What can I add to the water and Aquasol to make it palatable for the girls? Or maybe a better descriptor would be to “disguise” it from the girls? You’d think that chickens who drink from mud puddles wouldn’t be so finicky, but they are not happy with the taste or smell.
I have tried cleaning with hot water and Dawn detergent, but after about forty-eight hours, both waterers stink. It smells foul and sour. Not like rotten food, not like poop (theirs or mine), just metallicky and gross. I use a plastic waterer in the summertime, but need to use the galvanized...
Hatched on 29 May of this year, he’s already trying to crow. He’s a loner a lot, but is pushing his way up the pecking order. I can’t get close to him to actually pick him up, but he does come when I call and takes treats from my hand. I guess I have to spend a lot more time in the coop...
My girls have a mild infestation of mites. I have the dust and use an infant nasal aspirator to poof the dust around their vents and the backs of their necks. There’s got to be a better way! The aspirator doesn’t suck up much powder and can’t be opened. Any suggestions would be welcome...
My partridge Cochin, Shirley, is trying to cover her naked fanny, but her sisters keep picking her feathers out!! Any suggestions other than Blue Kote?
Has anyone made beef bone broth as an added source of calcium for their birds? My girls are in the midst of a supremely ugly molt and are not eating as much as they usually do. Plus, they seem to be ignoring the oyster shells and their eggs are getting pretty darned easy to crack.
I’m...
My five year old blue Cochin, Blue, has been coughing for a month or more. She loves to dust bathe in the coop (all sand and zeolite) when I have the door open and the sun is shining in. She stirs up a LOT of dust. While she’s dust bathing, she coughs, throws her head back, opens her beak...
Not sure if this thread belongs here, but how and where do you all store your unopened packets of Doxy-Tyl and Amoxicillin powders? My house is usually warmer than 22° C, so I’m thinking maybe I should store them in the fridge? Since those dumbbells on Capitol Hill decided that not only are We...
Has anyone ever treated your flock to a few Lafeber’s Nutriberries? My friend Annie has a cockatiel who won’t eat them, so she gave them to me for the chickens. I don’t give my girls treats except when I call them back into the run after a little yard time, and usually only with some crack or...
Okay, I have sand as bedding in the coop, run, and nestboxes. My flock of fourteen range in age from nine months to five years of age and are a mixed bag when it comes to breed. Lots of Brahmas, Cochins, EEers, etc., so some with feathered feet, some not. I use Grandpa’s Feeders, but also...
First, apologies to Bill Shakespeare. The question remains the same.
I have fourteen females. Five hens are four years old. Five Brahmas are 18 months old. Four girls are five months old. My girls are all in the midst of a molt (even the youngsters). The old gals are in the midst of an...
Well, Mary, one of my year old Brahmas, ATE one of my Alpine Party Pro earplugs!!!! I was taking them out of the box to put in my ears to block the pounding of the rain on the metal roof and I dropped one. Mass chaos ensued and I couldn’t grab it or her. She grabbed it from someone during the...
I just saw a roundworm in one of my hen‘s poop (shudder!!!). I’m pretty sure whoever pooped it out got it from an earthworm as it’s been a wet year so far and they all gobble up the goodies whenever they are out in the chicken yard with me. They are all in the middle of a molt, so everyone...
Uh-oh! My big, fluffy Bluebird is broody!! She’s my lowest ranking girl, but no one is bothering her this go-round. (Last time she got broody, the other girls kept kicking her out of the nest box.) This is day four and I’m wondering if I should put in an order for three or four chicks from...
I had to humanely euthanize my three year old BLRW hen this week because she was ill from some unknown cause (and had been ill for about six months). I did not do a necropsy and do not have an avian vet within about a three-hour drive. There are several threads related to Lily’s illness, but...
Has anyone ever tried using a heated seedling mat (with a thermostat) in the nest box to keep eggs from freezing? We have sand in the nestboxes, so was thinking these would work well to keep the eggs just above freezing…...
Hi all! My three year old alpha hen, Butterfly, injured her hip last year. She’s recovered, but since the weather has dropped from 70° to 30°, she‘s a little gimpy. She’s still her normal, chatty, happy self, but I think her hip is stiff and probably sore. (Just like my back!) The coop is...
I have a twelve girls. One, Lily, is two years old. Six are three years old. Five were hatched on Mother’s Day of this year. The pullets are all Brahmas. The older girls are various breeds. Three girls lay cream colored eggs, one lays blue eggs, and the other three hens lay brown eggs (one...