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I would like to withhold food from the flock for up to about three hours in the morning. Let me explain. until recently, I have been waking up every morning when the chickens wake at the crack of dawn and putting food in their closed run. I put the food away at night to keep rats and mice...

I have a run that is enclosed that is about 60 feet long and about 8 feet wide. I have 8 large breed 2 year old chickens which doesn't seem like that many but they poop like there is 20 in there. I have been going around every day a couple of times a day with a dog poop scoop and picking up...

I have had chickens for about 9 years now and it is an ongoing and continuos learning experience for me. There is no shortage of advice by "experts". But in reality, most of what I have learned about chickens, my chickens have taught me. My flock consists of 8 large breed mixed chickens...

I had no idea I was causing damage to my flock by giving them too much protein. Dehydrated grubs, (black soldier fly larve) can be ordered in bulk which I did. I threw out about a cup of bugs to my flock of 10 adult large breed chickens. I figured it's cold and they have been molting so they...

I am retired aged 69 years old. I have been for about 12 years and have had chickens for about 10 of those years. I keep about 10 chickens on average for about 3 years per flock and then re-home them and start over with chicks for another three years. I am totally devoted to my chickens...

I have always started my small backyard flocks with day old chicks and raised them to hens. I handle and talk to them as they mature and supposed that if they were not imprinting on me at least they were not threatened by me and have always been easy to handle as adults which is nice for a...

I know this is going to send some into a total frenzy, but I ran across this lab analysis of eggs comparing eggs produced by pastured chickens and caged chickens, all other variants being the same and it came to the conclusion that there was no significant health advantage to eating one egg over...

I have been raising chickens for about 8 years. I have 10 hens now about 1.5 years old. They are confined to a partially covered dirt run and very spacious coop. The run is quite large about 90 feet by about 6-8 feet with plenty of perches and ladders for them to move around in and on. I...

I have 15 two week old chicks. I was using a gravity waterer with a round reservoir which is a pain because they poop in it and scratch wood chips into it. So I about 5 days ago switched them to a 5 gallon bucket with poultry nipples in the bottom. It looked like like all was going well and as...

I have a 60’ x 4’ run which is covered for about 40 feet and completely dry. Up until now it has just been dirt because it is so easy to clean. I just use a dog pooper scooper stick and tray. The dirt is pretty sterile in that it has no bugs or plants, but the chickens do like scratching in...

Sounds pretty horrible, but is there a humane way to euthanize mail order chicks that just do not appear able to make it? Don't want to prolong suffering by trying to salvage sick or injured chicks that are obviously beyond the threshold of trying to nurse back and usually those very sick or...

I am ordering some chicks in the mail for mid October. They will be heavy breed layers not meat birds. I will be brooding them in the outdoor coop and want to feed them the best food available. I am considering Scratch and Peck starter which is a mash (larger unprocessed assorted grains mixed...

with my previous flock, I threw calcium and grit around the run on the ground so the laying chickens would get it while they were just grazing as a more natural distribution than putting it in a dish or something. But now I have a replacement flock of baby's that I will be putting in the run at...

Can someone please explain how a chick given medicated feed which blocks thiamine for up to 16 weeks not be effected negatively? This vitamin is used for brain and growth development and is important (if I understand correctly) for full health. As an example in history we learned that...

This not sarcastic. I am wondering if a third generation flock that is to be raised on a closed environment such as a backyard coop and closed run which has been meticulously kept clean can be fed with non medicated feed from day one. I keep hearing that it is everywhere, but how does it get...

I have asked this question before and it is a difficult question to ask and answer, because every chicken coop, run, flock and owner is unique. Most answer in a generic way as to what most people should do. Some answer as their situation might dictate, many just speculate what they think is...

I am ordering new baby chicks. I have read that they should not be on shavings for a week or so, so they don't confuse the shavings for food. I was wondering if it would be safe to put the shavings under the heater plate where they sleep at night and put the food on paper towels in front of...

Hi, I have ordered a Sweeter Heater 11" x 40" heat plate to brood about 18 one or two day old mail order chicks. It seems a bit sterile and I was wonderinging about adding a couple of feather dusters to make it seem more natural. Can you think of any downsides? I don't think it will increase...

There are many here who have used and liked the Sweeter Heater. I just now received mine when it was dropped off at the door by USPS. I opened it like a kid on Christmas morning and plugged it in with great anticipation that I now had a great solution to winter breeding that would not cause a...

I was excited to get this product because it looked like it had great potential for my two day old chicks. Now that I have it I am less excited. The temperature was not evenly distributed. There were high temperature spots that went up to 200° and for the last 5 inches at the end of the heater...