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    The earliest a pullet went broody...

    Of all our new hens, Theo (who was the only broody one) is also the only one that has decided to molt this year. She's got a single tail feather she flies like a flag. Thankfully no one is bothering her even though they've never seen a molt before. Feathers of Rage indeed.
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    Why is my chicken so NOISY

    We added eight more orpingtons this year, chocolate and lavender. It turned out well, as we just lost our barred rock and would otherwise have just had our lone buff. Without the lead barred rock, it's now very silly out there though. We had years of just a trio of hens and the loudest noise...
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    Molting her first autumn?

    Our new orpingtons are now almost 8 months old. One of the chocolates, Theo, seems to be in a hurry to grow up. She surprised us this summer as the other orplets started laying their cute little eggs, Theo decided she was broody. As she is the smallest, we borrowed a game cam to be sure she...
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    How fast do your chickens stop laying in autumn vs dog scare

    You are right, my thoughts of fury aren't going to feed a hen until her senior years. From my experience, local law interprets full damages as "cost to make how it was before" (homeowner's insurance didn't want to pay to replace our flooded flooring with the exact same thing after water damage...
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    How fast do your chickens stop laying in autumn vs dog scare

    You are right, my thoughts of fury aren't going to feed a hen until her senior years. From my experience, local law interprets full damages as "cost to make how it was before" (homeowner's insurance didn't want to pay to replace our flooded flooring with the exact same thing after water damage...
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    How fast do your chickens stop laying in autumn vs dog scare

    Thank you all for your responses. In addition to your good ideas, sometimes just being reassured my feelings are valid helps me feel better. Last night while fuming, I researched what our local ordinance is regarding dog harming chickens. In a lot of cases regarding dogs, I feel the dog is...
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    How fast do your chickens stop laying in autumn vs dog scare

    Hey friends, Our flock has rather suddenly halved egg production. I'm trying to figure out if it's shorter daylight hours, or the fright they had this weekend. We have a five year old buff orpington Lucia. She has full size eggs and is getting ready to molt, so her stopping laying fast would be...
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    Chicken problem

    If you are in the northern hemisphere, shorter days often slows or stops egg production before winter.
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    How many hens for a 4 person household?/Potential oversupply??

    I'm envious! I hope to be able to find a black orpington next time we get more chicks in a few years. That or a jubilee orpington. I dream of a flock that's just a rainbow of orpington fluff.
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    How many hens for a 4 person household?/Potential oversupply??

    You said it's a raised coop. Like a pre-built from a feed store, or something custom? Please do a size check before you get more birds. Feed stores (in the US anyway) sell coops that advertise how many chickens they house that are greatly exaggerated. Hopefully Australia is better. Chickens need...
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    How many hens for a 4 person household?/Potential oversupply??

    We have 8 six month old birds and 1 five year old that will likely stop laying in the next few weeks (northern hemisphere). The older bird lays three eggs a week. The young birds still have 3/4 size eggs, but are busy laying (except Theo, who is already broody). So 9 birds, 8 laying, 7 of them...
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    Lost my whole flock

    I'm so sorry to hear this. We never know how secure our coops are until they are tested, and we pray we never discover their flaws the hard way. Predators are determined, and such wasteful killing makes it harder. The only time I've experienced chicken losses like that, it was a skunk. Same...
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    Hens pecking rooster

    Poor little man. I'm sorry for your poor rooster, but this made me laugh. As someone with a flock of nine orpington hens in various colors, this seems very in-character for the orpingtons I've met. Hens loving their rooster to the point they are over grooming him and him too nice to stop them...
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    Chicken bullying

    I would put pinless peepers on the primary aggressor, or put the aggressor in chicken jail a few days to reset pecking order. If it's most of the flock doing this, they may have another stressor. How much space do they have? Do they have more than one food/water source? Do they have run clutter...
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    Pred map

    I think the map would need to be absolutely massive, and that would just be for predators that go after chickens. I'm from Oregon, and our predators can be very regional, even within the state. Travel 100 miles any direction within the state and the predators would be different. In my area...
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    14 week old Buff Orpington

    Exactly this. That's a bit of a red face for that age so I'd say rooster, but that tush suggests hen. I think it's a wait and see if it starts crowing or keeps growing it's fluffy orpington bustle. Tushies are a trait of this breed's hen, Orpington ladies got back.
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    Quiz: Is Your Flock Ready for Molt Season?

    She did, though that photo is a few years old now and we are on a mostly new flock. I think of that photo the only bird left is Lucia, the buff orp feet in the top. I know it's her from her crooked toe. Lucia is now the honored auntie, teaching the eight new lavender and chocolate orps the best...
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    Quiz: Is Your Flock Ready for Molt Season?

    This is my favorite bird molt photo I have. Camilla doing her best "creepy Jim Henson puppet from The Labyrinth".
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    Hens acting weird before laying an egg

    Because she won't leave the nest, almost at all. A broody will run out and eat and drink fast, then return to the nest. Hopefully she will leave to poop outside the nest. And that's it. She won't even roost on a bar at night, she will sleep on the eggs. If you are in the northern hemisphere...
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    They are eating their eggs. Help me stop them.

    I've read ceramic eggs are a good choice so they stop trying to open eggs. Make sure nests are cushioned, as if an egg cracks they almost always eat it. I've also read of some people emptying an egg through a hole, then refilling it with nontoxic orange colored dish soap to create a negative...
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