Two of my hens have gone missing! They don't show up when it is time to shut up the coop for the night, but we have seen them out and about for a bit in the morning. This happened with a different hen last year. Our dog found her nest for us and we were able to move the little family to the coop...
Dr. Brooderle, a BO roo who hatched last March, has become blind in one eye. The pupil of his right eye is but a pinhole, and I have noticed that he has to swivel his head around to see stuff. I don't recall any injuries or infections - and I don't think it was this way this summer. What to do...
I have two buff orpington cockerals - hatched March 21. One matured very early (roo1) - he is currently the king of the ark (2pullets, 3 roos). The other bo roo (roo2) is still rather gangley, but obviously a bigger bird. Roo1 looks like an adult rooster. Roo2 has longer tail feathers - just a...
Thank you BackYard Chicken people! We had a 4 week old Cornish Cross whose legs collapsed. He just sat there on his heels, or keeled over on his side. I started giving him Polyvisol drops (no iron) twice a day, and propping him in front of food and water where he didn't have to compete with the...
When I was out visiting our chicks this evening (they are 3 months old - and in this hot weather, I have been letting them free range nearly all day), I noticed one chick's eye was swollen and gunked shut. I swabbed the gunk off with warm water and a cotton ball, then switched to cool water...
Poor little chick - she is a 7 week old BO. She had leg problems earlier, and spent about 2 - 3 weeks with the bandaid thing, isolated so no one would pick on her. She seemed to be getting along quite well. No problem introducing her back to her broody mom and sibling. Well, we were gone for the...
Hi Folks!
I would like to build a sheep version of a chicken tractor for our three sheep so we can move them around the yard to cut the grass. Anyone have any experience with this? Any designs or plans? Panels on wheels?
One of my broodies hatched out 4 chicks for us from our backyard hens' eggs. Two of them only have three toes! 1 in the back, and two in the front. The fourth toe is only about an eight of what it should be. The two chicks that have feet like this came from an EE/SLcochin mix hen and a brown...
I am treating a week old chick for spraddle leg in the house - and noticed a louse walking on him. What do I do? There are 5 more chicks out in the hen house with the grown-ups. Can I dust little chicks with DE?
I've had two broodies on clutches for 21 days. Our backyard chicken eggs under one broody have almost all hatched - started yesterday. The mail order chicks under the other broody haven't started yet. I don't expect the same hatch rate as my backyard eggs, but do they also take a little longer...
On Saturday, I set clutches of eggs under two broody hens. I have them in dog crates, side by side, away from the rest of the flock. Annette and Eugenie have access to the same water & food. Eggs are set to hatch around March 20/21 (Spring Chicks!). Will things work out when the chicks hatch? Or...
Roxanne is in the coop getting ready to lay an egg in the corner. Mr. Fancypants is standing over her (not mounting) chortling - sounds like a deep, rumbly coo - almost constant. Anybody know what this is all about?
Hi! I am from Wisconsin and will be traveling in Iowa later this week. I am looking for hatching eggs (standard, dual purpose breeds) to tuck under my two very broody hens. I'll be entering Iowa in Dubuque, heading West Liberty, then on to Newton. Anyone along that route have hatching eggs?
Well, it finally happened. We've had our hens for a year and a half, and occasionally I stick an egg or two in my pocket while I quickly tend to something else. I'm sure you can see where this is going. I slipped an egg in my pocket - then noticed that the sheep had trampled their fence and were...
Hi folks,
I've had a small flock of chickens for a year and a half. But now, I keep looking at those adorable runner ducks........... Do they need a pond to swim in? They don't really look like they are designed to swim........
I have twelve 6 week old cornish x chicks. One seems to be on a hunger strike. She still drinks water, but just stands back when breakfast and dinner arrive. I noticed it yesterday afternoon. Any idea what may be going on with her?
We are raising our first batch of CornishX chicks. They are almost 5 weeks old. I've been feeding grower starter in the morning and around 5:00PM, giving them a bit of scratch, grass, kale, etc. during the day. Should they have grower starter feed available all day? I keep reading about them...
We have 12 four-week old Cornish x's -our first experience with meat birds. I currently let them out into a fenced in area in the afternoon for some sunshine, greens, and scratch. If I let them out to free range, will they return on their own to the coop? They just don't seem as bright as our...