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    Flying over 4ft fences even after clipping a wing

    I have a mixed flock of australorp and EE layers. My setup is: a 10x10 coop that they get locked in at night, surrounded by an electrically charged net to keep predators out. All of this sits in my backyard, which is fenced in on all sides. During the day, they forage all over the yard. There's...
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    Broody in sub-freezing temps?

    We are first time chicken owners, and quite suddenly the cold weather descended on us in the southeast. We are expecting sub freezing temps tonight. We have an open air coop and my husband is tarping three sides to cut the wind exposure, but do I need to get insulation around it before...
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    chicken laid perfect egg in AM, then in PM was acting withdrawn/unwell before dropping a soft shelled egg

    One of my EEs, who started laying mid-September, laid a perfect egg this morning. This evening, she was isolating herself from the flock. My kids put her on the perch since it was getting dark and the chickens were heading in for the evening. A few minutes later, she dropped a soft shelled egg...
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    Do most/all layers, who are allowed to free range, eventually relapse to egg-hiding?

    I got some very helpful suggestions last week for curbing nest hiding, and have been able to make necessary arrangements to keep my layers confined and close to nesting boxes at all times. We're almost a week into training and all (who are currently at point of lay) are laying consistently in...
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    Hens refusing to lay in private boxes that are adjacent, insisting on laying under growths of ivy?

    I'm sort of at my wits' end. I have 9 pullets, who started laying a couple of weeks ago. Our setup is: 10x10 coop with two elevated nesting boxes. I'm using hard sided cat carriers filled with pine shavings, covered with a black rubber mat to make it dark. Our 20x30 coop was destroyed in a...
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    Cause of behavior changes in a historically peaceable flock of 9 hens?

    I've raised my little flock of 9 hens (4 EE and 5 Australorps) together from day 1 for all of them. Aside from a completely reformed problem child (a feather picker whose 2 rounds of pinless peepers have cured her) the flock has been very peaceable. (They are now around 4 months old, and nobody...
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    12 week old pullet pulling other pullet's eyelid

    Today we noticed one of our pullets pulling on the eyelid of another one. She did this 3 or 4 times. Then it stopped and we didn't see any other concerning behavior. Is this usually something that escalates to aggression?
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    Extreme heat preventative measures?

    Hello! I have 9 young pullets (4 EE and 5 Australorp) out in my open air coop in SC. We're expecting extreme heat for a sustained period and I'm concerned about it affecting my birds. I know I'll need to stay on top of their water...is there anything else I should be doing? (Also, a couple of...
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    Utterly in love with the bearded/puffy cheeked Easter Eggers...how to get more of them?

    We picked up 6 EE chicks this spring, and 2 have turned out to be puffy cheeked/bearded with loads of personality. They are our favourites of the EEs. Is there any way to tell, when they are chicks, if they'll turn out to be this variety? I'm having a hard time knowing how, since the two we have...
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    Does this look like peeper related injury or infection?

    Hi all, first a disclaimer: I know how much dislike many people have for pinless peepers, and I mostly agree. But they are my absolute last resort aside from offloading this hen. She's been a brutal feather pecker from a week or two old. She's getting 24% protein. The coop is 200 square feet...
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    Coop building isn't working out, running out of time and not sure how to proceed

    I'm not at all handy, but thought that a PVC hoop coop was simple enough that I could pull it off. The plan was: a 10ft by 20 ft enclosure made of a tunnel of pvc arches, draped over entirely with hardware cloth, with a door in one of the ends of the tunnel. Because of the lay of the land, the...
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    Six week old Easter Egger - pullet or cockerel?

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    In your experience, are some of the larger hatcheries better/worse at sexing than others?

    I'm curious if places like Cackle, Ideal, Mt. Healthy, Meyer, Hoover, are more or less the same when it comes to reliability of sexing, or if some stand out as being better or worse?
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    Easter eggers, supposed to be sexed pullets. Think I've got a roo or two?

    Five weeks old, wondering if there are already signs? Number 1 Number 2
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    Mulched leaves as coop flooring?

    Our coop is set up in a heavily treed area where we have a ton of leaves that we mulch down. Would that work as well as pine shavings for a coop floor, if I sprinkled some sweet pdz underneath? It sure would be economical (and the space is 10x20 feet, so it would make a big difference cost wise...
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    Do these hackle feathers suggest a male?

    Five week old Easter Egger
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    Do you cull a feather plucker?

    We are new to chickens and I am grateful for all of you and your experience. If, after ensuring there's a ton of space, enrichment, clean food (20% protein), clean water, no pests, etc, you keep seeing the same chick (5 weeks old) plucking at others' feathers, do you cull?
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    Does this look pest related, or is it molting?

    4 week old chicks, I'm not noticing any bullying, feed is 20% protein.
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    Could this be molting or does it look like injury, pest, or disease?

    4 weeks old, two of eleven chicks affected (including a very dominant one, and a very shy one)
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    Two 4 week old chicks suddenly bald in their saddles...

    This seemed to happen almost overnight. I'm not seeing any bullying at all while I'm with them, and we've been observing closely. One of the affected chicks is one of the more dominant personalities in the bunch, and the other is one of the quieter, shy ones. They're getting a 20% protein feed...
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