I've got an "accidental" rooster, about 1 year old and he's pretty good, very docile and respectful of us and most of the flock.
I have one hen, "Massachusetts" who was formerly a high ranking hen and the rooster has been singling her out and attacking her.
I watched it happen again...
The losses to our flock have recently seen a steep uptick and we lost another hen last night. (We had left for a dinner party and knew we were taking a risk, ugh!) Based on the hunting behavior and pile of feathers, we believe we are dealing with either a fox (from the nearby droppings) or a...
Yesterday was quite rainy and our ducks asked to be let out of their pen to free range for a bit. we have 3 ducks and about 20+ chickens (free range during the day). the rule has been that we are supposed to be watching the ducks while they are out, but of course we have loosened that rule as...
I was at dinner the other night and was shocked at how much food is wasted! I'd like to do my little part and try to feed this food to my hens, as a supplement and a way to get them to work through my garden compost. I've got about 21 hens and 1/4 acre in farm production with a huge compost...
We have a broody hen and successfully grafted 5 chicks to her about two weeks ago. She and her adoptees are happily spending some quality time in a pen adjacent to the coop. Their sleeping quarters are attached to the coop, but separated by a wire partition.
Previously, we tried this and left...
We have, on occasion, found that our hens are transient in the use of the coop to lay eggs. We do have at least one hen laying in my neighbor's barn, and to be honest, I think there might be others, but my neighbor is sometimes cagey and might not be truthful about how many eggs he's getting...
I've got a hen who had been broody for nearly three months so we got her some chicks. They love her and she loves them and is a great caregiver, so much so that she is not taking care of her own needs, and has gotten very weak.
My surrogate and her chicks currently reside in a nursury situation...
We've had a lot of problems with broody hens, and are considering modifying our current coop. (the other reason is there is a leak in the roof which would more easily be fixed by modifying the coop a little bit.)
Right now we have mixed nesting boxes and roosts in the same coop. It's kind of a...
Yesterday evening, we stuffed two chicks under our broody hen and so far she seems to have accepted them.
We brought the chicks home earlier in the day and gave them a few hours under the heat lamp and they ate and drank a lot.
This morning, the hen is sitting happily on the chicks.
My...
We have had a flock of free range birds for the past several years and they are very happy and safe here.
I usually keep them out of most of my garden beds with about a 2 foot high 2x4 welded wire fencing. This works pretty good but I don't really like the look of it.
Recently, I've tried...
Oops. While playing fetch with the dog, accidentally threw the ball towards a couple of meandering chickens who scattered and one ended up crashing into the dog, flipping over, then showing very visible signs of a strong limp on her right leg. She does not want to bear any weight on it.
I...