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First of all, Thank you for using this forum to vent your frustration. It's always better to get the emotion off your chest by talking to other chicken folk before you begin to conquest. I would recommend you have a conversation with the other affected neighbors only. As you stated, Jane is...

Feathers are a poor indicator of health this time of year. Instead look at their comb and wattles. If everything's plump and red, your birds are fine. If the combs are shriveled, pale or scabby, you may have some issues.

You just posted the update while I was typing, but I'm going to throw this out in case anyone else comes across the post. I've read through the five pages of posts and need to ask a few questions that probably should have been addressed up front. What breed(s) do you have now and what are you...

The best approach we've found to dealing with birds of prey is keep a few extra, young roosters with our free ranging flock. Big Daddy lays down the law early on, so the social order remains intact. But those extra sets of eyes are force multipliers and I've seen a phenomenal behavior trend in...

Membrane was white, but it looks like I found my answer. When we first started setting eggs through 4-H, we were told to reduce the humidity from 60% to 40% for the last three days to ensure the air pocket was big enough that the chick/poults didn't aspirate fluid. That's what we did for the...

They roam with our goats over 25 acres of red/white clover, alfalfa, and mixed nut trees. My laying rate is about 87% right now...25 hens producing 22 eggs/day and sll my breeders are between 7 and 10 pounds, so it isn't a nutritional deficiency. If anything, their diet is creating an egg shell...

Ducks don't HAVE to have a pond, so your situation is actually ideal. Most of us have to eventually drain our pond, muck it, and start over. In your case, the pond will dry out in August allowing you to scrap the surface each fall in anticipation of the next season. As far as preferred breeds...

Good Morning. For the second year in a row, I have began duck hatching season with an inordinate number of deaths. Ducklings started pipping yesterday afternoon, so I expected to find a tray full of babies this morning. Instead I found 12 eggs with open pip holes, but 10 dead ducklings. I pulled...

What do you do with the raccoon carcasses when you "dispatch"? Both raccoons and coyotes are able to identify each other by sight and maintain social connections within their local geography. On the advise of a long-time chicken pro, we started skinning both species and hanging the pelts from a...

You still haven't address the health concerns from introducing new hens into your existing flock. In your original post you state that you don't have a cage or other means of conducting a gradual introduction. That also means you don't have the ability to quarantine your new birds for a few...

I can respect any predator that kills a chicken for food. That's just nature being nature and it's my responsibility to be smarter than them. But predators that kills for spite, e.g. raccoons and dogs, aren't good for anything but target practice. I've written letters to the last three governors...

Good Morning, Turkey Folks. I've noticed many threads over the last few years asking about blackhead disease when raising turkeys with other poultry, but I don't recall seeing any photos to help folks know the signs. Most folks include pictures of turkey poults with dark spots on their...

Ok, Crazy question, but it's worth asking just to get a few responses. I ran to the poultry yard this evening because a duck was pitching a fit like one of my dogs had pinned it. When I got there, sure enough a Cayuga duck was pinned in a corner, but not by a dog....by two young, amorous...

Blount County 4-H will hold its annual chicken show and auction on Saturday, August 23rd at Heritage High School in Maryville, TN. There will be (4) breeds shown and auctioned, all pullets hatched the last week of March, 2014. The breeds are Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, Red sex-link and Black...

The Blount County 4-H Poultry Project will host its annual Chicken Show and Auction on Saturday, August 23rd at Heritage High School in Maryville, TN. The judging will begin at 11:15 with the auction to follow at approximately 12:00 noon. There will (4) breeds available, Rhode Island Red, Barred...

I've just come through a serious outbreak of cocciodosis (I hope) because the silly things (4-H chicks, 12-14 weeks old) refuse to sleep anywhere but in a damp corner. Is there an effective way to get them to sleep in an elevated position?

After further investigation, I found several puddles of dark diarrhea. In addition, we went nearly two weeks without rain and then had over four inches in a two days. Couple all of that with the fact that all the birds that died choose to sleep on the ground instead of on roosts, and I believe I...

In the last two days I have lost (6) chicks. They are 14-week-old BR and RIR pullets. They are hatchery birds that we got through 4-H; all received Marek's vaccine at the hatchery. They have died onesy-twosey, but all with the same pattern. When I went out to feed, they were laying on one side...

This is actually a turkey question, but I believe this is the best place to ask. I have struggled with hatching turkey poults this year, having to assist with nearly every one because the babies are able to pip, but then can't make any headway through the shell and outer membrane. The shells...