Recent content by jsmith2952

Hi, I have a very stubborn broody hen. She's an easter egger and isn't a year old yet, but has decided that she is going to lay imaginary eggs on the nesting box. I caught her her first day doing it (I only have 4 chickens so it's pretty easy to catch different behavior!) and immediately...

@slordaz haha too funny. I'll make sure I keep the tea tree oil out of her line of sight! :)

Another question, this one regarding culling chickens. I have 5 hens, in my suburban yard. 3 of them are now 4 years old (the other 2 are just coming into their first lay). We can't have any more hens because of by-law/room factors. Of the 4 year olds, one is an internal layer and hasn't laid in...

@lalaland : I ended up going with the witch hazel and tea tree oil/epsom salts bath. The prolapse is better. Who knew?!

Thanks for replying @lalaland...I read the same thing with the prepH. I was hoping there was something easier (like doing nothing!) Haha. Will keep you posted.

Hi all! Just had a quick question about prolapsed vent. My 4 year old hen has a slight prolapse, but is still laying eggs normally. The only way I even noticed is because sometimes she sits sort of crouched down, like she's trying to poop but nothing is coming out. I took a closer look and saw...

@aart: I did a check of the yard and didn't find anything although I can't rule a hidden nest out for sure...my one girl with the red comb actually let me scratch her today and did the shake after so I'm guessing she's ready to lay and the other one looked totally different when I let her out...

@junebuggena , @aart wow, thanks for the info! I had never even considered using the grower feed past egg laying...this is my first time with a mixed flock so I was going on different websites I read. I'll give the grower feed a go. I was just worried that I would be malnourishing the laying...

thanks so much for the advice, both of you! I'm glad to know that it's not just me and I didn't end up with a pair of duds! @junebuggena : I switched them to the layer feed after giving up on them free choosing the grower feed once they were about 30 weeks or so. Do you think I should remove...

Hmm...I've had trouble getting them to eat the grower feed because they want to eat what the other girls are eating. Any tips?

Hi, I have two easter eggers that I bought last August. The owner felt sure that the girls would both start laying by fall, and assumed they were 10-12 weeks when purchased. However, neither have started yet, and they're nearing 40 weeks! It seems like a really long time to me, but I've no...

I have a 2 1/2 year old red sex link who has always laid rather large and interesting shaped eggs. She has been a good layer until this spring. Her egg laying has become more sporadic-every other day to every three days, and the eggs have been soft, hard, bumpy, and sometimes all three at once...

Quick question about an egg bound hen: One of my girls has always laid large, odd shaped eggs. She's 2 1/2 now, and was recently egg bound. After a warm bath she laid a weird half soft half hard shelled egg. She's been better since, perky, eating and pooping normally, but has yet to lay...

@ronotti1--no mites or lice (she was never infected), plus I just rechecked again today. and no, the protein isn't helping--though all girls are super shiny right now! @SallyinIndiana--I only have three hens, thus my continued over-worry...I think if I had more, she'd be stew for sure! The...

Hi, I posted a few months ago about my hens--one was getting pecked on her neck and I couldn't figure out what to do. I finally used blu-kote out of desperation, only to find that the culprit was pecking right through the blu-kote (I had thought blu-kote didn't taste good, so I was...