Recent content by MommaKnows

I just came here searching for information on them, because I saw my chickens eating some that had dropped on the ground under the rose bushes. I'm glad they are safe for them to eat! I won't bother with the drying process. They seem to be enjoying them as they are. :)

@hotlipshens That is the shed I am looking at right now, because when I saw it I thought that it would make a GREAT coop for my girls! How are yours liking it?

We have had chickens for almost 4 years, and have always used pine shavings for the coop and nest boxes. I am deathly allergic to hay (as in I need an epipen if it comes in contact with my skin) so hay has never been an option. Our coop is raised off the ground almost 3', so I just open the big...

Helga laid one egg after that, two days later. It was TINY, about the size of a robin's egg and it was filled with white only (no yolk). Then she promptly began molting so she's been on strike ever since. I'm hoping she gets over it soon though because those last two eggs concern me!

I didn't end up probing or doing anything invasive. She continued to be happy and healthy, and although she only laid one more egg after that (about a week later, very tiny with only white in it!) she also began molting. Now I'm just waiting for her feathers to finish coming back in and hoping...

Yes! I got my Wellie a year ago and I wasn't sure about the speckles... they DO wash off if you rub, which I thought was really strange. She is a GREAT layer though, with 5-7 eggs a week. Too bad she's on strike right now. Barely molting, but the pins on her face are enough I suppose. Sigh...

Mine tore apart a baked sweet potato, and ate until their beaks were clumped with orange mush, and a couple handfulls of wheat. My husband is a scale technician and gets it by the 5 gallon bucketfull from one of the granaries, for free. :) They LOVE it.

Well, it's been three days since the yolk covered egg, and Helga hasn't laid since. Hmm. She still is as chipper as ever, happily active and noisy just like normal. I have no idea what to make of it. She does go through periods where she doesn't lay for a few days. She has never laid an egg...

I do, but this egg was COMPLETELY covered, like it had been dipped in egg yolk, and there was no other yolk or mess in the box. The only other egg in there was from my only other hen who's laying right now, and it was clean... so I'm pretty sure it was Helga's. I could try to catch Helga and my...

My 3 year old Americauna, Helga, laid an egg today that is completely covered in yellow yolk. The egg itself is fine, no cracks, and there were no cracked/broken eggs in the nest box. She is a consistent layer, about 4 eggs a week even now, and this is the first time this has happened. Should I...

Yes I've read through that thread before. I also found another one where dozens of people posted that their chickens had swollen bellies but acted fine for a year or more! I don't know what to do. I may try giving her olive oil and some yogurt. Paying for a vet isn't an option. :(

I just started a new thread to make it easier... So my hen started out with her comb going flat, and just seeming out of sorts. She's usually active, vocal, and will run behind me across the yard if I bring treats out. Today she lay down to eat a cucumber I brought out-- I've never seen any of...

So she's looking worse today. Her comb is all the way down, she's acting sickly. Although still eating, she laid down to eat a cucumber I put in their run. I've never seen one lay down when there's competition for treats. Her rear is all covered with poop, so I'm going to wash her off in a...

Her comb came back up a bit, but hasn't really changed much. She is eating and socializing just fine. I don't know what's up there. She is starting to molt though, so maybe that's what was wrong? She looks disheveled now and is leaving wads of feathers all over the chicken yard, the coop, and...

Bump. Help! 7:30pm I just went out and to check on her. I found her sitting in the nest box (as she often does in the evenings, I have no idea why). It occurred to me that lately I've been finding chicken poop in the nest box, which I never have before. Her rear is caked with poop so I suspect...