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I'm no expert, but maybe something is in the soil. I know that with dogs, parvo can live in the soil for a few years. Did someone have chickens there before you? Maybe move the location of the coop and start over? I am so very sorry for your losses! Sometimes the local Co-operative Extension...

I'm not in Canada, but Alaska is pretty close!

When we first started with chickens, we were "gifted" with 9 rooster pullets. We had only 6 hens at the time. We had no idea then how to tell the difference between hens and rooster pullets, and quickly figured out that they were just devouring the feed and injuring my hens, so when they got a...

I know this will sound awful, but one night, my rooster got stuck upside down in the gill netting we keep over the coop, we think an aerial predator like an owl tried to get in. We found him in the morning and thought he was dead, but after disentangling him, we saw him breathing, but had little...

Well, what works for me is that I feed them using a gallon-size juice pitcher, and I call them when I bring the food. If they see the pitcher, they always come running, which is good because I have a yet-to-be-found gap in my fencing which lets a couple out. Even hard to catch Gypsy always comes...

It's not just terrestrial predators you have to watch for. Owls, hawks, eagles, even large ravens can be a real problem. In my humble opinion, chickens do best when protected from above as well as from the ground. What works for us is a fenced chicken run, with netting over the top to keep the...

I don't know if you have ermine or mink in your neck of the woods, but if this happened to my neighbor, that's what I would think of. They can break the neck of an animal much larger than themselves, and can really be a menace. Raccoons, pole cats and fishers can also do similar damage.

I've been feeding my chicks some scraps, and we received them April 27. I only give them vegetable or bread-like scraps, though. I don't know if I'm right, but I try to keep the "richer" scraps for the big hens. Hope this helps!

Thank you for posting this! I have chickens, but have never incubated eggs before, and was also curious as to how fertile eggs get shipped. Great info!

You ever hear the old saying that "all chickens come home to roost?" Well, I panicked when mine got out the first time (from a hole they made under the fencing) and the two we couldn't find came home on her own. I got in the habit of calling and talking to them when I feed them, so they now come...

That has to be a person.If the latches were still closed, with no evidence, what else could it be?

I had a perfectly nice Rhode Island Red rooster that we never had problems with until my young son was in the coop with me one day. He attacked my son by flying at him with his spurs out. I smacked him with the pitcher I was using for feed to get him back but he had decided to be territorial and...

I'm on the Kenai Peninsula. I've had chickens here for 4 years now. I wish you luck with your new flocks. The most cold hardy hens we've had are the Black Sex-link and the Rhode Island Reds. I'm ordering chicks through the mail for the first time this spring, so we'll see how that goes!

Thank you!

I'm in the same boat. I think we'll add a goat or two next spring, so I am trying to learn in the meantime. All of your questions are mine also, so I'm glad you posted this!

What an interesting tip! I'll be sure to share that with my husband. I never even thought of the oil from the chainsaw bar...

That sounds like the stories residents tell to greenhorns to scare them! No snow snakes, thank goodness! In southeast, I've heard that they can survive if released. Not here, thankfully. I'll take the bears and the cold gratefully:)

We use sawdust from the wood we cut for firewood (Spruce,Hemlock,Birch) to keep the chicken yard covered. Sometimes, we put straw in the coop, but for the outside run, we put mostly sawdust. Has anyone had problems with this? My chickens seem fine, but my experience is limited... None are...