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My Welsummer hen is about 4 1/2 months old. Was vaccinated at hatchery. Grew up fine with flock mates. Suddenly, she is pigeon-toed, injured or has Marek's disease. She can't walk without stepping on her own feet, losing her balance and tipping forward or sideways. She uses her wing to balance...

I have a Cuckoo Maran and a Buff Orpington that both hatched chicks. Each one had at least two, and there were six altogether. The problem is, I housed them in a small pen, and one of the hens killed a chick this morning. I have another pen set up, but I can't figure out which chicks belong to...

Have my first broody hen - a cochin. There are 3 other hens and a rooster in the flock. The cochin is lowest in pecking order, and even now when she gets up to eat, etc. the others (even the roo) chase her around and peck at her. How will they react when the chicks hatch? Will the cochin...

I made this for friends, and thought maybe folks here might find it interesting :)

My 9 month old Orpington rooster is picking the feathers out of his own cape (neck) in the front. Once in a while I'll see a hen peck at him, but not regularly. There are only five birds (4 hens, 1 roo) in the coop which is kept heated to about 40 degrees during our sub-zero weather. It's...

Dumb question, here (I should know this): My hen's right leg/hip was injured during mating. She cannot stand on it for any length of time. I have her separated and recovering (i hope), but suddenly she is acting really agitated and pecking really aggressively at the ground (carpet/towels). She...

We have a rooster that was a "gift" from a neighbor. I think he's a Sussex? Anyway, we have RIR and SLW as layers. None of them go broody, as we had them all about a year before we got the roo. We just got more chicks: black Orps, New Hampshires, and Cochins. My question is this: If I...

My hard-luck chicken, Dorothy, has been a bit lethargic, not eating, and her comb is starting to turn dark on the tips. Last Fall she was caught by a dog, but I was able to nurse her back to health, although she has a large area from a puncture wound that the others starting pecking again...

I have 10 RIRs and 9 SLWs. All but one of the Wyandottes have picked their feathers around the oil gland. One of them now has a naked & red bum as well. I've read all about lice, but I can't see any, even at night. A couple of them seem to be thinning feathers around the base of their combs. But...

I started with 21 chicks (10 RIR and 11 SLW). One of the chicks was smothered at around 3 weeks old. Okay, that happens. The other 20 all matured (I received them in April) and started laying eggs. At 8 months old, everything was going well. Then, 2 weeks ago, one of my SLWs started wheezing...

My RIR and SLW chickens are 36 weeks old and one of them keeps laying these small, wrinkled, deformed eggs. When I crack them open, everything appears to be fine. The girls have oyster shell available, and are given layer feed. They have scratch grain out in the run, or on the floor of the coop...

I'm selling a fair number of eggs to coworkers & friends. Folks often ask me if they are organic. I tell them no, because the feed I give them has "processed plant material" in it, which may have been grown with non-organic methods. My chickens are given layer feed, free range at least an hour...

With the news this week about a steroid being contaminated with a fungus, I went out to the CDC website and did some reading. I was surprised to see the things a person can get from bird droppings. I clean my coop every week and it gets pretty dusty when I sift the droppings from the sand under...

Just noticed one of my SLWs has an injury above her oil gland. I don't know if she's been pecked or ran under a fence or what. It's kind of scabbed over, but I brought her in and washed it off with soap and warm water, dabbing it dry. I didn't put anything on it, but I thought about Bacitracin...

Hi all, My RIRs and SLWs are 16 weeks old. I have nest boxes in the coop, but covered so they can't see the boxes and won't roost in them. So I'm wondering, how soon should I reveal what's behind the curtain? Will they stay out of the boxes until they're ready to lay? Should I put the golfballs...

How and/or when would I know if I have any roosters in the bunch? My chickens are 12 weeks old. I haven't heard any crowing and can't see any one being more aggressive or "top of the heap" than the others. I have 10 RIRs and 10 SLWs. Ordered all hens, so maybe that's what I got? :D

Hi, My 3 week old chicks are doing well. I have 3 clamp lights hung for heat that are on all the time, depending on the temps. Here in MN, we're still in the low 30s at night. My question is, will having the lights on 24/7 so far disrupt their egg-laying later on? Is it OK to turn the heat lamps...

I'm going to put in my first order for sexed chicks. I'm debating about adding one cockerel. I like the looks of a rooster and it seems like an authentic farm thing to do.Hoping that if they all grow up together, there will be minimal aggression. But...I'm hesitant. What do you think? To roo or...

My two German Shorthairs brought home a chicken yesterday. We don't have any birds, yet. Still fixing up a coop. The neighbor across the road doesn't have chickens, and the next closest places are a mile away. I don't have any idea where they got this bird from. The dog was carrying it in the...

Just bought a place in the country and there's an old milk house attached to the barn. Cleaned it out and power-washed it. The concrete floor is cracked and there's a (slow) drain in it. Will this be alright for a chicken coop? Folks before had chickens in it, but used the deep litter method...