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The water setup for our flock in winter is a three gallon galvanized double-walled bell waterer atop a heated drinker base set outside under a shelter. It works great in cold Wisconsin but I noticed the other day that our roosters dunk the entirety of their wattles in the water reservoir each...

Afternoon. One of my 1-yr-old Golden Laced Wyandotte hens laid what looks like scrambled eggs in a nesting spot today (photo attached). I don't know which of the seven hens specifically but they all are ambulating, eating, drinking and scratching around outside as usual. Two of them do seem to...

Hello, While evicting a broody from the nesting box yesterday morning, I noticed one of our 11-month-old Golden Laced Wyandotte pullets had swelling around her left eye; only the one. [photo attached] A different 11-mo GLW pullet came in after her and was also sporting swelling around only...

Hello from the tundra in Wisconsin. We are up to -10 F at 1030AM, with the windchill -30 F. Our coop is built into the corner of our uninsulated pole barn and is itself completely unheated. We are deep littering, and have put plastic over the windows and blankets on the walls. There is good...

Hello from snowy southeastern Wisconsin! Our coop is functionally a chicken wire-walled "room" built into the corner of a pole barn. The barn itself has the vertical support beams sunk into cement pier bases but instead of a concrete slab floor we chose to go directly onto compacted crushed...

Evening! Several of the hens in our flock began molting in the weeks surrounding the change from Oct to Nov. They were about 9.5 months old at the time. Most are recovering nicely but Pat, an Easter Egger who also happens to be the lowest hen in the pecking order and is endlessly tormented by...

Evening! Probably a stupid question but my flock of seven chickens chose to stay outside in the 40° F rain all day and were darn wet finally going into the coop. I thought about attempting to towel off each given our overnight low is expected to be around 37° then decided it'd be more...

Morning! I recently changed my flock to outdoor food and water only, taking everything out of the coop. This morning, however, as snow is briskly falling and accumulating, I am tempted to put the feeder and waterer back in temporarily. We don't have an option to cover any portion of their run at...

Hello. Our sweetest hen, Pat, is also the lowest in the pecking order, mercilessly tormented by the other five ladies. They'd even taken to policing the coop pop door, not granting her entry to take shelter from the cold, the rain, the 543 mph winds.⁣⁣ Once I tried carrying her into the...

Morning! I know chickens are great insulators and can deal with cold temperatures but it shocked me to see that it was only 26° F inside their coop when I opened the pop door at 0645 (was 22 outside). There should be no drafts on them. Plenty of ventilation. It's a coop built into the corner of...

Hello from soon-to-be very cold and snowy southeastern Wisconsin! For winter feeding of our six laying hens + one rooster I planned to continue laying crumbles, augmenting with black oil sunflower seeds to increase protein and healthy fats to combat cold and the pathetic molt they're in right...

Hello from Wisconsin with a comb question. Two of my ladies have excellent single comb specimens, but both are looking a little worse for wear. The black and white hen, Mini, (left) was doctored with some hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin last night on the roosting bar after I realized blood on...

Hello! Most of our six laying hens who are only about 9.5 months old look to be molting. However, basically every article, book and blog post suggests that the first molt will not occur until 12 months of age at the earliest. I am hoping these tatty feathers and bare spots aren't the result of...

Hello! Snowdrop is one of my favorite girls of our eight-month-old flock of seven. I believe she's a Favaucana, but not positive as she was among a rare breed chick assortment from My Pet Chicken earlier this year. She's always been a bit "high-strung" in that she runs in and out of their mobile...

Meet Murphy. She is one of our 11-week chicks (originally from MyPetChicken at 2 days old). Unknown breed but guess is Black Cuckoo Maran. I noticed two mornings ago that her crop seemed to be sticking out more than the others'. She also did a gagging type motion several times. Tried massaging...

One of my eight-week-old hens appears to have some dried blood coming from one of her nostrils. I don't believe it's an external injury but I can't be certain. She seems otherwise fine. Eating and drinking, upright, clear eyes with no discharge, didn't struggle when I picked her up to look at...