Recent content by Molly77

  1. M

    New to this, what is normal mama hen behavior?

    I have a 1 year old Buff Orpington hen who has been broody pretty constantly since Sept. I just put 6 hatching eggs under her and she sat faithfully and hatched 2 chicks. They are 8 days old now. Mom and babies are in my office in my house, because my coop and run isn't safe for them (I am...
  2. M

    Winter Chicken Care - Killed My Girl With Kindness

    I want to share this because I'm a new chicken keeper, and in all the stuff I've read and all the videos I've watched, no one has mentioned this issue. I have 6 Buff Orps in their first winter. I'm in upstate NY and the weather has been brutally cold for 2 mos. I have seen a lot of posts here...
  3. M

    My favorite hen is wasting away

    An update: Adm Byrd spent a couple of days indoors in my kitchen, either in a dog crate or out walking around eating and drinking. Unlike her first broody episode, she willingly came out of the crate to look around and be in the kitchen. She seems to be doing fine. She broke broody quickly this...
  4. M

    My favorite hen is wasting away

    I haven't, but a vet checked them for worms in October. Great thought, though, I need to keep that in mind.
  5. M

    My favorite hen is wasting away

    My beloved lone survivor from a dead batch of mailed chicks last spring, Admiral Byrd, went broody in Sept-Oct. I'm a noob so I didn't break her right away and she went on for about a month. Already small, she lost half her body weight and made her chest bald. She's been fine after, but the...
  6. M

    Topic of the Week - Heat Sources: Yes or No?

    Ah, thank you! We are definitely not anywhere near that state. This is the first winter for my buff orpingtons, they are 8 mos, laying and fully feathered. But man are they bitching out there! They're usually very laid back but when I go out to the coop they are screaming at me like they think I...
  7. M

    Topic of the Week - Heat Sources: Yes or No?

    What would be the signs that you need added heat? I'm new to chicken keeping. Thank you.
  8. M

    What do hens really want from nesting boxes?

    I love the curtains! Going to add those.
  9. M

    Thoughts on organic chicken feed. What is your opinion?

    I rode a bike on the Katy Trail through Missouri in September a few years ago, all the soy fields across the state were an unnatural dark brown, and a local farmer told me they desiccate all of it with Roundup before harvest.
  10. M

    Thoughts on organic chicken feed. What is your opinion?

    Could you post what ingredients you mix chicken feed from? I'm looking to go this way.
  11. M

    What do hens really want from nesting boxes?

    My 6 young Buff Orpington hens are laying (a lot), and I had a 4-slot wood nesting box from a kit that is 11" x 11" x 12" inside the boxes. The hens barely fit, look really crammed in there and they can't stand up. I watched one lay an egg and it seemed like some repositioning and fidgeting...
  12. M

    Will my flock miss their rooster?

    Just to close the loop on this thread, I left town for a few days and my chicken sitter tried to tame the rooster by picking him up and carrying him around a lot. He got increasingly violent with her to the point that she had to use a trash can lid to keep him off her in the coop, and she culled...
  13. M

    Will my flock miss their rooster?

    This guy just gets worse every day, I lock my coop-to-run door from the inside at night, so I have to go in the coop and bend down to unlock it in the morning. I have to carry a stick the last couple of days to keep him off me. I haven't hit him or anything, but he respects the stick so I can...
  14. M

    Will my flock miss their rooster?

    Wow this is a fascinating read. Thank you! It makes me inclined to try to come to terms with my roo rather than take him out, but I can't imagine him ever letting me touch the back of his neck or his comb! He never takes his eyes off me or lets me touch him, he seems always steeled for my attack...
  15. M

    Will my flock miss their rooster?

    Great thread, thank you!
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