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Do any fishermen/women here feed any of the offal to their birds? I was wondering specifically about squid guts, about whether or not it would be wise to feed it to the birds? Or should everything be cooked first? Or are fish/squid guts simply not a wise hors d'oeuvres, period?

Who is using eggshells for calcium inputs? Is there any empirical evidence that it is as good as oyster shell? I've been slacking in the calcium department but I've got sacks of cleaned and dried eggshells - put aside for garden use - ready to be put to use in the coop.

I recently added a youngish Americauna rooster to my flock of 19 different breeds of layers, including members of his own breed. He is a beefy, impressive fella with what seems to be an unaggressive demeanor. Thankfully there have been zero issues with him in the less than one week he's been a...

Tried to find the "Maine" forum but gave up and am just going to ask here. I've got birds who are a month plus. They've been inside and I want to put them in the outside brooder without heat as soon as is safe. So with nighttime temps still in the 40s and 50s, I'm guessing it's too early for...

These may make fantastic layers out of the gate but I wouldn't buy them again for my flock of 30. After a little over a year into laying, they seem to turn into freeloaders; a neighbor said they're also not particularly hardy, in terms of dual-purpose use. I have lost two red stars but I've lost...

I don't believe there's a great deal of composting action possible here in Maine during the winter months but hopefully I'm wrong about that. I will have 30 hens worth of manure over the next three months that I'm not sure what to do with. I have until last month dumped the manure directly on my...

I am preparing myself to cull a few birds-to make some room in the coop-just now entering their third year of laying but wanted to ask first about peoples' experience with several breeds. For me, the black and red stars have been good layers but appear to have stopped, though some clearly for...

I've just finished dealing with the fifth raccoon of the season-that I have trapped, anyway. Not a pleasant business but you can't mess around or you might as well just close up shop and go back to buying eggs at the supermarket. I suppose I should give some background for there are...

I boiled some chickpeas today and added the broth to my hens' crumbled feed. They seemed to like it, at least the variety of it. Moisture may actually be what they're after in these hot and humid August days and I think I will continue the practice with other liquids-but I wanted to ask all and...

I have a dozen chicks which are several weeks old and I've just moved them outside to a brooder contained in a portion of the run I use for the adults; the runs are now entirely separate and the adults have not used the "chicks only" portion of the run for a week now. It will be several weeks...

I'd like to order at least a dozen chicks through the mail but would like a partner to share shipping costs. If another person, for instance wanted a dozen, our cost per chick would be around $3.50 which is comparable to what my feed store wants. I would buy locally but I don't want to wait...

I bought 6 Australorps last summer to add to an existing flock of 16, bringing the totals to the following: 3 Black Star 2 Red Star 6 Americauna 5 Buff Orpingtons 7 Australorps -------------- 22 total The Australorps started laying in late November while all the others are about 1.5 years into...

Found a Buff Orpington sitting down on the coop floor when I went to open the run door. She's obviously unable to put any weight on her legs and has been seated all day in a makeshift cage I have in my mudroom. What is the prognosis for stuff like this? I haven't examined the legs yet, just...

For the last month, my six EEs have laid exactly zero eggs. It has been super cold (read single digits) here in Maine until two weeks ago but it has moderated more recently. Some of them are going through a molt but not all. Previously they have been steady 3-4 eggs/week layers and certainly...

I've seen all the graphs illustrating egg production over the life of the chicken and now that my flock is entering their second year of laying, I've been bracing myself for a 40% reduction in laying activity. I have to say though I wasn't prepared for getting essentially half of what I was a...

My flock of 17 grown hens has for over the past month shown a marked lack of interest in the Blue Seal extra layer feed I've been fermenting and giving them for the last half year or so. I thought it could be that I'd started to let them free-range again most of the day. Additionally, I thought...

I am gearing up to do some incubation of my own in the spring and need a little help getting my head around the process. I have several breeds in the coop but am leaning toward the Australorp, based on what I've read and seen thus far (five in my coop, not yet laying). Additionally I have an...

I understand that the heat typically puts the damper on egg production but am wondering what percentage drop this typically translates to? I'm in Maine where the daytime temps are high 70s and low 80s, nights in the 50s. Soon to be 60s and 70s. Not super hot as summers go but definitely on the...

I currently have six pullets which are entering their seventh week; they are currently in a rabbit cage without extra light/heat, inside my house, but in several days I'm soon going to put them in an outside brooder, inside the run of the mature hens. It's mid-50s here at night so I'm not sure...

I currently have a flock of 17 hens, different breeds and was planning to add 6-12 chicks to the flock in late summer. Already I'm behind the eight ball, but there remain some Australorps at my local feed store, a breed I wanted to try for their dual-purpose-ness. Is it not cost-efficient to buy...