I'd keep an eye on it. We had one chick one year who had the most awful pasty bum and I'd go out and clean him off from time to time. I think I had to do it two or three times. In our case, Mama didn't worry with it. I'd just take a wet washcloth that I'd gotten wet in warm water and clean off...
Does she look "mangy"? Is she missing any feathers? If so, she's molting. But, it's also possible that she's too young to lay yet. Like you said, he just grabbed some up from the lot of them. She may have been younger. Wait it out. And, watch that comb! Good luck.
That doesn't sound broody to me. She may be thinking about laying and that's why she goes in and sits on them and checks them. If she were broody, she'd sit on the eggs all day and only get up once a day to eat and get water and maybe dust bathe and then go back and sit. A broody hen wants the...
It depends on the particular chicken. You sound like you've unluckily gotten a bunch that have all decided to stop completely for now. They'll start up again. When they start up also seems to depend on the particular chicken. Watch their combs. The combs go pink when they aren't laying. When...
Agree, agree, agree! She's molting all right. We had one last year molt in December. She looked like a Naked Neck. She looked terrible! But, she's fine. Your girl will be fine. And, she won't lay while she's molting and for a little while afterwards. They use too much energy to regrow feathers...
All of a sudden we've had a little pick up in egg production. We've been getting an egg or two if we're lucky every few days from 5 hens. One wasn't laying until this weekend! We just got her first egg! Super excited about that. Then to make things more excited on Monday we got 4 eggs from the 5...
They may start soon! We've had some though who waited until spring. It just depends on the amount of daylight and the weather. This year we had one just start laying yesterday, so you never know! Hope you get some more to start laying soon.
Our chickens practically like everything. They're little piglets. They each have different tastes though. One loves bread and pasta, but turns her nose up at lettuce and cabbage. I say it's because she can get greens in the yard anytime, but can't forage for bread. Greens are not a treat in her...
I had meant to post an updated picture sooner. We did indeed end up with a hen and rooster pair. Here they are in October 2012 before we had to give up Beast, the rooster, in November. We live in the city and aren't allowed roosters. I'd have loved to keep him because he was a beauty. Belle, the...
We starting keeping chickens two years ago. I'd always liked chickens, but hadn't entertained the idea of keeping chickens until I met someone who was keeping chickens in his backyard in a nearby town. He invited me to meet his back yard flock and the rest is, as cliched people say, history. We...
Anyone interested in a beautiful Marans rooster? He was born mid-July so he's 3 1/2 months old. Not crowing yet. He's a nice boy. Thought I'd post him here before Craig's List. We're in Wake County. Send me a msg if you're interested.
It's more than likely a cyclical thing. Our hens are doing the same thing and one looks like she's starting to molt because we've been picking up a lot of her feathers in the coop/run. They usually start molting in the fall at some point and apparently ours are starting early this year. As long...