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Seems seems like if someone truly could not scrape up the difference in cost between organic and conventional feed, they wouldn’t need to ask the question in the first place. In the US, conventional corn and soy production is heavily subsidized by the government; organic crops are not. That’s...

My hens are the same way. They love & do well on Scratch & Peck layer. I feed it dry in the winter, but encourage them to finish the fines before giving them more, and feed it moistened in the summer.

I tried lots of things over the years. What works for me (15 hens right now with a dirt floor) is about four inches of coarse sand underneath the roosts, and every morning scoop the poop with a long-handled cat litter scoop into a pan, empty that into a 5-gallon bucket, then every few days take...

Wear long pants & muck boots. Mine enjoy pecking on me. They’re chickens it what they do.

This is a ridiculous situation. Whatever your neighbor has against your chicken setup, taking off the roof and replacing it with wire, umbrellas, and plastic isn’t going to fix it. Is your chicken setup obnoxious in any way (odor, flies, crowing rooster, loose chickens getting in their yard)? If...

I don’t know how long of a fence or what your terrain is like, but a solar electric fence would keep out the chickens as well as other nasties like raccoons, skunks, and possum. It would definitely be less than 10k and fun to play with. The Premier1 website is like a free course in electric fencing.

A false dichotomy. They’re a source of eggs and nitrogen for the compost. They’re also entertaining at times. I can buy cheap eggs at the store, but you can’t put a price on the enhanced nutrient quality of well-fed and free-range eggs.

One time a nest box smelled funny, and I lifted up the hay to find a family of mice living in the corner. Gross. Now I check frequently. I also put permethrin powder underneath the hay, and haven’t had any parasite problems since (knock on wood)

I am so glad you asked. In 10 years of keeping chickens, this is the 1st year bringing eggs in hasn’t been a problem. I’ve done the breaking eggs In the pocket thing, not having the basket, carrying with hands or in the bottom of my shirt, all that. I might not have the apron on me, because it’s...

My coop doesn't have electric so the nipple waterers freeze and often crack, ruining the bucket. Right now I go out in the morning with a watering can of water from the house and an empty plastic pan, remove the iced up one and replace it. It sits up on a couple of sideways 4X4s so they can't...

What keeps the chickens from scratching crud into the water? How often do you change the water, do you take the bucket out to do that?

You have my complete sympathy. I did the same thing the day before yesterday trying to catch a Rhode Island Red hen to give her a permethrin dip and comb vaseline treatment for a bad infestation of sticktight fleas. I moved to catch her and she ran right under my foot and I stomped her. We...

Yesterday one of my 6 7-week-old black australorps went missing. They were having some fresh air outside their coop with the door propped open. I looked all over and feared the worst. Then I went to pick up the plastic bowl I had thrown out of the big girl coop and they must have been playing on...

My goodness there are a lot of ways to do things. My coop is a repurposed pole shed with metal siding and dirt floor. It's far from water or electricity, until the irrigation canal gets turned on about the middle of May. As soon as I have water from the hose, I move everything out, shovel...

They can go out any time. The questions are: Can they stay warm enough? A heat tray is the perfect solution. I got the one from Premier1 with the cover and they did fantastic. I didn't have to worry about fire or about them not thriving because of being chilled. One morning DH went out...

Chickens will peck anything that does not get up and walk away from them

I have this same issue that has been driving me nuts for some time. One of my three 2-year-old hens, either a barred rock or a RIR, lays a huge egg with a very thin, porous shell and a lot of water in the egg. You can actually pour off the water and be left with a normal looking yolk and...

Möbius, Yes! You can strain your homemade yogurt and use that liquid for whey. The cloth for straining should be clean but not have bleach used on it, since we are cultivating microbes, not killing them lol

If you ferment your own sauerkraut and use whey (the liquid from fermented raw milk) you can use half the salt. 1 cabbage, 1tablespoon salt, and 4 tablespoons whey. I would not give my chickens commercial kraut.

My goodness that is a lot of hawks