Yesterday, one of my BAs got attacked by a bobcat. By remarkable coincidence I was very close to the attack, startled the bobcat, which then dropped the chicken. I assumed she was dead at first, but I sat with her on my lap for about 20 minutes as she gradually got her voice back and stood up. I...
I have 7 laying hens. We had 7 eggs yesterday. Today, there have been a total of 6 normal eggs so far, plus one hen is still sitting in her nest so I expect a 7th any time now.
In addition to these 7 eggs, on the poop board, there was what appeared to be a broken egg. When I rolled it toward...
Just had to post a happy message that yesterday was the first day when every hen laid an egg--a total of 7 beautiful, orange-yolked eggs. The hens are 28 weeks old, and may have all been laying for a week or so, but yesterday was the first day I could be 100% sure of that.
Even on their...
I've searched the forum and found links to the problem of roosting in the nest boxes, but I have the opposite problem: the first egg from my 21 week old flock was laid while the hen was sitting on the roost. It fell 2 feet and smashed on the poop board below.
I'd noticed her creating a nest in...
I have two RIRs, 10 weeks old. Whenever I let them out to free range, one of them sort of puffs itself up--fluffs up its feathers, lifts up its tail, and holds its wings out a little. What does that mean?
I *think* they are both pullets...they look enough alike that I think they must be the...
I was watching the chicks (7 weeks old) and one picked up what I thought was a slug. The chick dropped it quickly and then just stood there stunned. A closer look showed it was a black salamander with a yellow stripe down it.
The chick's left eye had some sort of mucusy stuff on it right...
My chicks are 6+ weeks old now and have been in the coop for 1 week. I put their water and feed in the coop, rather than in the run underneath, since I wasn't sure they were able to negotiate the ramp from the coop down to the run underneath (it's long and quite steep).
Unless I carry them down...
We live amongst coyote, hawks, owls, bears, raccoons, bobcats, and (rarely) neighbor dogs. And we are the proud owners of seven 6-week old pullets.
I have built a secure coop and run, so I'm feeling comfortable with their safety when inside that. But (as I just mentioned in another thread) I...
I have seven 6-week old pullets who moved out to their coop about 10 days ago. They have an enclosed run underneath the coop, and per a suggestion on this board, I built a small hoop run for them that can be moved around the yard.
However, it's obvious that they are their happiest when free...
I'm a newbie here, proud owner of seven 5-week-old chicks. I just spent the afternoon outside with them for the first time--all eight of us were happy as could be. (Could also have been due to the first appearance of significant sunshine in Seattle since February!)
Their coop is adjacent to the...
Introducing myself, after weeks of browsing this forum for information on chicks/coops/feed/etc. I'd always start from Google and end up here! So I thought I should join
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
My chicks are almost 4 weeks old. I'm very new to all of...