Search results for query: *

Hi, I have a 3 year old Golden Comet that laid erratically all last year and hasn't laid at all in many months. Since she is a production breed that tends to have plumbing problems and had been otherwise fine, I just chalked it up to early retirement. She has also had some crop issues in the...

I've got a 2.5 year old, red sex link that has taken to sleeping on the floor of the coop. Willow had been head hen, but is going through her first real molt (she completely skipped last year) and it has really impacted her in a negative way. Willow is eating OK, her poop seems good (albeit...

I'm not sure where to post this, but "managing your flock" seemed like a good fit. I returned late this evening from a short trip and found my beloved easter egger dead in the run, no apparent trauma, no sign of injury or breach to the coop/run, the rest of the girls were already on the roost...

I have a Speckled Sussex hen, just over one-year old. She has always had somewhat runny poop. (Interestingly, the other SS I have had from the same hatchery have, too.) Alice is otherwise completely normal -- eats, pecks, lays eggs, digs holes, roosts with the others. She used to sometimes...

Hi! I’ve got a 2-year old Golden Comet that suddenly developed a droop to the primary feathers on her left wing. Eating fine, active, laying, poop normal and she can make it up to her roost at night. No predator issue, no injury upon inspection, all the other girls are fine. I’m taking a “wait...

My BO has a bright red patch below her vent, with no feathers. It is a little swollen, but not too bad. I had trimmed some of the feathers in August when they got poopy but now she seems to have lost a big patch. She is head hen, 1.5 years old, heading into a molt, laying irregularly over the...

So, after painstakingly weaving paracord over the fenced-in, wooded area where I let the girls explore, a hawk still managed to cause chaos and flush the hens out. I saved my BO from a wrestling match with a young coopers hawk. She popped up and, upon inspection, had ZERO injuries. But she...

I have a (so-far) predator-proof coop and run in a very wooded, but suburban area. Coyotes, fox, dogs, skunks, possum, etc. After I lost my favorite hen during supervised free-range to a cooper's hawk, I created a secondary "yard" with a little hobbit door from the run to a fenced-in area in...

I have a very secure coop and run. After losing a hen to a hawk during free-range time this spring, I created a fenced-in area in the deep woods behind my run. It is not completely predator proof, but it has contained and protected my flock for semi-free range time. I have garden netting over...

My Golden Comet, Rosie, has been laying shell-less eggs fairly regularly over the past month or two. I have 5 hens (1.5 years) and 4 pullets (4 months). Rosie is one of the hens and I'm pretty sure it is her, but I'm not 100%. I didn't have a problem when the older girls were on layer feed...

I have two chickens with hopefully minor issues: (1) Ginger (aka Pig Pen). 15 month old, Golden Comet hen. Very reliable layer, near the bottom of the pecking order, but no other issues and otherwise vigorous and healthy. She is my most adventurous and vocal girl. Very good dust bather, but...

I know it is too early to tell, but initial thoughts would be appreciated as I bite my nails. This one is meatier and slightly bigger than the other breeds I received. S/he is also quite curious and independent.

Doing a routine check on my buff orpington, I noticed areas of gray dust near the base of her feathers, just below the vent area. Did she take a really good dust bath and just hasn't shaken off all the debris? Or is this the start of mites? It doesn't look like the mite pics I find online...

I lost my lovely Coco today to a hawk while my girls were having supervised free-range time. I was ten feet away and the flock was digging through dried leaves in a stand of pine trees. There was good cover, nearby birds were chirping, there was no warning. I couldn't scare the hawk off, it...

Sometimes the flock feels like the lunch room in 6th grade, no? Poor Rosie, all by herself on the roost.

How long does it last? Is there are particular time period when it should be replaced? Or should its condition be assessed based on circumstances and replaced when needed (like when damaged, etc.)? I ask because some of mine seems to be warping on a fairly new coop and I want to make sure...

Barred Rock pullet, 9.5 months old. Flock leader of 6, all the same age. Been spending a lot of time in the nesting box the past couple of days. I thought she laid yesterday but I could be wrong. Today we noticed that the area below her vent is very swollen. It was hard to tell looking, but...

I have a 9-month old Golden Comet, Rosie, that laid a shell less egg this evening. I collected eggs at 4 p.m. and had 6 eggs (I have 6 pullets, so everyone was productive today :)). I checked on her about 6 p.m. because she has been trying to sleep in the nesting boxes the last few nights and...

I live in a wooded, suburban area. Lots of homes and people, but also lots of woods and farms and a huge conservation area nearby. We have coyotes, foxes, possums and hawks. And that's just what I have personally seen. There's even a family of raccoons nearby that make occasional appearances...

My seven month old barred rock pullet is not laying. She has virtually no comb. Her wattle, earlobes, etc. are not very red. No squatting, no investigating the nesting boxes. Middle of the flock pecking order. She's very vigorous and interactive, eats well. The rest of the girls, same age...