Recent content by zebular13

  1. Z

    Ceremonies or rituals for putting down a chicken

    Thanks everyone for your support! It's done. It was easier than I expected it to be, both emotionally and physically (I pulled too hard and separated the head from the body, but I was relieved since that way I was certain that she was dead). I said a prayer first, even though I'm not...
  2. Z

    Ceremonies or rituals for putting down a chicken

    Thanks so much for your kind reply. I've enlisted my neighbor to help as he has experience putting chickens down. I watched a couple more videos on how to do it and I'm feeling a bit more calm about the process. I'm certain that I want to do it myself so that I can hold her and calm her in her...
  3. Z

    Ceremonies or rituals for putting down a chicken

    Hi, I hope this is the right section to post this. I have a 3 year old Rhode Island Red who I am pretty certain is laying internally because she has water belly and several large lumps on her side near her gizzard. She's clearly in pain and hasn't moved and has been barely been eating or...
  4. Z

    Chicken is "decorating" herself with grass?

    Thanks for the replies! This is the first time I've seen her do it, and she doesn't typically stay in the nest after laying an egg. She's never been broody before either (she's 2 and a half). I did find a thread from 2010 where lots of people say they've seen the same thing: Hen putting...
  5. Z

    Chicken is "decorating" herself with grass?

    You can see in the video below that she is picking up dried grass and leaves and trying to stick them to her backside: Is this a mating behavior? Is she being playful? This happened twice while I was sitting with her after removing her from the nesting box (she had been in there all day...
  6. Z

    Anyone else have a contralto hen?

    That's so funny! I have a 2 year old hen whose voice never dropped, so she always squeaks in falsetto. It's adorable, but it makes me wonder if something is wrong with her vocal chords.
  7. Z

    Entire flock not leaving roost in the morning

    Oh yes, that is very possible! There are plenty of predators here - neighborhood dogs, eagles, owls, and raccoons. One of my hens was freeranging in the yard last week and never came home, so possibly the predator that got her knows where the chickens are and came back for more? I will have to...
  8. Z

    My odd hen pecks at the butt of other chickens

    One of my chickens used to peck the other chicken's butts, and I thought she was being a jerk. Then I read the book "How to speak chicken" and it says that when chickens peck each other's butts, they're often trying to help each other preen. The butt is the one place some chicken's can't quite...
  9. Z

    Entire flock not leaving roost in the morning

    I just went outside at 8:40am and heard all of my birds making noises on their roost inside the coop. I've had my birds for two and a half years, and usually, if the sun's up, they're up. I have a long run, and their food and water is at the farthest end of it, quite a ways from the coop, so...
  10. Z

    Hilarious hens are co-parenting two chicks

    Update - almost three months later, the Buff Orpington is still mothering these pullets! The Black Austrolorp decided she didn't want to be a mom anymore around seven weeks, and now is back to leading the flock. The pullets follow the buff hen everywhere and she still feeds them, even though...
  11. Z

    Hilarious hens are co-parenting two chicks

    The chicks are also black austrolorps. I think they are my favorite...
  12. Z

    Hilarious hens are co-parenting two chicks

    I decided to let my super broody black austrolorp, Angel, hatch eggs this spring. Unfortunately, the eggs (which I ordered on ebay) never hatched, despite her constantly sitting on them, and even going into lockdown in week three. Several of them actually exploded and it was disgusting. I ended...
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