Recent content by Slotred

We have a thriving chicken club in Mobile. It's a long way from Elmore County, but you're welcome to join our closed facebook page. It's Mobile Bay Area Backyard Chicken Club. Ask to join and we'll include you.

No poop. No reason to be bored. Hmmm. I hope some other suggestions will come forward. Thanks very much.

Why do some hens pick at the rear-end feathers on other hens? They all have lots of high-quality food, oyster shell grit, and clean water. They also have plenty of room.

The Mobile Bay Area Backyard Chicken Club was formed last August for the purpose of sharing ideas and solving problems relating to the responsible ownership of backyard chickens. The club now has over 85 facebook members. Monthly meetings have been very productive, and we are continuing to grow...

How long before a molting hen will recover her plumage? Is there anyway to speed up the process of re-feathering?

Thanks for the excellent advice.

Thanks very much. I don't know what kind of predator could have gotten to her. My coop & run are just a little more secure than Fort Knox, but perhaps a spider could have bitten her while she was foraging. The knot is rather large for a bite, but I'll try the peroxide and some polysporin.

One of my four Australorp hens, who is otherwise very healthy, has an olive-sized knot just under the bottom of her breastbone. A scab has developed, and it is oozing around the edges. Some feathers in the area have been pulled out, I assume by her pecking at the sore. Any ideas about what I can...

My chicks came from Ideal Poultry in Texas. Beautiful black australorps.

About a quarter of my eggs have either tiny brown spots or little red blood spots or vein-like strings in them. Any ideas about how to deal with that? My girls (black australorps) are doing fine, and I get at least 3 eggs per day, but my wife is grossed out by the spots. Thanks

Meal worms, dried or live. Their favorite food.

Looking like a dork is something I'm beginning to get used to. Most folks think I'm nuts for having chickens, but I'm learning to get past worrying about what people think. My girls are better company than many of my friends.

My girls went through a phase when they didn't like worms, but now---MAN, can they eat worms!

My four black australorps love earthworms. Every morning I get the rake (and they start running towards me) and turn the big leaf piles along my lot line. Each hen can eat hundreds of worms every day. As long as I dig, they eat. I don't suppose I'm overdoing it, am I? It is great fun watching...

My hen house is small (4x4x4), but it has been adequate for my four six-month old australorp girls. Now, one of them is hogging the nesting box, forcing the smallest one, and maybe others, to lay her daily egg on the floor. Sometimes the egg breaks, and we have a mess. I tried adding an...