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I've been catching lots of mice lately. Rather than throw them in the trash or otherwise try to get rid of them I've started giving them to my chickens. They seem to love them. As soon as the mouse hits the ground a chicken grabs it and runs off with it, with other chickens chasing along trying...

One of my Americauna hens seems to be clogged up. Her craw, (the bag where the food first goes) is very large. She kicks at it and seems to be very distressed. It looks to me like she isn't moving her food to the next stage. Maybe she ate something that is obstructing the passage. Is there a way...

My 4 RIR hens look pretty bad, like they're always moulting. They've looked like this for some time, so I don't think they are actually moulting.They are lively and are laying well, but they have bald scruffy areas. Are they infested with a bug of some kind? What to do?

One of my RIR hens got a small wound on her hip, and the others started pecking at it until it was a bloody hole about the size of a cigarette filter. So I made a little quarantine pen for her, with some water, to keep her away from the others for a while. I smeared some 3 way antibiotic...

My best buddy, a 13 yr old heeler cross, spent last week in the hospital with pancreatitis. This was brought on, I think, by eating a pizza he found. He survived, and came home, but still isn't eating anything. He drinks and pees ok, but won't eat anything. It's now 1 week since he ate anything...

Last winter an owl got all but 1 of my hens. Now old Thelma, a RIR, is all by herself out there. She lays an egg every day or two, but has no company. New chicks are on the way, tho. But Thelma has started crowing like a rooster!!! That is so weird. Maybe the complete lack of other chicken...

I have a barn with a room set aside for chickens. 3 sides and the roof are covered with galvanized corrugated roofing metal. The south side is covered with cattle panel with 1" chicken wire hog ringed onto that. The cattle panel gives the wall strength and keeps big predators out. The chicken...

My neighbor is raising some young chickens (about a month old). He has them in a thing like a chicken tractor, made of a frame of 2x12's with 2" chicken wire nailed to the top. He drags the thing around with the chickens in it, to a new spot in the yard every day or so. All was going hunky-dory...

While I was visiting my aunt she mentioned that she had seen a rattlesnake slither into her garage and disappear under some junk in the corner. She and a neighbor had moved the junk away, but the snake had disappeared. I looked around and found that there was a big gap under the wall. On the...

We are having a rabies epidemic here in SW NM and SE AZ. It's primarily in the foxes, but other critters (coyotes, skunks, bobcats, mountain lions, and bats) have shown up with it. So far this year the Forest Service in our area has killed 7 rabid foxes, and residents have killed at least that...

Just found this while googing around... http://www.kountrylife.com/articles/about_goats.htm

I think this section of BYC should be mandatory reading for all new chicken owners, and a refresher for the rest of us. Chickens are wonderful, productive, beautiful critters, and we all love them. But they are so vulnerable to predators. I have been participating in this forum for a while now...

A friend of mine has a little flock of Rhode Island red hens. Until yesterday a big studly looking RIR rooster was in charge. He had all those pretty hens to himself and life was going great. Then a little banty rooster from down the road showed up, and the fight was on. The banty beat the...

2 of my hens disappeared this week. The hens sleep inside a little house, but were free to run around in the goat pen during the day. I am sure that this pen is dog and coyote proof, but a racoon or bobcat could certainly get in. One coincidence is that an owl has been hanging around lately. He...

I saw a post by Speckled Hen about using a baby monitor in the chicken house to hear when predators are bothering the chickens. I would like to look into this. Can anybody suggest which product(s) are good, and which aren't. Any other info about this? Thanks.

Does anybody have any info or suggestions on using turkeys to control insects (particulary grasshoppers) in a garden. I don't want to use chickens because they scratch and dig so much. I know guineas are great bug eaters too, but they make too much noise. How about ducks?

I have a hen (Thelma is her name) who has been gasping for air for several weeks. She is the only one of 5 hens doing it. She is really suffering. Her comb is a dark red, while the others are bright red. This tells me she isn't getting enough oxygen. Is this gapeworm? Can I medicate her somehow...