Recent content by helicopterchickenmom

I haven't been getting the emails from BYC for over a year now. I used to get notice when someone posted. I thought maybe I was off the list mail list. We have had loss in the last 6 months. Our beloved first chicken, Lacey, had to be put to sleep at the vet at 12 years old. Then her partner...

Thank you Sourland. I was wondering about that myself. Now there is another layer to the story. We just came home from the grocery to find Lacey, the elder, in the nest box. So now I'm not certain who's been going in there. I know I've seen Cagney in there on two occasions. I put another...

Hello, Cagney, our 6 year old RIR was laying for several days then taking a break, then laying again early this Spring. In all she laid 19 eggs and one Fairy Egg from March 2 thru April 5. Now she hasn't laid for 11 days. I don't think she's egg bound. No sign of parasites on her or in feces...

The first year we had chickens we wrapped the coop and run in visqueen. Being the helicopter chicken parents we are, it was practically vacuum sealed. As soon as the first cold temps set in I found frost on The Girls backs in the morning. After two days of this and much reading I learned it...

Thank you. I appreciate your help.

Does anyone else have an older chicken who seems to not stop molting? Lacey is in the 10 year range. This year she began her molt around May, which is normal for her. She molts in patches so it takes her about 12 weeks to get through all of it. But his year she's replaced her neck feathers and...

That is wonderful. Our elder gets a little gimpy on occasion in one leg. I give her tart cherry juice. Seems to help. That's why I'm concerned with keeping her from injury. Sounds like the new ramp will have the rubber mat.

That's a great idea. Thanks. We will consider it for the new ramp/coop. I read about someone who put a landing halfway up for her older hen, who had leg problems, to rest. I've thought about that as well. May as well plan for the future. These are pets so they will be with us for the duration.

They don't mind it at all. Thanks for the tip to raise the ramp. I will try that. We are building a new coop with a longer, wider ramp, lower angle.

Our elder chicken with one eye was having trouble navigating the ramp and roost. She slipped off several times. I feared injury. A tip from my neighbor was wonderful help. She told me to wrap them with vet wrap. Now Lacey doesn't slip off either the ramp or the roost. Maybe her tip will help...

Two big dogs killed over a dozen of our neighbor's guinea hens and layer chickens awhile back. Even though they saw and could ID the dogs, nothing came of it. We are going to build a new run and coop for our chickens from kits. We will be reinforcing the hardware cloth, that is only stapled from...

The first year we had our two chickens we put bird feeders in the back yard with our free range chickens. They got lice from the wild birds. Had to go to vet. The feeders were removed immediately. Everything and every one was treated with Sevin per vet's instructions. Cagney and Lacey are fine...

I recently learned about cherry bushes. They grow only 4' tall on average and produce pie cherries. Easy care. Also honey berry bushes. Supposed to taste like a cross between blueberries and raspberries. Both are fast growing/producing and require no spraying to my understanding. Safer for your...

Lacey, our oldest, is unknown but somewhere between 8 or 10 as best we can guess. The people we got her from were uncertain of her exact age. She chose to run away and live in our yard almost 4 years ago, so we became chicken parents literally overnight when her owners said we could keep her...

Our girls go through a molt from late Fall and stop laying. I switch them to protein feed to help grow feathers. In early Spring when they stop dropping feathers I switch back to layer feed. They usually begin laying sometime in March. We're in northern Indiana.