I have a broody hen under a clutch of eggs at about day 18. An egg broke ( either a quitter or a fresh egg another hen sneaked in and laid) and the developing eggs are filthy and stinky. Do I wash them?
Momma and 2 chicks are 2 weeks old. They hatched in the coop with the rest of my flock of 14, and have been separated from the flock in the same coop and run by some temporary fencing/wiring. When can I take that down?
Waiting on chicken in the next 3-5 days. Mama is brooding but other hens come in daily to lay eggs in her nesting box. ( not the other five boxes we have🙄).
Any idea what to do?
I don’t want to move her whole nest this late in the game, but if I block off her box only, she won’t have food and...
Has anyone given up and let their hen’s back stay bare? One of my hens is so over mated and so very bare in her back and the front of her neck.
She tolerated an apron for about a week but then tore it off. New feathers didn’t seem to fill in anyway.
She seems entirely unbothered by the whole...
Yertle the Chicken is broody and I gave in and let her set on seven eggs.
Twice a day I have to steal back the eggs laid by other hens from adjacent box. I’ve put a barrier between the previously open back wall and she still manages to sneak a new or two a day.
First time it happened she has...
Neighbor boy didn’t gather all the eggs while we were out of town and I now have a broody hen with eggs that look to be about 5-7 days developed.
We’re going to let her set.
One problem: the nesting box is about four feet off the ground.
What do I do? Move her and the eggs? Hope to be...
Found my oldest hen (btwn 4-6 years can’t remember), laying flat on her back this afternoon. I picked her up and she was barely able to walk a foot or so and drink some water. She feels very very light. When I put up on a table to examine her she threw up a teaspoon of the water. Crop is soft...
We have 15 hens and 4 bantam roosters, aged 10 months. ( long story/chicken math as to how we got four roosters).
They’d all been getting along wonderfully, with the occasional rooster chest bump or rooster chasing another away. The Fleur D’Uccles started to front me when I got in their...
We don’t have the bandwidth for chicks right now. One of the gals is acting broody. We’re getting plenty of eggs without her contribution. Is there any reason not to just keep taking the eggs and let her be?
Tried it out this week. The smell is horrific and even with daily emptying I’m afraid the fumes might be too much for the hens. 19 birds
Anyone find a way to make this work? The two roosts are six feet across and about 48 and 56 inches in height. I’m not excited to fabricate poop boards.
After four month of construction, several revamps of the original plan, the interior is finally done, and the coop only lacks window props and paint to the door and nesting boxes.
Run delayed d/t broken collarbone! Electric netting will suffice for now.
I keep my nesting boxing filled with fresh straw. Inevitably the hens rustle the material so that they are surround by straw but lay the egg onto the bare hard wood bottom. This leads to cracked eggs.
Anyone have a good solution?
Can anyone recommend a good article on when cockerels begin to mature and when they behavior peaks in aggressiveness/ crazy hormonal behavior?
Also is a cockerel picking at the pullets and chasing them around and harassing them but not hurting them normal ?
I bought a kit from Starkline and the netting itself is set up. I’m terrified to electrify it though- I can’t help worrying one of the chickens will get killed.