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  1. Vicker

    Lethargic chicken with diarrhea and firm abdomen.

    I'm sorry about your chicken. I'm not sure what's going on with her, but I wouldn't let her drink any more epsom salt water. It works as a laxative. I'd offer electrolyte water. You can find homemade electrolyte recipes on the internet. I don't have chicken vets near me, and don't think I'd take...
  2. Vicker

    How old was your oldest chicken?

    I replace birds every few years and lose track of how old they are. I can go through pics in my album to date some of them. I think 8 or 9 years is the oldest I've had.
  3. Vicker

    Lethargic and sleepy, puffed up hen

    I'm so sorry.
  4. Vicker

    Lethargic and sleepy, puffed up hen

    Meyer Hatchery has a good blog on treating an egg-bound hen. https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/2021/07/how-to-identify-and-treat-an-egg-bound-hen/ Have you checked her crop to see if it's impacted or sour? Seems the standard internet advice for almost ailment is to give them an Epsom salt bath. In...
  5. Vicker

    suggest me best incubitor

    I can tell you to avoid the Incuview Pro All-in-One. I had a total fail with mostly developed eggs. Customer service was great, and they sent me a replacement with an external thermometer/hygrometer attachment. The temperature and humidity readings just wouldn't stay consistent. The reading for...
  6. Vicker

    Comment by 'Vicker' in article 'An Underrated Fowl'

    We used a towel underneath him, but he never let go with a dump, lol.
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  7. Vicker

    Barn Cats?

    A cat that has been living as a stray will naturally be a good mouser (and birder, and cottontailer🥺). You may have to confine it in the barn for a while and feed it there to keep it around. Mine just showed up on her own. She became friendly over time. We took her to be spayed and found out...
  8. Vicker

    Comment by 'Vicker' in article 'An Underrated Fowl'

    I had some Pilgrim Geese for a short time. The male was especially friendly and much more like a puppy dog. He came tapping at the door and would sit in our laps in the family room. I loved him so much. We had a series of coyote hits which took out my little flock a little at a time. My heart...
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  9. Vicker

    Culling Towards the Best Flock

    Update to my earlier reply about getting Delaware chicks and hoping at least one was a male. Turns out my "95%-chance pullets" are half males. Phooey. I thought I'd figured out which one or two I'd keep, but when the hormones kicked in, they changed my mind. They're all naughtier than I want in...
  10. Vicker

    How did you train your dog to live with chickens?

    I have a LGD that wasn't raised with chickens. I sat with him on-leash with the chickens. He received praise when he ignored them and correction if he showed too much interest. I had only one incident when he caught a chicken that escaped the pen. He didn't draw blood, but it did end up dying...
  11. Vicker

    run question

    I've had all sorts of setups over the years. Most of them had portable fencing, usually electric netting, and not always hooked to the charger. I just left one end tied to a post that I could pull up to pass through. They didn't need a Fort Knox style run during the day. For the past few years...
  12. Vicker

    Shop vac for all the feathers?!

    Hand him a rake and show him the compost bin.
  13. Vicker

    What am I doing wrong? No eggs

    Mine have shut the egg factory down, as well. They've replaced their molted feathers but haven't cranked out an egg for quite some time. I culled some older ones to make room for up-and-coming layers and found eggs in two of them (selected the wrong ones, obviously). Usually, it's nothing you're...
  14. Vicker

    Recomendations on how to keep chicks from kicking feed all over the brooder?

    If you put in something higher than the feeder, they tend to perch on that instead.
  15. Vicker

    Do most/all layers, who are allowed to free range, eventually relapse to egg-hiding?

    My free-rangers typically use the same 2-3 spots, changing up those spots from time-to-time.
  16. Vicker

    Recomendations on how to keep chicks from kicking feed all over the brooder?

    This kind has always worked best with my younger chicks to control waste. You can also put it or other style feeders on an upturned storage bin lid to contain the scatter.
  17. Vicker

    Washing clean eggs??

    I don't wash clean eggs at any point before they hit the pan. If they have a little smear of something on them, I wipe it off before storing in the fridge. If they've got a lot of poo on them, I smash them on the ground to be eaten by something other than a human. Washing can sometimes cause the...
  18. Vicker

    Raising Baby Chicks: What’s Your Go-To Method?

    There are pros and cons to using a broody vs doing it myself. It depends on what's going on in my life as to which method I need to use. In 20 years, I've only had two pasty butts, and they resolved after a couple of days of cleaning hineys. I brood outside in pine shavings and don't use heat...
  19. Vicker

    Trying to get an idea of how many out there do free range vs chicken runs/enclosed.

    I've made a lot of changes over the years. I haven't loved the methods that kept them very confined, such as a moveable coop with tunnels. I've kept them fenced in large areas with no cover, and I've let them 100% free range. After getting black chickens and crow decoys several years ago, I...
  20. Vicker

    Chickens staying in the coop suddenly

    I wouldn't worry too much about it. For whatever reason, they feel more comfortable inside. If something spooked them out there, they'll get over it with time.
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