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  1. PatinOxford

    Trees next to run? I want to tell my husband he is wrong

    Well, that will be a nice protein source for the chickens. Ours chase, catch, and eat mice, toads, and any insect they can get their beaks on.
  2. PatinOxford

    Acquiring rooster, what about quarantine?

    I am about to acquire a rooster (full grown) as a guardian for my flock. I plan on introducing him (per the advice I got here) to the grownup hens, and in about ... maybe two weeks mixing the four pullets (acquired as chicks in early February) into the flock. The acquisition is free, of the "I...
  3. PatinOxford

    Integrating a cockerel or rooster into existing flock plus young pullets

    I read over the older messages regarding introducing a rooster or cockerel to an existing flock, but still have a couple of questions. I have five mature hens who Rule The World (at least as far as they are concerned). I also have four guaranteed female chicks still in the brooder. I have a good...
  4. PatinOxford

    Small rough eggs

    Thanks. Since the pullets are on a starter-grower for a while more I'll give it a shot. Given the amount of calcium they get from small rodents I doubt they need a supplement.
  5. PatinOxford

    Small rough eggs

    I have two adult hens, one 2 years old (Americauna, "Thelma"), one 3 years old (Black Australorp, "Bessie"). Bessie has stopped laying altogether after a quite good start in early March. Thelma stopped for a while, and has restarted, but her eggs are small -- like a pullet's first eggs -- and...
  6. PatinOxford

    Broody (?) hen mystery

    Oh, good. She is with the other chickens at night when they come into the coop. But we free-range, and the other girls certainly aren't going to hang around with her in the coop when there are bugs to eat. I guess we could close the coop during the day. I'll try it. They have lots of places to...
  7. PatinOxford

    Broody (?) hen mystery

    I have a Buff Orpington hen, about 15-16 months old, who has (I think) gone all broody. She sits in the straw in the coop, fluffs herself up, gives out the evil eye when we look at her or touch her, and in general refuses to join the party. We have no rooster. We collect all eggs daily. She is...
  8. PatinOxford

    Hen attacked by fox, injured

    Sure. She's doing remarkably well. I got advice from my horse vet, who also has chickens. I washed the area well, slathered on triple antibiotic ointment, stuck big non-stick pads over the punctures/slices, and wrapped everything. Because of the location -- a little behind the wings -- I did a...
  9. PatinOxford

    Hen attacked by fox, injured

    Thanks! I have brought her in (it's cold tonight), cleaned the wounds, put antibiotic ointment on, and bandaged her -- all hail Vetrap! She is spending the night in a cozy cat carrier in the house and we'll see how she's doing in the morning. My horse vet will give me some oral antibiotics if...
  10. PatinOxford

    Hen attacked by fox, injured

    One year old hen was attacked by a fox. She lost a lot of feathers -- I was astounded to see her alive, in fact. She is safe in the coop but has a bite. It is a slice from a canine, not a puncture. What can I do for her? No vet in our area will do much for a chicken. Should I bring her in where...
  11. PatinOxford

    The Magical Re-Appearing Hen

    Possibly. Of course, we kept collecting the eggs, so she didn't have a lot to go on with. And no rooster so no external stimulus.
  12. PatinOxford

    The Magical Re-Appearing Hen

    I have a small flock of hens who free-range in my well-fenced yard during the day, with occasional excursions into the barn and paddocks for bugs. I've got three RIRs and one Black Australorp. I had a Buff Orpington, about one year old, disappear about a month ago. Just didn't show up at the...
  13. PatinOxford

    Shouldn't they be roosting by now?

    Four pullets, 13 weeks old, well-grown, very normal in all respects ... except they don't roost. They sleep in a heap in one corner of their coop, piled on top of each other. And it's NOT cold. 75 degrees at night. I don't recall this being an issue before. I raised four pullets last year in the...
  14. PatinOxford

    Two completely different health issues

    My flock consists of four hens and four chicks. The chicks are isolated and are doing fine. My problems are with two of the hens that I raised last year. 1) Barred Rock, about 13 months old, has a stick sticking out of her back. No, really. At first it looked like a few ruffled feathers, then...
  15. PatinOxford

    Buff Orpington comb looks funky

    I can try to get a pic, but it doesn't look like that. It looks like ... fungus. Mold. And around the base, not on the whole comb. It's a five hen flock, no contact with other chickens but of course there are songbirds around. The other four girls do not show this.
  16. PatinOxford

    Buff Orpington comb looks funky

    I have a Buff Orpington hen whose comb looks very odd the last three to four days. She is one of a group of chicks I purchased the first week of March, and has just started to lay. Her comb -- bright red and uniform in color until this started -- has white and black areas, especially around the...
  17. PatinOxford

    And then there was one.

    When we moved to our little farm we inherited six chickens from the previous owner, a rooster and five laying hens. That was 18 months ago. We had no way of knowing how old any of them were, or what their histories were. The rooster died almost immediately; although he looked good, we think he...
  18. PatinOxford

    destruction and disposal orders HELP

    Pennsylvania has banned all poultry shows, including at fairs, 4H, and the like, for 2015, and has cancelled the entire poultry division of the PA Farm Show for 2016. The outbreak is in the news here, especially (of course) the ag papers like Lancaster Farmer.
  19. PatinOxford

    destruction and disposal orders HELP

    Thanks for posting all the bio security links and protocols, TheGawd. I live in SE Pennsylvania and we don't have AI yet, but we will, we will. I only have six hens, but live among farms that have more extensive flocks for large families. No commercial operations though. My flock is closed and...
  20. PatinOxford

    When do their voices change?

    I have four pullets I've raised from a few days old, four different breeds. They are all doing very well, exploring their new secure pen from their nice separate coop, learning to eat different things, practicing flying, and so on. I got them the first week of March and they were all probably 4...
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