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Hello Fredy, After having chickens and using one of these that your husband made, I fell in love with it. Worked beautifully for 15 years. Was heavy, sturdy and the eggs rolled easily. When I sold my house in California, I left it with the buyer who wanted all things chickens. I live in...

One day I went out to the henhouse to collect eggs and got the bejeezes scared out of me when I opened the door and this little guy was having lunch with my girls as if he lived here. I scared him and he scared me. Holy cow, how on earth did he find my place, how did he get here, and how did...

Thank you for this information. All of my hens are "older" starting at 4 years going to 9 years old. My eldest, Tubby, passed away several months ago at age 11. I suspect the rest will follow in time. None of the girls seem to be ill, nobody's acting strange. Hoping for the best.

Ha! I always wanted to meet an alien. But now I've cut him him half! Can't be the only chicken this has happened to. I was surprised when I saw an odd looking egg in the nest and when I reached for it, made me jump back a bit when I felt the moist rubbery thing.

My girls quit laying every winter from mid November until around the end of January. Yes, they are freeloaders!

In all the 11 years I have had my chickens, this is a first. Nobody's laying right now because they're all molting. But today.... I get this and have no clue who laid it. Totally like a rubber egg. Cutting it open, looks like meat. WHAT IS IT???

Gee, after all these years and having my attention brought to this thread, I apparently never posted the picture of the "Nifty Sifter". Shame on me. Or maybe I posted it somewhere else. At any rate, for those who were interested, here is a picture of what I use to clean my coop. Just rake up...

I spent way too much money getting ready to have chickens preparing a home and run for them compared to just about everybody. I believed it was necessary for aesthetic reasons since I live in a city neighborhood. If you don't count the cost of my first egg at $6,000, then we can get down to...

After cleaning the run, I use a quart cottage cheese container (empty of course) and sprinkle a generous layer over the entire 8x40' run. No need to rake it in, the chickens do it all. Don't have to work that hard at it. I also use a layer of Oyster shell flour which reduces odor and provides...

Thanks. Had a feeling it was OK but wanted to check.

I am wondering if the shells of invasive Asian Clams as they are removed from our waterways is a good source of calcium for chickens. How does it compare to oyster shells? Anyone have any idea?? Thanks!

Happily it has been more than five years since I bought eggs. I don't think I could ever go back to store bought eggs; would rather do without.

I have buff twins too! Just started laying at Christmas time.

Great ideas everyone! I'm making gift basket for just about everyone in my family this year. Every basket has homemade everything: Vanilla Extract, grape jam, tomato jam, salsa and a nice bar of homemade lemongrass soap. Homemade things seem to be appreciated more.

Fishermen use heavy monofilament fishing line to keep seagulls and other birds away from their catch. The fishing line confounds the birds' vision and they don't care to navigate through the lines. They also use this type of deterrent on piers, docks, and marinas. If you have the means and...

Earlier this week I watched a great PBS nature show about raccoons. It was incredibly fascinating and worth watching to become familiar with this lethal predator. You will enjoy the show and be much wiser about how raccoons live and behave, especially in the city and urban areas. Take a...

When I first knew I would be a chicken mom, I read as much Backyard Chickens material as I could inhale, then set about to build a secure home and run for chicks I didn't even have yet. Predators at my home which backs up to a riparian creek area are skunk, 'possum, racoons, hawks, beavers...

Birds get used to EVERYTHING put out to deter them after a period of time. Including Hawks. I had some little twit of a bird who came and ate all my grapes last year. This year I covered the grapes with heavy duty bird netting. That little brat found a way inside and one by one, ate a LOT of...

I have found that not much helps, and the longer it goes on, the more the others learn this bad behavior. The best thing I've done is install a game camera, find out who is doing this and send them to freezer camp. Works great.

I'm interested to know how to grow crackers. I haven't tried that one yet.