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Hey y'all My year old rooster Sandy has been overmating some of my hens pretty severely. It started a few months ago and wasn't bad at first, but now I have 3 hens with bare backs, and 1 with completely bare back and sides. It's not uncommon that when he wants to mate he will chase down his...

Hello. I've noticed that my 3.5 week old chick (who I think is a lavender orpington) has started to develop a larger comb than its brooder-mates, and is developing some size and color in the wattles. They have also been rather slow to feather. Can anyone tell yet if this bird is a male? Or is...

I just got this chick from my local Atwoods three days ago, and I'm not sure exactly what breed it is. The bin said something along the lines of "specialty breed pullet", but obviously that doesn't tell me very much. Can anyone make a good guess on what breed it is?

Hello. When I went outside to check on my chickens I heard one of my hens, Gabby, making a strange wheezing sound while she was breathing. She's otherwise acting normally and doesn't seem to be in distress, but I'm worried that she might have a respiratory illness or something else. Does anyone...

Hello. I'm making this post for a friend who isn't a member of the forum. Earlier today his dog killed one of his four pullets, and the remaining three are gone from his yard without a trace. He has looked around checked with his neighbors and they haven't seen any sign of the chickens either...

Hello. My 6 month old Easter Egger cockerel has had a chronic watery eye ever since he was a chick. It gets watery so often that the right side of his beard is always wet and caked from mucus, and some of the beard has fallen off on that side. His eye doesn't look inflamed, so it's hard for me...

Hello. I was wondering if it's okay for my cockerel to eat layer feed short term, probably for about 6-8 weeks. The reason is that I have two bags of layer feed that I haven't used after getting some all flock feed, but I really don't want the two bags of layer feed to go to waste. Plus I have...

For the longest time I thought Pepper my polish pullet had a crooked beak, but now that the beak has grown more I think the top beak is actually just overgrown. If that's the case, how do I trim it back to normal without hurting her? I haven't done this before and I don't have any specialized...

Tomorrow I want to attempt to integrate my cockerel and 4 pullets with my 5 hens. They have free ranged together for several weeks so aside from the 2 bully hens everyone gets along decently well. I think they should be ready considering the youngsters are now 17 weeks. I'm thinking that some...

My Easter Egger cockerel is 17 weeks old, and so far everything is going well. He moves out of the way for me, doesn't attack me or threaten me when I am around, and he looks absolutely stunning. His crow is lovely to listen to. So far he seems like a promising future rooster. The only thing I'm...

The question is as the title says. I've read that roosters use their wings to balance during mating, and that clipping a wing can keep them from mating properly. My Easter Egger cockerel has recently started trying to mate and I would be fine leaving his wings alone, but our nextdoor neighbor...

When I checked on the chickens this morning I found something odd on the ground under the roost. It looks kind of like a meaty lump surrounded by a hit of albumen. A couple feet to the side I found what looks like a torn soft egg shell. What the heck is this?

I noticed my ISA Brown hen acting lethargic this evening, so I was keeping an eye on her. About an hour after the behaviour started I saw her standing next to a freshly-laid shelless egg, presumably laid by her. After laying the egg she was acting completely normal again, as if nothing had ever...

I am honestly pretty surprised by this one. My chickens were making a ruckus, so I checked outside and saw a Mississippi Kite swooping down on one of my chickens, and it promptly flew away as soon as it saw me. I found some information about them and it turns out their average adult weight is...

Hello! I am currently in the process of integrating four pullets and one cockerel into my flock of five hens. Three of the hens aren't very mean, but the other two always chase away or peck the little ones. The youngsters always run away from the hens. I want them to all be integrated soon...

Horray!!!! I have been waiting so long to hear my boy crow, and today I finally heard it!!! I have always wanted to hear a rooster crow and now I can finally hear it in my own backyard. He must have already been crowing for at least a week or two because this doesn't sound at all like a first...

Hello, Robin, my ISA Brown hen has been progressively losing more and more feathers over the course of about 3 months. I know this would be normal if she was moulting, but it's on one specific wing and she has all the feathers on the rest of her body. It looks like she probably pulled the...

Hello! I have an Easter Egger cockerel who was supposed to be a pullet, and he is about 12 weeks old now. This is my first cockerel and I want him to be respectful to humans. Personally I wouldn't be too bothered by a more territorial rooster, but I live with my family and they would rather not...

Hello! I free range my chickens all day and keep their feeder and waterer under the oak tree in the center of my yard. The only problem is that it attracts wild birds. SO MANY. I will look outside and see 8 to 10 birds around the feeder. I'm concerned about this because of the possibility of...

I have some sad news to share today. This morning I found Daisy, my Buff Orpington hen lying dead on the floor of the coop. I'm sad about it, but my top priority right now is making sure nothing happens to my other birds as well. With that being said, I'm not quite sure why she died. It wasn't...