Recent content by Lizl

We just found a baby heron in our back yard. It must've fallen from the nest. It's limping a bit, and we'd like to keep it until it's strong enough to be set free. What do I feed it??

She's been sitting since yesterday. I put 3 extra eggs under her this morning, and I'm holding thumbs!

Early May we bought 50 Leghorn pullets (so we thought). They were 9 weeks old then and looked all girly. Last week we finally admitted that 44 of them were actually fiesty young men. Although it was heartbreaking, we had to get rid of them, as it's quite heavy on the budget! We kept 6 that...

My little Bantam has now decided to become a mom....but she's only sitting on one egg! How's that for dedication? Can I put more eggs under her? Her own eggs from within the last week? Can't wait to see the little ones!!

We lost our little silky hen last week. They were a little group of six. She also just went missing, no traces of feathers or anything. We don't have foxes around here, but sometimes a certain type of small hawk hangs around here. Sure it was him!! Hope he gets a very bad heartburn!!

Oh bother! I bought 50 Leghorns when they were 9 weeks old. They'll be 18 weeks next weekend, but now more than half of them seem to be fiesty young boys! How will I ever find it in my heart to eat them?!

There is no such thing as a dumb question! I have 50 Leghorns that should start laying in about 2 weeks time. And then I have 6 Bantams. They'll probably never get to sit on the eggs, as my 5year old son can't wait to look for eggs! He'll literally stick his hand in under the hen and feel for...

One of my older Bantams is limping quite a bit. When he's in a hurry, he hops on one foot all the way! Apart from his toe nails being quite long, I can't see anything else wrong with his foot. Should I try cutting his nails? If so, what do I use? A sidecutter maybe?

I've just been given 5 Bantams. They're gorgeous little things, but their eyelids and just about the whole face is covered with fleas. How do I get rid of it, without having to pick them off one by one!! Can I apply something that won't harm the chicken?

What is an ideal size for a run for 50 Leghorn pullets? They've got a separate coop to sleep in.

Thanx, guys. I've just had them for about a week now. They're still having little "fights". It's hilarious to watch them having "stare-downs". Should I introduce a cockrel to maintain the pecking order? Apparently that helps settles them. Oh, so much to learn!

I've just found one of my hens dead in the coop. She's been plucked almost clean, and her insides are...well....outside. This must've happened in about 3 hrs, as I fed them just before I left to run some errands. How do I stop such behaviour? Can there be a deficiency in their diet? They're...

I've just put 50 Leghorn hens (10wks) in a coop. There is one specific hen that keeps pecking the others on the tail. It's not that they are already injured, but she literally walks after the others to peck them. Should I rather take her out? How do I treat chickens that are injured ?

Hi there! My name is Lizl, I'm from the West Coast of South Africa. We've just realized a longtime dream of moving to a 5ha smallholding. Yeah!! Yesterday we bought our first 50 hens (Please let them all be hens!!). They're 10week old white Leghorns. I'm gonna be asking lots of questions, so...