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I know we all are familiar with the "wrap them in a towel" routine when we have to treat our birds or clip their nails or whatever. Yep, the towel thing works great unless you have a tremendously flappy bird that is determined to get out from under that towel come hell or high water. During an...

Has anyone else noticed a change in personality (of their chickens, not themselves) after the chicken started laying? My very bossy Queen BO started laying about a week ago and she has gotten way nicer to the poor GLW at the bottom of the pecking order. She was merciless before---not to the...

Of COURSE they have a language. Chickens are smart, funny, and have their own distinct personalities. We all knew that already but here's a nice article about Chicken Speak...

Plans to construct a complete roof over our chicken run had to be put off until the Spring so we are left with a peaked roof on half of the run and the rest is covered with hardware cloth. The question was: How do we remove the snow that was accumulating on that hardware cloth span without...

Have any of you seen these chickens IRL? Scary!! http://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/06/the-dragon-like-legs-of-dong-tao-chicken.html

I have read articles that recommend one square foot of ventilation for each bird in the coop. No drafts but good air exchange. Last night we were in the low thirties and very windy. I closed the two windows and the back vent in the coop. The remaining ventilation consisted of ten 2" holes that...

Just thought I'd share what many of us are thinking. I have one out of six girls laying now---she skips about every fourth day but consistently lays beautiful brown perfect eggs. She went from PeeWee to Small and now lays a nice Medium egg---so proud of that girl. :love But the others?? A...

I didn't see who did it but I'm pretty sure it's courtesy of our lovely BO Miss Jody---she's been squatting for a while and all of a sudden her comb and wattles have gotten very plump and red. She also was three fingers on the pelvic bone check this week. Did it in the nest box too---good...

Okay, as I have exhibited countless times here, I am an overthinker. So....I have been thinking of prepping my coop for winter. A big cleanout, replacing all bedding. Scrubbing the interior and touching up paint scrapes. Question: Would anyone here (the REAL chicken people, as opposed to my sad...

We are working on getting a roof over the biggest open part of the chicken run. Due to some other issues we only have about a week to get this done. Not sure if we will want to do the rest of the run next Spring but this is going to have to do for now. So far, rafters are up, secured with screws...

I went into the coop this morning and was greeted by two lovely brown eggs in the middle of the coop floor!!! I was so excited----who cares if they didn't use the nesting boxes---we have EGGS!!!! Turns out my girls apparently are pranksters. They had kicked the lovely brown ceramic eggs out of...

This will be my first winter with chickens and I was wondering if there was anything special I should be doing to prepare my coop for winter. I have six girls and I will be doing a thorough cleanout, wiping down the interior with white vinegar and replacing all bedding (I use pine shavings and...

I have a bunch of sunflower and Echinacea (coneflower) seed heads and was wondering if I could toss them into the run for my girls. The Echinacea heads look pretty sharp. I know the goldfinches love them but not sure if the sharp seed are okay for chickens. Yes, I am a newbie, lol. TIA for any...

I had five Black Vultures sitting in a big dead tree near my run today. All five were staring into the run. I did some reading and it seems that they not only eat carrion but have been known to attack and kill prey, including chickens. They are supposedly nastier than Turkey Vultures, which we...

Went out tonight to close up the coop which is totally enclosed in a run which is totally enclosed in hardware cloth with hardware cloth buried and extending from the perimeter. When I saw the coyote near the run I yelled "COYOTE!!!" and it took off like a shot. Left coyote poop behind. No...

I want to start composting but have no idea where to begin. So much chicken poop and I have many gardens that would benefit. Checked out compost bins---the most attractive seem to be the plastic tumbler types. Yikes...they can be pricey! Then again, the thought of pitch-forking a big bin of...

I don't know if I'm posting this in the right forum but I just wanted to offer prayers for our BYC friends in Texas. Wishing you and all your families, friends, pets, and livestock a safe passage through the rough weather to come. Thinking of you all!!

So many misconceptions about these little terrorists. Here's a great article about them. http://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/chicken-coops-housing/weasels-killing-chickens/

I know I am a newbie and others may smile (or even laugh...guffaw) at me but I found this video interesting. After seeing it, I went out and checked the most mature-looking of my chickens. We have a looooong way to go, lol. I love them anyway. For the rest of you newbies, here's the video. Enjoy!

We're going to need some kind of roofing to partially cover our run. A standard plywood/tar paper/shingle type roof is more than we want to tackle right now as we are old and don't want to accelerate the aging process any more than we have to. Looking into polycarbonate roof panels, specifically...