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  1. chickiegrrl

    Puffy, lethargic hen

    I took the girls out this morning and Buffy stepped out of the coop and did this: She just stands like this, head lowered, tail raised. She closes her eyes now and again. This is not normal for her at all. She's usually one of our most active and interactive hens. What I know: She went...
  2. chickiegrrl

    Two hens with crusty combs (photos)

    Here's the story: This was an awful winter in MN, it was so cold that our Australorp lost part of her comb from frostbite. In January my RIR and Buff Orp developed white comb tips that progressed down the RIR's comb. I was pretty sure that they were going to lose part of their combs, too...
  3. chickiegrrl

    How long to separate "trouble hen" to shake up pecking order?

    Our Buff Orp picks on our 'Lorp and EE mercilessly. We took Buffy out of the flock and have had her in isolation in the basement since Friday last week. I took her out to the coop today and she went after the 'Lorp and EE. They ducked and squatted for her, she pulled their head feathers. She...
  4. chickiegrrl

    How frequently to offer water?

    My girls are all locked in the coop for the next two days. It's -23F right now and I don't want them out in the run. I can't leave their water in the coop because they will spill it. Would offering them water every 2 hours during the day be enough? Should I bring it to them every hour? I...
  5. chickiegrrl

    7 month old pullets molting?

    I have 4 pullets. They were hatched 5/7/13. I've noticed over the past couple of days that two of the girls are losing a lot of feathers. My RIR is blowing them when I pick her up. Then I noticed that the BO is as well. It's really cold here in MN, we have been close to -20F for several...
  6. chickiegrrl

    Feather pulling and protein question (Update on page 3)

    Our sweet Black Australorp has started pulling her feathers. She's just making a mess out of herself. It's not that she's pulling the whole feather, but it looks like she's broken a bunch of them. I know that we need to up her protein, right now I'm feeding Purina Layena crumbles and...
  7. chickiegrrl

    Feather plucking question

    Our RIR is a messy little girl. She doesn't lower her butt-fluff when she poops, so poop gets stuck in her butt feathers. I trim her fluffy feathers, that way they don't get dirty. It was working great. All of a sudden, this weekend I noticed that she has a bare hiney. From her vent, going...
  8. chickiegrrl

    Need help! Egg laying problem!

    Our Black Australorp, Flora had problems laying today. I found this on the poop board: The brown egg was fine, whole, no cracks or problems. As you can see there was another egg passed as well. I pulled this out of her bottom: It was stuck inside her and only the part near my thumb...
  9. chickiegrrl

    Male or female EE?

    "She" is 28 weeks old. Her flock mates have been laying eggs for several weeks. She hasn't shown any real rooish signs, other than not laying. We're hoping she's a she. Tell us some good news! My husband says she's lazy, but I don't care. I'll take a lazy Tilly over the alternative.
  10. chickiegrrl

    Fertile eggs or not?

    Could these be eggs fertile? I haven't seen this on my eggs before and I have one EE "girl" who isn't laying yet. Now I'm wondering if she's an EE boy. OTOH, if they're not fertile, we'll just wait for her to lay. We're *really* hoping they're not fertile and she isn't a he. ETA a more...
  11. chickiegrrl

    Frustrated with loose stools in pullet

    I am going crazy trying to get my girl to have normal stools like the rest of my girls. Here's the deal, ever since we got this pullet as a chick she has had intermittent loose stools. It would just squirt out. As she grew up, she would have normal poo and loose poo on and off. She doesn't...
  12. chickiegrrl

    Winterized the coop today

    I put the plastic up on the coop today. The weather was so nice, it felt like I shouldn't be doing it yet, but I know that the weather can get horrible anytime now. The worst part is that we can't see the girls from our window anymore. The girls aren't sure what to think about it. They don't...
  13. chickiegrrl

    Does changing food cause GI problems?

    I changed my girls' food from starter crumbles to layer pellets 2 days ago. I put the pellets in with the last of their crumbles so they would mix and transition fairly easily. They're eating them fine, drinking normally, laying like champs, but someone has loose stools. I just noticed it...
  14. chickiegrrl

    Egg on poop board, in a pile of poop

    I went out to clean the coop/run and gather eggs. I found 2 eggs in the nest and one on the poo board, smushed into a big pile of poop. Do hens often lay eggs while they roost? Could this be because one of the hens had to lay but it was too dark for her to find her way to the nest this...
  15. chickiegrrl

    Safe way to get rid of boxelder bugs around coop and run?

    Is there a safe way to get rid of stupid boxelder bugs? They are swarming my girls' coop and run. I really want to get rid of them because the girls won't eat them and they're driving me crazy. Any suggestions are appreciated! Thank you!
  16. chickiegrrl

    Unexpected visitors/hen health question

    Yesterday we had a wild tom turkey and 4 hens wander through our yard. Do I have to worry about free ranging our girls after that? They walked near the coop/run and lingered in the yard. I was planning on worming the girls with something like Valbazen before winter. Do you think it's...
  17. chickiegrrl

    Hopefully the third time revamping the nest will be the charm...

    I made a nest for the girls out of a bucket lying on it's side with shredded paper in it. Our BO is currently the only one laying. She did NOT like the shredded paper. She would not even go in the nest. She laid her egg on the coop floor, right in front of the nest. I switched the paper out...
  18. chickiegrrl

    Didn't realize egg laying would change hen personalities!

    Our hens are friendly, but keep their distance for the most part. They will come to you if you have treats, they don't like being grabbed. If you can catch them, they do like being held and pet, but not for long. When I clean the run/coop, they normally free-range and do their henley thing...
  19. chickiegrrl

    Weird hen behavior

    OK, so today my Buff Orp, 18 weeks, started squatting (yay!). I noticed while she was out free ranging that she would occasionally stop what she was doing, sort of semi-squat, and her vent would get very pinkish-red and visible. She would do it for a couple of seconds, 10-15, then she would go...
  20. chickiegrrl

    Pics of our coop and run

    We've worked really hard on making a good and safe place for our girls. It took most of our summer weekends and a lot of trial and error. Our girls love it, though. Here is the 5 cent tour: This is the front of the coop. As you can see, we still have a bit of work to do. I have to...
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