Recent content by Greyhoundmama

My backyard chickens make me very happy. I am vegetarian, so I do not eat them, I love the eggs! My dogs are also happy, as I cook for them instead of feeding processed stuff, and they each get an egg every day. The chooks do get weird diseases, and that's been a learning process. Sometimes...

I lost one of my one year old Buffed Orpingtons. She was lively, laying well, and perfectly healthy yesterday. She died overnight in a nesting box. I found her already stiff on her side this morning. These are pets, given very high quality feed, in a large clean run. Absolutely no reason I...

I am vegetarian, and only eat my girl's eggs. I also sell the "eggstra" eggs, and I tell the buyers that my hens are pets, and when they no longer produce eggs, they will enjoy a nice retirement. It's a good selling point!

I just went through this with a one year old hen. She became wildly uncoordinated, and could sort of drag herself around using her wings. I put the water down low and she was able to stay hydrated, but couldn't eat. She remained like this awhile, just pooping bright green bile. I left her...

They are just over a year old. Marek's is pretty much everywhere, and it does not affect the eggs, not does it spread to humans. I'm just going to give high quality feed, keep the water fresh and add a little apple cider vinegar, and just let nature run it's course..

There are good articles on this website about Marek's. It's extremely contagious. I think it's unrealistic to say that you can isolate a hen to prevent the others from exposure. It's in the feather dander, and spreads in the air. Marek's didn't used to be so deadly, but widespread...

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I was responding to a thread entitled "He's toast now". My mistake, I got confused.

I had a population explosion with flies, even though I rake up chicken poo every day. I used a fly trap from my feed store. It's plastic and it has nasty smelling bait in it. You just add water. That took care of the problem.

Sorry you got hurt! Don't take it personally, he's a bird-brain. Have you noticed how small their little heads are? Not much room for brains. He didn't think things through, they'll kill for grubs, a favorite treat! Eat him if you like, but there's no point in being angry with an poor dumb...

I am a single older woman and I am not skilled at construction. Most coop kits are too heavy to deal with. I purchased a 9'X13' walk-in run from Omlet and attached an Eglu henhouse to it. I was able to assemble them all by myself and I love it! I have four Barred Plymouth Rocks, a large...

One of my Barred Plymouth Rocks laid a huge egg yesterday, and I was so relieved that she did not hurt herself! It turned out to be double yolked. She just started laying about three weeks ago. This thread was helpful to understand what's going on.

Tried putting flagstones in very shallow water in a shallow tub. They couldn't figure it out. 😏

Poor chickens! I am a new chicken owner in Central Texas and when this heat wave began I was so worried about my hens! I totally believe your egg was cooked! I have found a solution. I put a deep layer of sand along one side of the run (which is shaded). A couple times a day, I soak down...

It's pricey, but I only sprout organic wheat berries. I only have four hens, though. I give them a handful in the morning and they love them. I sprout them just to the point where they taste intensely sweet, not until they get fibrous and grassy. The enzymes are very high at that point and...

Here in Central Texas, my temperature readings have been 105 to 110 every day, and it's not going to stop. I have four Barred Rock pullets, my first chickens. Their coop is well shaded, but I have also laid down masonry sand along one side, several inches thick. I wet down the sand twice a...