I have a 1-ish year old hen who rapidly lost a large area of feathers around her vent about 6 months ago, and now has stopped laying. She still eats and drinks regularly and acts normally, with normal-colored comb and wattles, normal poops, etc, and the other two in my flock are fine/no feather...
Its been a hot, dry Oregon summer and I have several large arborvitae that really need to be fertilised, but don’t know what is safe to use. The arborvitae are growing inside the run, so anything I put in the soil will be fully accessible to the ladies. Any suggestions for something that will...
Its that time of year for a complete coop/roost/run clean out and I’m wondering what folks with dirt floor coops do in terms of keeping the dirt floor bare or adding deep litter? I have always used a good layer of straw, amd will add to it. The chickens move the straw around, and the poop...
I live in Portland, Oregon where it rains a lot in the winter months. My gals have a pretty nice set up with a roost and coop that stays dry, but their run gets so muddy. Short of keeping them in their coop for 6 months of the year (not an option, they would be so grumpy!) what have people found...
Help! I just noticed my lavender Orpington is missing all her feathers just below her vent and is really swollen- to the point I can see some bruising on her skin from the swelling! (She is so fluffy normally that it is hard to tell until I happened to be on the ground and she hopped up on...
Hello All! I have 5 full grown (8+ month) hens and recently two neighborhood cats have become waaaay too interested in my flock. I’ve caught them on the fence, then in the yard, and now they’ve found a way to get on the roof of the coop, from which they could easily jump into the run/coop. My...
I just noticed these dark spots on my hen’s comb!y three others look fine, but for how long?? I change the pine shavings in their roost regularly, always have fresh water and feed scratch n peck organic plus free range garden snacking nearly every day. She’s eating and drinking normally and no...
I am heading into my first winter with my chickens and wondering what people use to cover the muddy run. I live in rainy Oregon, so inevitably the run will be muddy. I’ve heard straw can mold and it’s a huge job to muck out, pine shavings work but only for a short while as they’re more easily...
Hello all! I have three pullets who are laying and a fourth (Easter Egger) who is not yet. She is maybe 2.5-3 months old (the person I got her from wasn’t sure). Is it ok to switch them all to layer feed now or could I hurt the pullet who isn’t laying yet by doing so? I do feed supplemental...
Hello Chicken Friends! I live in Oregon and right now half of our beautiful state is on fire. I live about 8 miles from a huge wildfire and the smoke is overwhelming. It is so thick I can only see a couple blocks. My chickens are (obviously) outside. Should I be concerned???? Should I figure out...
Hello All,
Hoping for some advice on what breed and gender this gal (guy?) is. About 15 weeks. I was told Easter Egger, but not entirely sure? Thank you!
Ok, so this is my third newbie in as many days- the first two turned out to be cockerels. I really hope it’s a she, as “it” is so so sweet and cuddly and hops right up into my lap and snuggles! I’m also wondering what breed it is- Araucana/Ameraucana/Easter egger? It’s about 7-8 weeks old...
Yesterday I had to rehome my beautiful Ayam Cemani as “she” turned out to be a He. I brought home a Buff Brahma ‘pullet’ in place of the Roo, but I’m concerned I may have another Roo in the making! S/he is very aggressive to the other three hens I have, (2.5 months) and I swear she was crowing...
Hello Community! I had to rehome one of my flock when I discovered she was actually a HE, and ended up replacing the one (of three total) with two pullets (cuz you can never have enough chickens I’m learning quickly!) My older gals are around 2.5-3 months (I didn’t get an exact age when I got...
Hello All! I’m new here. Thankful for the community! Not sure I’m posting in the right category. I have an Ayam Cemani “hen” who is now about 2.5-3 months old and I’m starting to wonder if she may be a he. Everything I’ve seen of the roosters show longer tail feathers than the hens, and this...