Recent content by K0k0shka

Crumble is just the texture (smaller particles), not a type of feed. Some brands offer their standard feeds like layer or all flock in both crumble and pellet format. It's your choice which one you use. I use Purina Flock Raiser, which is good for all ages and genders of chickens, and I use the...

I agree that design is more important than height. It needs a very tall lip on the front so they can't rake towards themselves and out on the ground. Those pvc pipe / portal hole type feeders have been a total disappointment for me, I've tried a couple. I went through a lot of feeders until I...

She's at an age where she might start developing reproductive issues, and if something's going on with her ovary (chickens only have one, so no backup), it can affect the hormonal balance and cause her to develop masculine features. But also at this age they slow down or stop laying for winter...

Owners have a responsibility to keep their animals on their own property, especially dogs, because they can be dangerous or do property damage (and it doesn't matter that the dog is "nice", nobody can guarantee what it will or it won't do). While you do have a responsibility to protect your...

Grit is cheap and a bag will last you a VERY long time. I don't see a reason to argue against it when it's just so easy to get them a bag. You can even order it on Amazon if you don't have a feed store nearby.

The laying pullet can eat their medicated starter until the new ones have been outside long enough to no longer need it. They need to have been outside exposed to the soil for at least two weeks while eating medicated feed, for the medication to work and help their systems build immunity. So...

It's hard to give you advice without knowing where you are and what's available near you. Maybe if you gave us a list of your options - like what feeds are available to you and what's in them - we could advise you better. Homemade feeds are hard to get right, specifically the correct balance of...

I get around this by feeding all flock crumble instead of pellets, so everybody can eat it. I have a zero waste feeder (waste is usually pointed out as the one advantage of pellets over crumble) so I really have no reason to use pellets.

The concern wasn’t that they’d shed virus from the vaccine itself (they can’t do that), but from a potential infection with the actual disease, since vaccinated birds can still contract and spread it, they just won’t get seriously sick or die so you may not even know they contracted it.

The virus is not transmitted via the eggs, so if the hen that laid the eggs was infected, the chick in the egg will be clean. So the chicks hatch clean. Hatchery eggs and chicks are usually kept in a separate area, so it's unlikely that the chicks that hatched clean will get it from the breeding...

Could be a herniated navel, if you squeezed her a bit too hard (chicks are delicate). Maybe it wasn't right to begin with and needed very little to pop out.

I use Purina's all flock feed too, 20% protein, and crushed eggshell on the side. Works for all ages and kinds of chickens. I've never used layer feed and never will. I don't like the idea of the flat-rate pre-added calcium - their needs vary a lot throughout their lives, so a flat rate isn't a...

But a predator might. Too many of them are dying senseless deaths from eating poisoned rodents, including the national symbol, the bald eagle :(

Have you taken him to be seen by a doctor for the diarrhea? A doctor can test for and confirm salmonella, if that's what it is. You talk about "throughout the week" which sounds like the diarrhea is stretching out beyond the usual couple days that most common school bugs last, sounds like it...

If you mean morally inappropriate (which I assume you do, otherwise you wouldn't use that word), then there's nothing to worry about. Chickens have no morality or ethics and will eagerly cannibalize each other alive if they so much as saw a drop of blood. They are heathens. People have literally...