I had some chicks disappear in the past. Momma was still sitting on eggs and chick wondered out of the nest. The other hens peck it to death and then were chasing each other trying to take away the dead chick.
They crow at anytime they want so if you have neighbors close by, they may not like all the noise that make early in the morning. We live out in the country so we have several roosters, some free range with the flock, some are in their pens so they won't fight. We have roosters to get fertile...
You can clean her butt with warm water and soap, then clip the feathers near her vent so no more poop gets stucked to them. Sometimes flies lay eggs in that stucked poop and maggots develop and will eat the flesh in that area.
I also have moved broody hens to a separate nest box. I found out that is easier to move once the biddies start hatching as the hens will not leave the babies or eggs. I have left hens hatch the eggs in the main coop but if a baby leaves the nest, he will disappear. I have seen other hens kill...
No idea about the toxicity on the wire mesh, but when my chickens or turkeys loose weight is due to lice or internal parasites. Them bugs weaken the chickens a lot.
You could put some clear plastic 3 - 6 mi, thick, wrap the coop and fasten the plastic with strips of wood, like the 1 x 1 that HD or Lowes sales. You could cut them to fit the lengt of the 2x4 and screw the wood strips sandwiching the pastic. Leave some opening for ventilation. Wen the rains...
I seen Toms go after the roosts in my flock. One of my game cocks got into a fight with a Tom and almost got killed. Never seen toms come aft my kids, if they did, they would be in the freezer that day.
Slicing the jugular or choping the head will make to flap around if not secured. I put mine in a sack and hang them on a tree or sit on top of them then cut the vein so they bleed to death.
I have turkeys that had hatched their own eggs but seem dumber than chickens when it comes to teach the babies to eat. The chickens call the babies and show them food. I have not seen that with my turkeys. I have had chickens hatch turkey eggs and raise the poult with success, with the turkey...
I raised Heritage turkeys and Broad Breast Bronze and Whites. If you get BBB or BBW in spring time, they will be ready for Thanksgiving weighting anywhere from 25-40 lbs. Heritage turkeys in the other hand are smaller and take longer to grow they weight 10 to 25 lbs. they can grow with the...
My neighbor gave me something called Piranha that he used on his horses. This summer I used in Dr Bonners Peppermint Soap, somebody recommended in one of the threads, small bottle was like $20 at Target. Killed the lice and left the chicken smelling good.
You can also give her a bath in warm water mixed with lice shampoo. Dunk her in the water all the way to her head. Hold her there for a few minutes until all her feather are wet. You will see the lice float in the water. Since it is getting cold use a hair dryer to blow dry her feathers. Check...
Where we live, free range is letting the flock go whereever they wNt to go. Our flock goes into the woods around the farm so we don't have a limit on free range space. Depending on where you live, predators will be a problem when free ranging. We loose chickens and turkeys to hawks, eagles...
I have seen mine do the same thing to discipline their chicks. You may see this again once the chicks get older. The hen will peck at them to make them stay away and become independent. Some will peck them away earlier than others. I had one push the away in abut 3 weeks after they hatched...
Can you cover the run with some chicken wire or netting to keep them inside the run? Mine also jump the fence to go out to the wood. I only let them free range when I am home but since the go into the woods,I have come to accept the losses to predators (hawks, foxes and coyotes). Hopefully you...