Hi all,
I found my almost 4 yo Cuckoo Marans, Gemma, with a prolapsed vent yesterday evening. It’s pretty large. She had some feces stuck so I gently removed that. I soaked her for 15 min in warm water and cleaned her up. I used Vaseline and was able to push the prolapse back in, but she...
Hi everyone! I have a 7-month old pullet (NH Red) that was a lone survivor of her previous flock; my neighbor gave her to me when she was about 6 weeks old. Anyway, last week when I went out at 4:45am to open up the coop before going to work, Red and her flockmate, Chops, were awake and in the...
One of my older hens has been jumping on the backs of a couple of the younger hens and pecking their heads. Is this some form of dominance behavior? Gemma has never exhibited this kind of behavior before.
Hi y’all, I’m in need of some quick advice. Sometime this afternoon a Helmeted Guinea Fowl made its way onto our property; I have a feeling he was dumped here. Anyway, the poor thing is spazzing out. We think it’s a male based on his vocals and he looks to be an adult. I’m not sure if he can fly...
Hi y'all! I need some quick advice. I go back to work on Monday, so I have two days to try and make this work. This evening, I took in my neighbor's 5-6 week old chick, the lone survivor of a two-day predator attack on a flock of six chicks, two ducklings (no door on the coop :he ). She...
Hi everyone, today I lost one of my favorite hens, Baby Blue, to what I think was a fox. My avatar pic is the one I lost, she was a Blue Cochin :rant😭 My chickens free range from dawn to dusk. We have a 5 ft no-climb (welded wire) fence. There was a pile of Blue's feathers on the other side of...
Hi all,
I'm trying to tease out any info on what aerial predator took my beloved Dark Brahma today. I'm thinking it was either an owl or a hawk. Her name was Feather Feet and she was a big, healthy girl, weighing in at around 9 lbs. She was missing when we returned home from work, around 3pm...
Hi all,
I am in the process of slowly integrating my 6.5-week-old mixed-breed chicks with my older flock of 7 mixed-breed, free-range hens; 3 of them are 2 years old, the other 4 are just about a year old. Right now I have the pullets in a small dog crate inside of the run ("look but don't...
Good day everyone! Although this medical emergency isn't as serious as other postings, I am still seeking advice. My 21-month old white leghorn, Gertie, decided to have her first medical emergency, today of all days, during the polar vortex (it's -6 degrees F, -31 degrees F with the wind chill...
Hi all,
My 14-week old Ancona pullet, Nanny, was out free ranging and apparently became separated from her flockmates - four sisters of same age and three older hens. She just barely escaped a ground attack by a juvenile hawk. My husband happened to be looking out the kitchen window and saw the...
Hi all,
My Welsummer, Chipper, hasn't been eating very well lately and I've also noticed her walking around much slower, far back behind her sisters. Chip also hasn't been able to get up onto the lowest roost, which is only about 18" off the floor, and she has been sleeping on the floor for the...
Hi everyone,
I have a 9-1/2 week old Blue Cochin who is one of five mixed-breed pullets that I picked up as day olds. They were integrated into the hen house/yard about 3 weeks ago where four other 16 month old (mixed breeds) hens live. Today when we returned home from work, Baby Blue was...
Hi everyone,
My Barred Rock, Lacey, has gone broody for a second time in a month. Is this normal? For her first go around, I just let her ride it out. After what seemed to be over a month, Lacey began to lay again. About 2-1/2 weeks ago I brought out five 7- week old pullets (all different...
Hi everyone! My 3-1/2 week old Blue Cochin just ate a very small, roughly 1/4" long, skinny shaving of plastic. She swallowed it when I picked her up to retrieve it. I fed them all chick grit for the first time right after she ate it, hoping this will aid in digesting it. Is there anything else...
Hi ya'll! Something is going on with Lacey, my Barred Rock. Right now I have a flock of four hens, all raised together from day one; they are approximately 13-14 months. Over the past few days I've noticed Lacey has been spending more and more time in the nesting box, sitting on two other eggs...
Hi everyone! My 13-month-old Welsummer has been laying rubber eggs for most of her laying life. I can count on one hand the number of normal eggs she has laid. She has been otherwise fine and normal acting, no obvious problems. I offer a bowl of oyster shell in addition to their layer feed...
Good day everyone,
I hope I am not starting a redundant thread but I searched and couldn't find the info I am seeking. I am looking for advice on feeding my hens. I have recently lost two of my girls, one yesterday who died in my arms, and another one about a month ago who I found in the...
Hello all,
I just lost my New Hampshire Red, Lucy. All seemed well today, she was out free ranging with her sisters. We went out for a couple of hours for dinner. When we returned home, i checked on the girls and Lucy wasn't with her sisters. I found her next to the shed. She was trembling...
Hi all! I know that ventilation/frost bite is an ageless topic but I couldn't find the direct information that I am seeking via searching the BYC forum. Unfortunately a few of my hens that were labeled as "cold hardy" by the hatchery have larger single combs and I am worried about frost bite...
Hi everyone! I was chatting with a couple of other folks on another thread about having a chair by the chicken coop and how our neighbors tease us. So I am curious: how many other BYC members also have seating by their coops? If ya got a pic, please post it! Any responders to this thread...