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This was inside my locked up run this morning, next to a dead hen. Anyone know who poops like that? It's not like anything I've seen in the 10 years I have had chickens. I am losing 2 hens per night atm and am baffled. Your help identifying this would be appreciated so that I know what I am...

I am baffled. I patched up all tiny holes that a predator could get in and still am getting raid. This morning there was scat next to the dead hen. Anyone know who poops like this? It almost looks like deer poop except it has obvious remains of berries in it. The hens are killed in a totally...

So I found one of my chickens who lost it's tail and a predator had eaten the entire contents of the body cavety. Legs, feet, breast, head were all still there. Only a gaping hole where her tail had been and between the legs. I have never seen this behavior and I have lost my fair share of...

I asked a couple of years ago (I didn't check exactly when) about a rooster we butchered and which was inedible because he was so tough. I thought I'd share what I have since learned was the cause of that. We butchered, processed and then put the bird in the crockpot over the timespan of a...

So I am just now venturing into meat chickens, having had an egg-laying flock for the last 4-5 years. I just processed the first batch of 12 freedom rangers and am pleased with the results. I kept them in a hen house with a large (20x30 ft) attached run and butchered them at about 10 weeks with...

I euthanized my 2.5 y/o dominique hen today. She had been swollen up with fluids in her abdomen for a while and was lethargic, hardly eating or moving, she was still pooping. Rather than keep draining her I decided it was time for her to be in peace. So afterwards we opened her up because I...

I am hoping some vet techs may read this and have some advice for me. I am getting more and more interested in the medical side of caring for chickens. I would like to find a resource where I can learn more, at a more fundamental level about avian physiology and medical care. Short of signing...

I brought 4 -9 month old- roosters to a farm yesterday for butchering. I can do it myself but didn't have time. So they used cones and then flipped them in a hot batch and a plucking machine. When I got the birds home I skinned them (I don't like skin on chickens for eating) and the meat was...

I am building (in my head, for now) an A frame quail house with run. The total structure will be 16x8, the enclosed house area will be 4x8. The whole thing will be about 7 ft tall. So I think I want a plywood floor for the enclosed area (OSB sheeting actually since that is what I have on...

Hi all, this is my first time using an incubator. I have a hovabator with thermostat and automatic turner. I want to set 60 quail eggs. The capacity is 120. So I am only using 3 of the racks. Question: How should I space these? All together in the middle, spaced out (2 at the outside and...

I am about to start my first hatch and would like to read up on things that can go wrong (or right) beforehand. I am sure we have some very experienced folks on here who have read everything on the subject. I would like to ask which book or informational website would be the best to start...

I have been perusing the threads in this section of the forums and read the stickies but maybe I'm missing something. Here are my questions that I could not find an answer to. I apologize in advance if it is somewhere I couldn't find: 1. If I ordered 100 Coturnix quail, standard variety and...

Hi, I'm new to quail but have chickens. I've successfully brooded chicks (chickens) on pdz numerous times. They love to dustbathe in it and the nature of pdz dries out the poo and neutralizes the ammonia. I scoop the poop once a week off of the surface and they're good to go. I wonder if...

I am not willing to ship these. There are four cockerels available. There are only two cockerels available as of Wednesday morning 8/14, they hatched on Whitmore Farm in Emmitsburg. I am in the Frederick, MD area and am willing to travel to meet halfway if you're in the greater MD/VA/WV area...

So, yesterday, I moved the 5 week olds to their new forever home (still separate from the juvenile chickens in that coop) and I put the two 2 y/o broody chickens into the brooder. They are sitting on pdz, no straw, no shavings, just nice cool sand, Enough I hope to cool them down some and break...

Hi all, My turn to ask for advice. I have 6 pure bred ameraucanas from Whitmore farm which I got straight run about 13 weeks ago. They all seem to have curved tail feathers, but not all have the pointy hackle and saddle feathers so I am still holding out hope that there may be some girls in the...

So 2 hens are broody and of the other 14 hens 7 have stopped laying completely for the last 2 weeks. These are 2 y/o in September. I am thinking that they are in the first stages of molting and am wondering if I should put the whole flock on higher protein feed, like flock raiser. I always...

I have 16 adult hens ranging in age from almost 2 y/o (11) to 14 mo/o (5). Two of the 2 y/o got broody about 2 weeks ago. They are setting in a communal nest box but are not sitting on eggs, since I have no rooster. Ever since they got broody my egg production plummeted from 10-12 eggs a day...

Ok here goes. I have three groups of chickens. One group of 16 are 1.5 and 2 yo olds that have been together for 1.5 years and are doing fine. They have a coop and free range on a fenced in 1/2 acre. The second group of 14 ameraucanas and anconas is now 11 weeks old. They are in their own...

deleted post as I had posted in the wrong forum. Sorry! It now lives in the manage your flock section.