Recent content by Fanny's Mom

Love this article. Answers a lot of questions for me!

I live on the Coast of NC. . .we get cold, but not consistently. I don't worry about ventilation because the coop has slotted soffits that let the air escape up top and windows I can crack open. I use a heat lamp at the peak of the coop (so the hens can't peck at it!) that is connected to a...

Found her dead at the door when I opened them up this morning. I should've isolated her last night, but wasn't thinking straight. Like I said, there is no swelling anywhere, her comb color was good, no waddle when she walked. . .no more than usual, that is (I love the way chickens waddle. ...

This particular hen has been acting "funny" for a while. . .just a general malaise. For a while she wasn't going to the upper perches with the rest of the girls when it's bedtime. . .she was staying on the lower perch with the rooster. After a while, she resumed joining the ladies on the upper...

9 barred rocks (and one rooster!) 103 + 9 = 112

My girls (9 of them) are all over the place with their laying. The temps here have been up and down and I don't necessarily get the most eggs on the warmer days. Yesterday was mid 60's and I got 4 eggs. A couple of days ago it was low 40's and I got 6. Whatever. . .it's plenty of eggs for...

Don't be too hard on them. I had some hens once that weren't producing any eggs. At least that's what I thought. Until I went in the coop one day and found a chicken snake with three lumps in its body! Had to apologize to the girls.

I was told by several people that a hen needs 2 sq ft when they're cooped for the night and that my coop was plenty big for 12 hens. Like you said, they don't fight and there are no injuries. I've checked them when I pick them up and pet them, look for mites, check their eyes, crops, etc., and...

dawg53, thanks for the response. I'm sooo at a loss! No lice, that's for sure. I've been spraying their coop every 2 weeks and I've seen no scratching. Also, when I read your note, I went out and inspected one of the girls very closely as well as the dead one I picked up this morning...

Another one down this morning! I don't understand this. They were all perky yesterday when I fed/watered them. This one was not in a laying box, but just out there in the coop. We were having downpours yesterday, so they spent most of their time in the coop rather than the run. Again, no...

I'm just really having bad luck with my birds lately. I had 11 pullets, raising them from 3 weeks old. Within the first week I lost 2 to coccidosis. Thereafter I lost one to a snake, and in the course of two separate nights in their 17th week lost the remaining 8 and a young rooster to what...

I have to thank you for this wonderful story. People think I'm nuts that I insist on having a rooster. My last rooster was absolutely evil and spurred me if I turned my back on him, but he was a great protector of my chickens. Our major threat is hawks. I would be in the house and hear...

Doesn't it figure? I Googled "corid dosage" and the only ones with a definitive answer was you guys! A scant 1/2 teaspoon to a gallon of water! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have 9 3-wk old pullets (started with 11) who were diagnosed yesterday with coccidosis! Had a devil of a time...

The dictionary says "a female chicken under one year old." Okay, but is a day old biddie a female chicken? I lost all my chickens (don't ask) and months ago ordered 8 barred rock pullets and one rooster from a local shop with a good reputation for healthy poultry. Today was pick up day and...

Today it was pilaf, French cut green beans and mahi. The pilaf was gone in seconds, then a little more slowly the green beans. . .the fish was last! I was so surprised because they love their cat food!