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I have 6 female Rouen ducks I bought as chicks last April 2022. Only 3 of them are laying. What could be the issue with the other 3?

Feed is rising in cost so I thought I'd like to supplement my commercial feed with some home grown corn and sunflower seeds. I have plenty of space to grow it so that's not an issue. My questions concern what and how to do it. Once planted and it's producing where do I go from there? Do I let...

My Barred Rocks are very wasteful with the feed. I have a 3lb metal hanging feeder for them. It's about 4-6" above the floor of the coop. I just cleaned the coop and noticed there was more feed on the floor than bedding. I feed them layer crumbles. Is there a way to not have them throwing the...

I have raised chickens for a long time and had very good success with broody hens hatching and raising chicks (and ducks)! I have usually had a mixture of breeds including Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, New Hampshires and some others. Unfortunately they were devoured by raccoons and fox...

I generally raise a flock of about 40-50 chickens but lately the varmints (fox, raccoons & neighbor's dogs) have decimated a couple flocks. I was told if I get a few geese they would keep the varmints away or actually chase them. I don't know if that's true or not as I have no experience with...

I'm down to 4 laying hens and 20 pullets. Lately the layers are tossing the nest eggs out on to the coop floor. Wonder why they started doing that?

I have had 2 galvanized 3 gallon waterers for about 7-8 years now and I also use the metal heater bases on them. One waterer finally rotted out and the other is starting to seep. The metal ones haven't been available around here for a while so I bought a large plastic one. Works ok except it...

I had the thought that I have a pretty big section of my garden I don't seem to use and maybe if I planted corn for the flock it could help with the feed bill. Has anyone grown their own corn? How do you harvest and prepare it for use? Would it be best to build a corn crib or leave it on the...

I have a Plymouth Rock hen that's 9 months old. She's been broody and trying to set eggs now for about 4 weeks. I'm really happy with this as it saves me money to raise my own chickens and I'd rather a hen raise them than me dealing with hatchery chicks. My problem is that while she's very...

I have 30 Plymouth Rock hens all the same age and 3 seem to get mounted by my roosters more often than the others. Just seems strange to me. Are some hens sexier than others?

One of my roosters just started limping and his leg is swollen where the leg and foot join. Otherwise he seems fine. He's unable to put his full weight on the foot when getting around. Any idea what might be wrong with him? He's a Plymouth Rock and 7 months old.

Well, I finally got my new 12'x24' coop finished and it's housing it's first flock of Plymouth Rocks. I got them in July and they are growing like crazy and just started laying. Everything is great except one thing. DUST!!! I started using the pine shavings available at my local feed store. I...

I've raised chickens for many years but never had any turkeys. I'm giving thought to getting 5-6 Blue Slate turkeys to raise for the freezer and for breeding purposes. They will be kept separate from my chickens so I'll need some sort of shelter. I understand they need a different feed than my...

OK, I purchased 35 Plymouth Rocks from a hatchery. They are all healthy and doing well and are now 5 1/2 months old and some have started laying. Today I got 15 eggs. Great! However......one was WHITE! All the others are brown and all previous Rocks have laid brown eggs. Pretty bizarre! oldline1

I am now out of the chicken business thanks to several raccoons. I started with 30 chickens 4 months ago. They free range which I know is dangerous for them but it's how I run my flock. I have had between 20 & 40 chickens for 5 years now raised this way. I lock them in the coop at night and let...

I have three Pekin hens left from my original six. They started laying eggs around July 2014. They layed them for about 14 or 16 months and have stopped altogether. Is this normal? No dietary changes or environmental changes that may havee caused them to stop. Thanks, Trainman

I have 2 chickens with some odd illnesses. First I have a 1 1/2 year old Light Brahma rooster. He developed a large lump on his neck and got rather listless. I thought he may have been snake bit as the flock free ranges and they often head for the woods. Anyway, he seemed to get worse and just...

I have 2 grown roosters, one a Plymouth Rock and the other a Light Brahma. Both have been very active fellows guarding and servicing the flock of 24 hens. I allow them all to free range my 20 acre farm and they cover the majority of it. It consists of about 1/2 woods and the rest is yard or...

I have 8 Pekins. Two Drakes and 6 hens. I bought them in March 2014 and they started laying around August 2014. I was getting between 2-3 eggs per day up until recently. They slacked off to about 3-4 per week for a few weeks and in the past 2 weeks I've seen no eggs. I have had issues with crows...

I understand that egg color is determined by breed of chicken. A Barred Rock produces brown eggs and a Brown Leghorn produces white eggs. How much, if anything, does the rooster have to do with it? If one breeds a Brown Leghorn rooster with a Barred Rock hen what are the chances the female...