I just noticed this this morning. One of my hens seemed to be bleeding out of her butt, rather horribly. I immediately separated her from the others and cleaned her up, but don't know much to do beyond that. She might be defecating more than usual (although I'm not quite sure about that, it...
A couple nights ago, a raccoon got into the henhouse. Someone hadn't closed the door all the way, and one of the chickens turned up dead. When I noticed that some of the others had injuries, I attributed it to the raccoon as well. I separated them, and cleaned the wounds with hydrogen peroxide...
I have 21 three-month-old chicks (20 pullets, one roo) that I have so far been keeping in a roomy cage in our garage, straw for bedding, and letting them out to roam for about an hour or so every evening. However, for the past two weeks or so, they've been getting very crowded, but I've been...
I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post - its not really about egglaying, but about chicken behaviors, i guess.
Anyway. Yesterday, I came down after school to feed my chickens, like usual. Usually, they come running and squawking, lining up against the fence in anticipation of the...
Basically, title says all. I was wondering whether I need a nest box for each hen, or if they'll take turns laying in just a few boxes. Right now, I have twelve pullets, about 3 and a half months old.
(My second question is when they'll start laying.)
I have a flock of 17 chickens that are about three and a half months old. Some I bought from a breeder (black australorps), and some I hatched from an incubator from eggs from my grandmother's flock. Right now, I see that I lucked out - only five of them turned out to be roos (the rest are...
They recognize me as I come down the path to the coop, and come flying and squaking to the edge of their fence, waiting for me, because they know I mean food. When I come in through the gate, they swarm around my feet and peck at me. But they won't let me come near them... by which I mean, they...
They're about two months old. There are twenty chicks total - 12 were bought from a breeder, 8 were hatched one week later from the incubator. The twelve we bought are of two breeds - most are black Australorps, and my mom, who was doing the buying, doesn't know english very well and didn't...
We live in the city of Parma, off the suburbs of Cleveland. Neighbors live about 20--30 feet to either side, and across the street, but behind us is simply an empty stretch of woodland. Our own property encompasses 26000 square feet.
Around September, we began to keep chickens - 4 of them. We...