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I get a lot of BSFL in my compost bin every year in around late August. I'm in CA and at that time of year, it's consistently in the 90s every day. I feed them out like mad for the few weeks they're around, but then they're gone. I've never seen them at any other time of year.

Thank you so much for your responses! Super helpful. I will find a local vet who can do a fecal float test. I see that I can buy the Safeguard on Amazon and it's really good to know that I don't have to use Wazine first, and that the withdrawal period is only two weeks. I will go read those...

My chickens are starting to lose a few feathers and I think that a molt is imminent. I've read, here and elsewhere, that it's a good idea to pre-emptively worm during a molt since there won't be many eggs anyway so it's not as big a deal to toss them. Also, there have been a few stinky runny...

Thanks! I haven't done anything but it will take me a while to set up new bedding so by the time I do that the old ones may be dead. We'll see.

Thanks for all of your advice. Most of the substrate isn't that moldy. There were just a few chunks that I pulled out. That said I think it's good advice, I'll try again with new worms and new bedding.

OK, thank you! So, at this point, given that I have something else in there, would it be a good idea to start a new tray with new grains and just manually move over any darkling beetles I see into the new tray? And eventually give the old tray and all of its inhabitants to the chickens to eat...

Could one of you more experienced mealworm farmers help me figure out what I'm looking at here? I'm starting to see little beetles and grubs in my mealworm trays. I think the first beetle is a darkling beetle? What do you guys think? This is the only one of its kind that I've seen so far...

I don't know for sure, but I have both a purple passionfruit vine and a yellow passionfruit fruit climbing up the coop and had to put chicken wire around it because the girls were eating it. Nothing bad ever happened to the chickens.

Well I processed my own birds for the first time today. Two ten week old cockerels. One was starting to crow and I live in an urban neighborhood so it was time. My eight year old boys helped. I'd been talking to them about it, and after I'd slit the birds' throats and had one de-feathered so...

Thanks for the explanation! I was going to plant chicken forage blend so the HC will probably work in that respect. I'll check it for sharp points before I install it. The edges will be sandwiched between the top of the raised bed and the frame, if that makes sense. Didn't realize that...

I'm building a grazing frame in the run right now. I'm making a 6'x6' raised bed, and then a wood frame with hardware cloth or welded wire that screws into the top of the raised bed (so I can remove and replant if needed.) Question: what is the proper thing to put on top for the chickens to...

What's the difference between welded wire and hardware cloth? I always thought they were the same thing.

We're in San Jose too. Hi neighbor! The chickens do make a mess of the yard. And they easily hop 3' fences. Wing clipping worked marginally for us; our Easter Eggers were still able to fly. My husband built this 5' fence and knock wood, it seems to be finally keeping the girls contained. Simple...

Looping back to thank you for your suggestions. I figured out where I could add another roost, built it (not my most beautiful construction project ever, but functional for now) and then set the chicks on it a couple of nights while covering the nests with a few boards. The chicks stayed on...

Check out cream legbars. Ours isn't laying yet but I like her so far and I like what I've read about the. We have two Easter eggers too and they are our most faithful layers. Usually one egg a day.

Just for context, when I buy organic pasture raised eggs from a farm in CA, (because my girls are slacking off) I pay $11 a dozen. And they're not even as good as my girls' eggs. But still better than the grocery store.

It is pretty funny! My chickens are obviously smarter than me!!

Thank you! I just learned something!

Thanks! Yeah, that was what I thought, but lately I've second-guessed myself so wanted to be sure. You're saying the other black one might be a cockerel? Or a second-gen Olive Egger? I think it's likely that it's a second-gen olive egger, and I may be wrong about the genetics of their...

Anyone want to make a guess on pullet or cockerel? I'm confused about the black one standing alone. (It does have two legs but it just standing on one in the photo. Hard to get a good photo. It's kind of skittish.) It's 8 weeks old. It's either a Maran or an Olive Egger (Maran x Cream...