I had to move my setting hen 3 days before the chicks were due to hatch. I kept her in the same nest box and 3 chicks hatched without problems on day 21. The next day the broody pen door was left open and other hens got into the nest. Mom moved the hatched chicks but left the other eggs. Mom was...
My neighbor told me she saw a fox and kit on her property three days ago, about an hour before sunset. She was sitting quietly out by her goat pen when they came out of a wash that crosses the property. She moved and the fox saw her and ran and the kit went into a culvert. About 15 minutes later...
I've got you beat. Out of 40 chickens, ages 4 months to six years, NINE have gone broody. I'm running out of nest boxes for the rest to lay in. And that's not including the three that have already hatched out their chicks.
Let me preface this to say that my chickens are not pets. I love them and all fifty have names but I can not hold them or even get close to some of them. We were exposed to scaly leg mite over a year ago. I had never seen them before and didn't recognize them nor realize how horrific they were...
Do chickens have a good sense of smell? I have a pullet that may be blind. She had an infection in both eyes several months go. She healed up nicely and is back with the flock. She doesn't flinch when I put my hands near her eyes. I fed her separately for a month to insure she got enough to eat...
I learned this trick in New Orleans. Paint the ceiling of any structure a light blue. The wasps won't build nests there. I was told they won't land there because they think it is the sky. It has worked under the eaves at my house south of Sacramento, Ca.
I keep reading about dogs killing chickens. People give the dogs away or are terrified about their chickens getting out. I have a technique that has always worked. My grandfather used this technique along with my father and me. Since my dogs have always been indoor dogs I don't go to the...
I herd my chickens with a lunge whip. It gives me a very long reach and keeps the chickens moving in the direction I want. My DH thinks it's the funniest thing he's ever seen.
I noticed a pullet with pecked spots near both her eyes the morning I had to leave for 4 days. The person I had feeding and watering would do that but not any special care. When I got back I found the pullet had an infection in both her eyes. I brought her into the house, got antibiotics for...
On closer inspection the hole was not in her thigh but in her body. Well, it was over an hour after I removed the stick until I was able to treat her. The hole was still open. The wound has been trying to heal around the stick. I flushed it with peroxide and packed it with Neosporin ointment. I...
I got 11 hens 3 weeks ago. They have been in a quarantine coop until last night. I picked up a hen this am and discovered a piece of stick embedded in her thigh. She had no access to this type of material since she's been here. The stick was embedded about 1 1/2 inches in. When I removed the...
How long should a hen keep her chicks with her? The chicks are half her size and she still is caring for them. They are going on 11 weeks old now. They still try to get underneath her at night. I had to put a platform on the roost as they would push each other off the roost trying to get under...