts and some hardware cloth will be find for the run they will be in during the daytime. I disagree and would like to build a run that is covered and has hardware cloth...

I'm new to chickens. Just got my 8 straight run chicks a week ago (I have more coming in May) and will have my new coop in a few days. Long term plan is 5-8 hens (we'll see how long that lasts, LOL) and the coop is 6 x 8 or so. The family friend building the coop is using plywood for the...