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It's November 30th, and we've just come out of a very cold spell. Days are short, nights are long. But my hen laid an egg. She is a Buff Orpington. I use no artificial anything to enhance egg laying. Your thoughts? Thanks! -John

I have 16 day-olds that will arrive July 16th. Trying to avoid a heat lamp situation. I need a backup plan in case the broody hens reject them. Temps here are in the mid 90s during the day and upper 70s at night. Will I need a heat lamp for them outdoors? They will have a nicely-enclosed...

So our proud gamefowl, Tilly, was given a clutch of eggs when she went broody. There were 16 of them. She very dutifully sat on them, leaving only once a day, as usual for broodies. Yes, she seemed to be giving adequate coverage to all 16 eggs, even though gamefowl are a bit smaller than most...

Hi! Can chickens be put in perennials beds during the off-season, ie, winter? I have an asparagus and hops bed I'd like them to debug and poop in, but I don't want the plants destroyed. Thanks! -John

Hi! One of my poor hens has been, uhm, romanced way too much. :rolleyes: She has completely bare skin over most of her back. Otherwise she seems in good health. She is spry, able to run and fly, and friendly. But the molt is over and she won't get new feathers until next winter. So for...

Well, we suffered our first hawk attack today. Very unusual around here. All the hens made it safe and sound to the coop, except the slowest one. She was attacked. I came running - and the hawk was airborne fleeing the scene as I rounded the corner. Our beloved hen, Gigi, survived with a...

Hi! I've had my litter in the coop since March. It is going very well and is a nice place for the chooks. The litter is nice and thick. My question is, should I clean it out for the winter? I have half a round bale of hay on standby to add more in. I was considering NOT cleaning it out so...

We just had 5 baby chicks hatch. There is a possibility that a rooster is in there. Mother Nature overlaps the young and old so the old can teach the young, etc. My main rooster is 1 year and 8 months old, and doing a fine job. My question is: How old should HE be before introducing...

We were caught with our pants down and now have 5 healthy baby chicks. OK, the rooster was caught with HIS pants down! LOL! I rigged a separate broody area and moved them into it, but the chicks can easily get out of the fenced area and into the main run with the main flock. There have been no...

Got a broody Buff Orpington She's a sweetheart most of the time, but now she's broody. And ticked at me for running her out of the nestbox. I've read all kinds of info on breaking broodiness, but I'm wondering if I should even worry about it. The only problem is that she hates me when I...

My 3 gamefowl hens, and now my Buff Orp. have become escape artists. They are flying over. Sometimes they want to get to the other run I have for them, other times they are just in the yard grazing. The run is covered in hay, but has plenty of worms and bugs, etc. It's 3000 sq. ft and only...

Hi! I've been blessed by the gods and have a small abundance of leftover fat from cooking beef. LOL! :) I was thinking of mixing it in with some layer pellets or home-grown corn to make little balls and then feed it to my chickens. It's winter time cold here, perhaps they could use the...

Hi! I'm wanting to use plastic netting to make the gates in my chicken runs. Reason is, I'm running low on funds and the project has already been committed to by other free laborers, so I must continue. Predators are not a problem in my area. So, these gates would only be to keep chickens...

Hi! I'll be moving my flock into a 3000 sq.ft. fenced run in about a month. This area has no natural shade at all, but I'm forced to use this area for chickens. I was wondering about building a sturdy, yet movable “shade tractor”, that is, a “thing” on wheels that provides shade. I would move...

Hi! I am a newbie to chickens, although I do have experience from when I was a child. My plan is to split my HUGE garden in half, and let the chickens process one side while I garden the other. Each year, I flip-flop the garden and chicken run. The coop will be in the middle and have doors...