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I'm so sorry you lost your Leeli. It's too late for her, but perhaps the following may save another hen. In addition to the calcium citrate, massaging the vent with a little olive oil may help you (or the hen) expel the egg. A homeopathic recommendation is to give the hen either Pulsatilla...

Your run is too big for netting the entirety. But what about providing some cover with bushes too low for a hawk to perch? When our birds were totally unfenced, they'd stay close to the euonymous (burning bush) growing on the hillside. Alternatively, you could create "islands" of netting that...

In winter we use a two-gallon watering bowl, so about a dozen pellets, stirred in until they dissolve. If the chickens want that remedy (or any other), they'll really go for it. Animals have a sense of what they need. With other animals, I use olfaction: if they want the remedy, they'll take...

My girls are now entering their fourth year. Feed is organic layer pellets, with nightly treats of organic scratch or sunflower seeds, foraged weeds, and occasional organic veggies, from our garden or the local market. No mucus. Did not feel the crop or belly. No idea when these two last...

Thanks for the links on state labs. There isn't one in my state, and none of the private vets around here care for chickens. I did't take any photos but will if another falls ill. There wasn't any swelling of the wattles or the face that I could detect; definitely no respiratory symptoms...

I've lost two hens in the past two months to something I'd never seen before. Disease descriptions are often spotty in books and even on the web, but here's what I saw: a bird who acted "depressed," not joining the others in foraging for treats but standing by herself, hunched posture...

A most impressive job of care-taking! You are to be commended for your dedication, patience, and knowledge -- and for sharing this story with us. A tip: as a homeopath who lives in chilly New England, I will often add the remedy Agaricus 30C to my birds' water when the temperature falls into...

Good article. We're fortunate in having soil that drains well. We also have interconnected runs that are pretty large (for nearly 40 birds). One is totally denuded, but the two others are full of weeds -- and that's where the birds like to hang out, in the cool shade and shielded from raptors...

1. How old are the members of your flock(s) & what does it (do they) consist of? Ours is a mixed flock of about 35 hens, mostly Easter Eggers, with a Speckled Sussex (my favorite!) and Rhode Island Red who came to us as refugees. Ages range about 2-3 years. 2. What feed do they get? A...

We too have Easter Eggers. At least one of our hens has grown spurs and one or more of the others exhibits rooster-like behavior, namely, grabbing other hens by the back of the neck and mounting them as if to mate. I passed it off as trying to assert dominance, but now I wonder... We also...

Another treat my chickens love is Japanese knotweed, which is great because we've been overrun with the stuff since a hurricane some years ago. I cut armloads of the stuff every day for them, and they instantly overrun the piles and strip off the leaves. The only good thing about Japanese...

It might also be helpful to run up an itemized list of how much you paid per bird, how much you spent on supplies and feed, how much time you invested in their care each day, etc. If you sell your eggs, you should also do a projection of income lost during the time it will take you to raise up...

We have a speckled Sussex hen that's prone to accumulating manure balls. Possibly it's due to her extra long nails, because none of our other hens (different variety, shorter nails) have this problem. I've soaked her feet in warm water and baking soda, but all that does is soften the outer...