Hi all,
I could use some advise. I’ve lost 3 of my 5 hens in the last year. They were 4.5-5.5 years old and I was told by a vet that it was either heart failure or cancer for 2 of them. The third was a mystery and the post mortum showed nothing. They were Austrolorps so perhaps not the longest...
Hi all. Egg production in my flock of 4 has been low and mostly non- existent for the last year. They are getting older so maybe it’s no surprise but I added a new hen and I have no idea how old she is. She was found on the side of the road. She lays eggs sporadically. I feed an all-flock feed...
Hi all,
I need some advice. I have a sick hen. She’s lethargic and her comb is pale. I just finished a course of dewormer on my girls. Not sure if that has anything to do with it. I used Safeguard equine paste and used the measurements that were recommended by many members here although my...
Hi all! A friend of mine found a chicken in the middle of nowhere standing in the road… she almost “got to the other side” when a car narrowly missed her. Yikes! I’m going to add this lucky lady to my flock. I’m quarantining her and I’ve checked over for mites and lice. So far so good but her...
Hi all!
I just added a hen to my flock that had been bullied terribly elsewhere. She is very skinny and has lots of missing and broken feathers. She always wants to be in the sun and looks cold.. and we are having a very warm Fall. I’m going to put a heat lamp in the coop for her but how else...
Hi all. My 4 yo Australorp Bertie has always been a consistent layer but lately she is laying 2 eggs a day and 1 is in the nest box with a thin but acceptable shell and the second is under the roost with a very fragile thin shell.. always broken. She eats a quality layer feed and eats egg shells...
Hi all. Around the holidays when that cold weather was sweeping the nation one of my hens got a little frostbite on her comb despite’s the heat lamp I put in the coop. A couple tips turned black and shriveled up and part of it looks just a touch white/grey. We are going to have another round of...
I lost a beloved chicken to a predator last weekend and I could use some advice. My coop is totally predator proof so I’m not worried there. The attack happened either during the day or around dusk before the hens head in. I’ve recently moved and my old setup included an enclosed run but at the...
I regularly snuggle my chickens and as I snuggled Dottie today I started feeling very itchy so I checked her for mites. She was clear but I may have found something on her flock mate, Penny. She had some tiny round things on the rim of her cloaca. I used a q-tip to remove them and they were the...
Hi all! I’m moving and taking my flock of 5 with me and thinking about my next coop and set-up. My issue is that I have to move somewhere temporarily before I make it to my final destination. It could be a few months or up to a year in the temporary spot. So I’ve been thinking about buying a...
Hi all,
I have a flock of 4 black Australorps that are a year and a half old. In the spring Ernesta started violently attacking the bottom hen, Dottie. I separated Ernesta and after a lot of work things went back to normal for a couple months. Then all three started attacking Dottie. They bit...
Hi all! One of my black Australorps has one white scale on her black legs. I’ve never noticed it before so I’m thinking it’s new. It’s not raised or different from the rest in any way but the color. Her legs and feet look very healthy otherwise but I thought I’d check with you all in case this...
Hello again, it’s embarrassing how often I post with chicken questions. I’d be lost without this community so thank you in advance!
2 of my 4 Australorps (10 month old) are losing feathers around their faces. I checked them for mites today and didn’t see anything? Could it be favus? Something...
Today this very strange thing was on the poop board under the roost where the chickens sleep. I’ve been getting occasional tiny shell-less eggs and this seems like it might be an egg membrane sac but very long and strangely shaped or maybe I’m wrong and it’s a massive worm or.... I dunno. Does...
There was a tiny shell-less egg under the roost this morning. It has a membrane. And I opened it and it looks like it has a little bit of yoke but not much. It doesn’t match up with the weird eggs I’m reading about ie. fairy egg, fart egg etc. My chickens are all 8 months old and have been...
I’ve been outta town for a week and a neighbor has been chicken sitting for me. He told me there was a hen in the nest box everyday when he stopped by but he can’t tell my 4 ladies apart so there’s no telling if it was the same one. They are 9 month old black austrolorps. Today Bertie was in the...
Since I got a coop camera I’ve been witnessing a lot of pecking from my top hen, Bertie, towards her 3 flock mates and she’s landing her pecks and leaving scabby wounds on their combs. I’m pretty sure the scabs are from her and not pox or something else. The aggression happens about food even...
So I installed a camera in my coop and it’s been a lot of fun watching what my girls get up to when I’m not around. The most fascinating part has been observing them sleep (Creepy? Maybe. Do I need to get a life? Probably.) I had noticed that at least one of them is always awake and I started...
I’ve been reading new and old threads here on BYC and just learned about giving calcium citrate with D3 to a hen having trouble laying. The member @azygous had posted great info in several threads and I was hoping to get some clarification.
My 4 austrolorps are 6 months old and 2 are laying...
I was becoming more and more frustrated with my small, poorly designed coop. My partner and I had planned a 2 and a half week road trip (it was gonna be so much fun) but felt like we couldn't leave the evening chicken duties to our regular "pet sitter" because it was such an ordeal getting them...