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Cute pic! Chickens are so much for kids, so exciting when that first egg shows up.

That is indeed a very valid fear. Been there, done that. Coccidiosis is a very high risk any time you introduce new birds to a flock or when you first put brooder raised youngsters outside, all birds involved are at risk. So you need to know the earliest symptoms and be ready to treat asap or...

I agree, all you can do is see how things go. Although I personally would not keep one silkie in with standard birds. If anybody is going to end up getting picked on it's likely to be that one silkie because it looks different and is likely to be very docile and low, maybe lowest, in the...

Mine love dried meal worms, mashed up hard boiled egg, peas, fresh corn, watermelon, bits of whole grain bread once in a while.

I did see a chicken get zapped once by the hot wire when her comb touched it, she squawked and and ran off then resumed foraging. That's the only time I've actually witnessed one of them come in contact with it in the 10 years that I've used it, they seem to stay away from it. I have it on...

We have a hot wire around the outside of our chicken pens, about 6 inches off the ground. Any dog that goes sniffing around, checking out chickens or even looking for a way in eventually touches nose to that wire in the process of checking things out. A shock to the nose has convinced many a...

Welcome to BYC, though under sad circumstances, sorry you lost your bird. Unfortunately unless you noted any clear symptoms there is not really any way to know what happened to her unless you send/take her for a necropsy at a state poultry pathology lab. It is normal for there to be some fluid...

They will eat the pellets when they get hungry enough. They are probably holding out on you, wanting their corn. You could also try switching to crumbles and see if they eat more, some chickens just like them better. As far as worming, it's best not to use feed to deworm them anyway. You...

You will likely need to find a way to separate them until this heals up or the other one is likely to peck at it. Maybe just use a piece of wire to partition off part of the brooder for her so she can still be near the other one? I would wash the wound well with warm water, use a large syringe...

Instead of spraying the coop with Dawn try using a good insecticide. I use Insectrin by Prozap, it has residual effect so it really helps knock down the population and it's easy to get the spray deep into all the nooks and crannies where mites hide. Mites can be very hard to get rid of so you...

This all depends on where you are going and how you are traveling. How will you keep them warm while you are traveling? As far as the issue of a red lamp vs regular bulb? They don't see as much of the red light so it's thought to be less stressful for them. A plain, white bulb is a glaring...

They do have huge appetites at this age, they are also extremely busy and curious so a lot of food likely does go into the bedding. With my last bunch I set the feeder on a large square piece of board, that way they at least ate a lot more of all that feed they scratched and billed out of the...

My questions would be, what is the temp under the heat source? Are they for sure warm enough? And have you considered treating for coccidiosis? Lethargy and sudden death are often the only signs you see of coccidiosis. Diarrhea is common, sometimes blood in the droppings but not always. You...

That's what I do too, it seems to be the quickest and easiest way to get it off. Then I apply a tiny amount of baby oil or olive oil with a Q-Tip to help prevent the problem.

Ditto what's been said. All your chicks need is a heat lamp or source of heat, you don't have to mess with timing the amount of light they get. A lot of people also don't add supplemental lighting for adult hens, preferring to let their bodies take a break in winter as nature intended rather...

Well the so called minimum space requirements you will see often quoted are four square feet of floor space per bird in the coop and 10 square feet per bird in the run. However those are bare minimum suggestions. I have always housed birds in much larger spaces, usually double that amount, to...

Might really be better to start a new thread so we don't indeed highjack the OP's thread.

Should be fine as long as you allow enough space for however many hens you plan to have. As mentioned, use hardware cloth to cover ventilation openings or windows as well as the run is a very good idea. Chicken wire keeps chickens in and that's about it, it won't keep predators out. I got...

Looks like a hen to me too. Those feathers you are looking at in the "saddle" area, are rounded, not the long, stringy feathers a roo would get. I'd also expect to see a lot more red in face and comb development in a 16 week old if it was a rooster.

There are many variables when it comes to predator losses and chicken keeping, no two of us are exactly the same in how we keep our birds or prevent losses. So you really just have to take stock of your most likely predators where you live and try to house your birds accordingly. I've kept...