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For about 2 years I had good fortune with 2x4 wire fence being the sole barrier on my outdoor run space. This is a wooden structure approximately 4x8 covered with 2"x4" wire fencing and there have been no mishaps/attempted breaches to this point. Indoor coop is adjacent and always available...

These birds are exactly 4 weeks old today and two of them have been showing a lot more comb since 3 weeks. I know this is not a good enough picture to truly judge any bird, but there is so little to see besides the comb. I'm mainly posting because I want to either confirm "yes, cockerels...

I was just sitting out with my birds and was surprised to see what looked like a fresh chicken poop covered in tiny vanilla sprinkles. They did not move but a quick forum search tells me they are almost certainly tapeworm segments. And my birds range in the yard (and dig through the horse...

In the past I have ordered from a hatchery in I think Missouri (who specializes in small orders, I don't feel like names are important) and I have been fortunate to get very healthy chicks on Friday. I think they always ship on Wednesday. This time I'm ordering from Texas and the tracking...

Yesterday afternoon I found my favorite chicken had dropped dead near my back patio, and this morning my other runner up favorite was dead under the roost bar. I have no idea what is going on. About a week ago 1 more chicken just mysteriously dropped dead in her run, right outside the coop. I...

I bought some Black Star / black sex link chicks by mistake last year and while a little dismayed initially to not have come home with what I thought I bought, I warmed to them when I read that they are an F1 cross of two heritage breeds (Barred Rock x RIR). My primary interest is in...

Roof rats have made it to my neighborhood in recent years, and I've tried the heavy duty "Snap Traps" in the past with good success. However now that I have chickens, I've removed all those traps from where the birds live. But I have declared war, and to that end I found this interesting trap...

Are chicken beaks like rodent teeth, which is to say they continue to grow and wear away over the animal's life time? Or do they just have to make do as their beak gets more worn away through life? I'm generally curious and also wondering because I just noticed that one of my hens has lost a...

I see recommendations on this board for Premier1 type netting and it looks like a wonderful product. However for those of us with very hard ground, the idea of pushing the rods into our dirt is just not going to happen :) What is a sensible electric fence solution that I should be considering...

Hey all and especially my AZ neighbors. It has not yet been a year with my chickens but I wanted to do a little update because I finally feel like we are having "real summer" over here and I felt a chicken report was due. I have 6 Dominique chickens at the time of this writing most of which...

I came across this product when looking for a pigeon-proof, rodent-proof, rain-protected, low waste feeder. Yes I have seen the PVC elbow ones that you can make, but I wanted to come up with a system that would be safe from critters and weather if I forgot to put caps on it. Enter these...

My two Dominique hens (about 6mos old) love to see me when I come outside and hang around. They will peck and scratch at the cuff of my jeans and my boots, and then on occasion if I bend down they will aim to bite me. I can work around this and we still get along, I just don't understand why...

This morning I was so very sad to have lost 4 of my 6 Dominiques to coyotes. It is my fault, I got home late and forgot to close the pop door last night. Then they let themselves out in the morning when they felt like it, and the attack happened probably at 8:00am. My question is, what do you...

I am totally new to chickens and my Dominiques are 3 months old now. I'm wondering, about when are they full grown and/or how large should I expect them to be? I know that Dominiques are slightly smaller than other breeds, and I know "five pounds" is a weight estimate, but I am clueless to the...

I have really been enjoying reading about the history of keeping chickens over the last 100 years (such as this American Heritage article). It turns out, the 1920s were sort of the dawn of everything we see today! This paragraph from the article caught my eye: Now, this makes me stop and think...

As I watch my little indoor chicks get excited for the bits of alfalfa hay I give as a treat, and I reflect on the drowned squirrel that I pulled from the horse's water trough, it gives me pause. Do you take special steps to keep free ranging chickens away from these things? I guess I could...

I know we have some animal nutrition majors here, and I just wanted to pick some brains on the topic :) The main reason I ask is that in the past, I have personally preferred Standard Formula (where the ingredients are printed on the bag and don't change) food for animals, so that I can expect...

Hey all, my first chicks will arrive in about a week and I have been planning their housing and how to protect them from coyotes and raccoons which I know for a fact are on my street. My horse corral abuts an old shed, and I am thinking that I could build a coop inside the shed and then cut and...