We love our Nankin hen. She's very sweet and good natured, excellent bird for beginners or kids. She comes when called, she's an excellent bug hunter, likes to sit on your lap (or head, or shoulder), and alerts the other birds to dangers. She's very broody which is either a good or bad thing...
I have a cochin who does that. She's a constant complainer and often gets a head shake in there, too, just to make her point. All the girls are healthy, no infestations nor diseases nor injuries, so I don't think it's anything more than just a habit. My other chickens don't do that so I just...
Our banties flew over a 6' fence like it wasn't even there. One of our larger birds was adept at getting over it, too, although not as often. There is big oak tree over part of the yard so covering the yard with something permanent was out of the question. We bought a large piece of "bird...
We have an automatically filling water bowl. It's connected to a garden hose and has a float mechanism to fill the bowl when the level drops. We set it on the ground a bit off-kilter so that it will constantly drip thereby always providing fresh water. I know that TSC, Southern States Coop, and...
Any dog could kill your chickens. Will they depends on a lot of things.
Our neighbors have two blues who are very well trained. When we first put the chickens and rabbits in the outdoor pen, we brought the dogs over and had them "meet" the animals. We reinforce often that the dogs are not to...
Update:
She didn't pass the egg. She got weaker and weaker until she couldn't stand. I had her back end sitting in warm water with her chest and head propped on a towel. Her comb and wattles were nearly purple. About 15 minutes after the original post, she let out a miserable cry then closed...
9 month old Nankin, has been laying eggs fine until today.
Very swollen red vent, panting heavily, eyes closed, drooping tail, bright red comb and wattles, not moving much.
I sat her in a warm bath, also tried masagging her abdomen. Put a bit of oil in and around her vent. It's been over an...
Our three chickens and two rabbits share the same yard. Our little phoenix girl likes to chase our male rabbit and peck him for sport. She also steals food (parsley, kale) from him; she'll grab the whole bunch and drag it away as he's still chewing. She also chases wild birds, like cardinals and...
If the rooster is chasing and the children run, it will just trigger a natural response for the rooster to continue the chase. What the girls need to do is stand ground and give him a swift kick to let him know who is boss. I, too, would check the school uniform theory before making soup; it may...
Honey Mustard, our bantam cochin. She's a great lizard-hunter but suprisingly the LEAST friendly of our chickens. If you don't have a handful of treats you're just not worthy of her time.
Our three bantams are "at the age" when a young girl chicken starts to fancy a mate. However, we have no rooster so they've seen fit lately to pour their attention and affection onto MY HUMAN MAN.
He can't even step into their yard without one or all of them assuming the "love me" position. He...
Painting a wood fence every year is a dreary task. I know because I had a picket fence in Minnesota. Finally tore it down and replaced it with a really thick, thorny hedge. The dogs learned to stay away from it real quick.
Personally, I'd go with cedar fence and stain it. That's what I did to...
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Okay, now I just HAVE to ask: you travel with your chickens? HOW COOL!
Yep, we travel with the chickens and the rabbit and the fish. We get some interesting looks at the RV parks and comments ranging from, "Ew, gross! They have disease!" to "Cool! can I pet them?"
Our Betta is in a bowl with some gravel and a live plant. The plant has been through three Betta buddies in about 7 years. The bowl is unheated but I keep it sitting on a seedling starter mat to just raise the temp enough to keep Mr. Fish warm and active. He's been with us for a year now.