Recent content by doulaemily

Well, that would account for 4 of them, but the two easter eggers aren't 2 yet. I watch them dirt bathe all the time. One of their favorite things to do. Curious about the table scraps - how much is too much? How do you know if a hen is fat? ;) Thanks a lot for the links - checking them...

What causes mites? Why would that stop them from laying? How do you treat to get rid of mites? Thanks!

I have 2 buff orpingtons, about 2.5 years old now, 2 black australorps, about 2.5 years old, and 2 easter eggers, about 18 months old. I know about the light trick, but I would prefer to let them follow natural seasonal rhythms. There was plenty of light back in October! I'm looking for...

I have 6 hens in my sunny SoCal backyard. All have been reasonable to good layers in the past. At the end of August, they started their molting and the eggs tapered off and then stopped. But...the feathers all grew back, and yet NO EGGS. The chickens eat a non-GMO layer mix (free feed, as...

One of my six hens just lost ALL the feathers on her bottom around her vent. This morning she was fine and this afternoon they were all gone. What is happening? Is this what molting looks like? Or is something wrong? My birds free range and I feed them an organic layer crumble. They have...

I adopted four laying hens last weekend from someone who was moving and couldn't take them. They are now living in our large back yard, free ranging and sleeping in a 4x4 coop at night. Supposedly, they were laying 3-4 eggs per day between them, but I'm only getting 1 a day so far, and they...