Recent content by Bckpkrs

  1. Bckpkrs

    Unbreakable non-stop broody... how long can this go on?

    In another thread someone mentioned that all hens eventually stop being broody- to wit, my response: "Oh yeah... When?" Whaddya do when one of your gals turns broody, stays that way for seven weeks straight and still going, and you don't want chicks? Flock of three. 1.5 y.o. Cuckoo (her name)...
  2. Bckpkrs

    Broken hen broody again?

    Thanks; yeah, she's back in jail as of this afternoon. Wondering if more common than not Broody hens frequently relapse. We're serious (suburban) backyard chicken folks. Roosters not allowed in town and no interest in hatching chicks. We're at three out of our legally allowed five or six hens...
  3. Bckpkrs

    Broken hen broody again?

    Just curious for those with experience: is it (more) common for a broken broody to become broody again? We broke one of our 3 hens last month. It took about 14 days. She's been fine for the last three weeks, up until yesterday when she started hanging out in the best box for several hours. This...
  4. Bckpkrs

    Chickens Free Range: Going Where I Don't Want Them to Go ...

    I'd love to hear what you're planting for that, and if you can even include a photo or two would be fantastic. I need to come up with a few ideas for our limited area where the chickens are allowed to be.
  5. Bckpkrs

    Breaking a broody hen

    As new chicken owners, we just dealt with our first hen going broody and breaking her. We used the cage during the day, but let her sleep in the coop at night. It took about a week of letting her out when we'd throw scratch, and we'd see how fast she'd run back to the nesting box. Most of the...
  6. Bckpkrs

    How to deal w/ breaking a broody hen that's still laying eggs?

    Thank you. I'll put that into action tomorrow. My concern about leaving her out in the cage overnight would be the neighborhood (suburban) critters that go scurry in the night upsetting her outside the relative safety of the closed coop. Is it that much better to leave in jail or could she...
  7. Bckpkrs

    How to deal w/ breaking a broody hen that's still laying eggs?

    Gotcha! Thx. Appreciate the extra info.
  8. Bckpkrs

    How to deal w/ breaking a broody hen that's still laying eggs?

    Just curious - what do you mean by "laying her last eggs" - like at the end of her egg production cycle? I'm guessing at 42 weeks that's (hopefully) not the case.
  9. Bckpkrs

    How to deal w/ breaking a broody hen that's still laying eggs?

    Thanks, yes; just three hens. She's been very normal since we've had her (just over a month) and would stay out of the coop all day unless she was laying. As of a couple days ago, all she wants to do is be in the nest box, and if she can't get into the coop she paces and tries intensely to get...
  10. Bckpkrs

    How to deal w/ breaking a broody hen that's still laying eggs?

    How do you balance the need to have a broody hen in chicken jail keeping her off her nest with her biological needs if she still needs to actually lay an egg and not 'just brood'? So a couple of days ago we noticed our 42 wk Cuckoo Maran turning broody. The first afternoon I kept pulling out of...
  11. Bckpkrs

    Covid-panic-induced chicken keeping?

    Well, we just got our very first chickens; three laying hens, Timing re: covid-19 turned out to be coincidental. My wife and daughter had talked about getting chickenss for the last two years. Each spring, the discussion got a little more serious, with me being the hold out. Finally, this...
  12. Bckpkrs

    URGENT Help for new Chicken Owners; laying hen w/ Drooping wing/eyelid, diarrhea, clumsy, panting... (Pics)

    Now that is an awesome suggestion; we're not far from one of the best in the country; UC Davis. I'll reach out to them. Cheers & Thanks!
  13. Bckpkrs

    URGENT Help for new Chicken Owners; laying hen w/ Drooping wing/eyelid, diarrhea, clumsy, panting... (Pics)

    Thanks for the info about the in-egg vaccine; Yes, that is good to know. As for the testing, I do agree, but sadly the bird seemed to be going downhill more each day, and at this point, the breeder will watch her and nurse her for a few days - but I'm not convinced she had another 3-4 days...
  14. Bckpkrs

    URGENT Help for new Chicken Owners; laying hen w/ Drooping wing/eyelid, diarrhea, clumsy, panting... (Pics)

    So... UPDATE: The sick lil Sussex has been returned to the breeder we bought her from after we saw her difficulty walking that really escalated this morning. We asked about the vaccine and she told us that the pet store she gets her eggs/chicks from says they (the chicks) are vaccinated in the...
  15. Bckpkrs

    URGENT Help for new Chicken Owners; laying hen w/ Drooping wing/eyelid, diarrhea, clumsy, panting... (Pics)

    Thanks, but sadly, it doesn't look good. Just within the space of this morning, she's become weak and not really able to stand or walk well. She's stumbling. But she's still eating and did manage to get up into the coop and give us another egg. :(
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