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New quail owner, recently bought five hens plus a cage and would like to eventually get a rooster and hatch eggs so we can harvest quail for meat. But I wonder if people keep their breeding stock in a separate cage from their meat birds? I realize baby quail will need to be separated for a while...

I have two 6 week old cuckoo Marans (supposedly). Both of them are completely black, except for some white on their wing tips. I don’t have pictures at the moment because they range during the day and are hard to get close to. I thought cuckoo Marans were supposed to have barring? Now I’m...

I processed a RIR hen today that had a TON of yellow fat in her body cavity. She was three years old and had stopped laying, and I butcher my laying hens that quit. It seemed strange to me that she had quit already, and she seemed slightly lethargic at times over the past 6 months, but no other...

I have a Wyandotte hen that hatched a brood of chicks last year successfully, and she went broody again. So, I put some day old hatchery chicks under her tonight. She seemed to accept them, but she did try to peck at a couple of them, and even pulled one around by it’s leg. They are all cozy now...

I have a mini fruit orchard in the area where my chickens free range. Up until now, I’ve been hand watering my trees, but would like to put in some soaker hoses to save my time. Or, some kind of drip system so that I don’t have to spend 2 hrs every weekend watering. But I’m worried that my...

I have a pullet who just started laying. She is a BCM and EE cross. Her first egg was a teeny tiny “fairy” egg that was dark brown, like a BCM egg. Today, about 6 weeks later, she laid her first full size egg and it was dark green. Is it possible that she will lay different colors of eggs like...

I'm a first-timer at processing chickens. I culled a laying hen today using the broomstick method to break her neck. Once she was done flapping, I cut her head off and tied her up by her legs to drain, but after nearly 30 min only a couple tablespoons worth of blood came out. Ended up discarding...

I have three BCM babies that are almost 4 weeks old. Two of them are purebred (chicks #1 and #2), and one is half easter egger (chick #3). The combs on the two purebreds seem kind of large to me and their heads look pretty much the same, and I've noticed some play fighting between them. But...

One of the eggs my broody hen was sitting on hatched today, and the baby bird is dead. I missed it because I was at work. not sure if she killed it or what. There were no wounds, but the chick had a broken leg. Could she have crushed it? Should I remove the rest of the eggs from her nest? I...

My broody Wyandotte is ridiculous... she never leaves the nest to eat or drink or poop! She's been sitting on eggs for 6 days now. Over the last few days I've been putting a little dish of scrambled egg and water in front of her in the nest so she won't dehydrate or starve. She won't eat chicken...

I have a flock of 7 hens that have had feather picking issues since last spring. I put blinders on them and have given them more space to roam, and have been waiting for their feathers to grow back. Most of them are ok feather-wise, but one of them has been picked so badly, her entire back end...

I put Pinless Peepers on my chickens a few weeks ago to stop feather picking behavior, but I've noticed that some of the are having difficulty eating out of their hanging feeder. Has anyone else had this problem? Here is the type of feeder I use: I don't know why they are having such trouble...

I have 7 hens. 6 of them show signs of feather picking. A couple of them look absolutely awful... bare butts and backs, broken tail feathers. :( I suspect that the RIR who's feathers look ok is the culprit, although I haven't caught her in the act. What would you do? A: Cull her, and hope that...

I need to re-home this pretty boy, since I can't have roosters in my urban flock. Hatched on April 15 at Chase Hatchery in SLC. Please reply to this thread with your contact info and I will reach out to you.

This chick is 12 weeks old and I'm scratching my head trying to figure out if it's a rooster or a pullet. I have no experience with this breed. No crowing yet, but it does act aggressive towards the other chicks at times. The comb isn't super big, but it does appear to have 3 rows of peas. But...

I posted pictures of my chicks a few weeks ago and most everyone agreed they were pullets. But this one is starting to act aggressive towards the other hens and made a sound this morning that made me think it was trying to crow :hit I'm so sad because it was the only blue egg-laying bird I had...

These chicks are between 7-8 weeks of age, and they are supposed to be female. I bought them from a small, local hatchery and found out that they have some bad reviews about the accuracy of their chick sexing. Now I'm worried I may have a bunch of roosters! There are a variety of breeds, so I...

These chicks are between 7-8 weeks of age, and they are supposed to be female. I bought them from a small, local hatchery and found out that they have some bad reviews about the accuracy of their chick sexing. Now I'm worried I may have a bunch of roosters! There are a variety of breeds, so I...

I have 8 week-old chicks in the brooder in my kitchen, and one of them is constantly pecking at the other chicks’ eyes. She runs around the brooder and chirps a lot, even when the other chicks are settling down for the night. Sometimes she chirps so loudly I have a hard time going to sleep! She...

My neighbor's wolf hybrid dog killed my entire flock last week, and they refuse to reimburse me for the damages. They claim that because my chickens were kept too close to my house (according to the local city animal code) that they are not liable because I shouldn't have had chickens in the...