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I have been having a heck of a time trying to find reasonably fresh feed lately - well this last year or so. Our closest feed store gets Modesto Milling bags from the distributor now that were bagged in October and November of last year. Other stores aren’t any better… freshest feed I could...

What do you think of getting a D‘Uccle roo for my mixed flock of full size hens. Would he be assertive enough to be fine with all the big ladies? I don’t need fertile eggs, just would like a roo that’s good and mellow with the hens and people. I miss the crowing and tidbitting and the pretty...

Just finished successfully (finally!) removing the kernel from my bumble footed hen. She had it on both feet. I had so much trouble getting the skin on her feet to soften up with soaking them. Yesterday I kept her standing in Epsomsalt water for half an hour (I have tried many 10-15 min soaks...

I wonder what others experience has been with Alchemist Farms unvaccinated (for Mareks) chicks. I bought 4 Bielefelders feom them last year and 2 Azure Eggers this year. I just buried one of my Azure eggers (of course she was a favorite). I discovered that I have Marek’s in my flock… She had the...

Hi! Could this be wry neck, even though the head is just hanging down? Just came back to the brooder to see one of my chicks standing around with her head all the way down in the bedding, walking slowly, while all the others are busy running around her… Her hatch mate seemed just droopy and...

Ouff. Just need to vent about yet another coop advertised as the bees knees with a camera, automatic door and dropping mats to change out for cleaning, etc, etc. and the coop is advertised for 6 hens, with a floor space of less than 8 sqft! The run is less than 20 sqft. That’s barely enough for...

I just gave my gorgeous but aggressive rooster away and am feeling the hole he has left on our farm. He was my third roo and I have had to get rid of all of mine so far… The first was a Welsumer and mean from the get go, the second (same age as first but he was the beta roo) was a big lumbering...

I am finally getting rid of my roo. It’s bittersweet. He is 5 years old now and I raised him from a chick… Every spring after he turned two, he goes bonkers and starts attacking but has always calmed down somewhat by summer. Last year I was ready to give him away but couldn’t find anyone to take...

I will be ditching the heat plate (actually I have two, let me know if you’d like to buy one, I’ll be happy to send them - or pick up, I am in Sonoma County) for a plain old red heat lamp… I find the lamp is easier to use, allows chicks more freedom to find the right warm spot for them without...

If I had the stomach to kill this roo, or were able to find a taker he’d already be gone… but the only person who wanted him was somebody I strongly suspected wanted him for cock fights and so he is still with me… Anyway, he now has figured out what makes his job as flock protector easiest: just...

Ugh - I am having a heck of a time this time around... Chicks at almost three weeks all of a sudden unsure on their legs, stumbling, resting a lot. One in really bad shape, sitting on her butt, eyes closing, or gasping, beak not aligned, very weak. While I had that chick in my hands to check...

I need to do something about my 4 year old rooster. My flock is aging and some have health issues and he has not calmed down after the Spring this year and is causing havoc in the coop. One (very slow, ascites afflicted) hen he mounted enough to make her bleed which set of a pecking frenzy. He...

Ufff. Got a call at 8:30!that the chicks were at the Post Office. When I got there the room was eerily quiet. I thought, probably the chicks were warm and happy because it had only taken 2 days (actually less than 48 hrs) instead of the usual three for them to get here. I said: I don’t hear any...

After being attacked by my roo again on the daily (he turns a bit too vigilant every spring and tends to calm down again by mid summer), I am ready to reconsider keeping a rooster with my flock. I have 11 hens at the moment, had 15 at some point. I have always had a rooster. First was a Welsumer...

Chickens were out in the meadow (as they are every day when it’s not raining) with our dog on watch duty and I was inside taking a nap. Woke to very alarmed calls by chickens and barks by dog. Raced out in my house shoes to find dog patrolling the area and the rooster having herded his hens into...

Argh. Came to the chickens this morning to find that my three year old Brahma hen Penny is wobbly walking on her hocks. What on earth? Picked her up and found she is thin, too, well hidden under her fluff I have to say. Comb and wattles look nice and red, some poop stuck to feathers in her tush...

I am getting ready to worm my chickens and want to double check my method here. I got Panacur (for horses) because I want to get this over with in one day. I am thinking of either 1. Filling a couple of raisins per chickens with the dose and feeding them to each chicken - the trouble with this...

Hi! I want to give my (unusual?) perspective in treating chickens with health issues. It seems that lately doing very little has been just the right thing to do. I have decided from the get go (a bit over three years ago), that I would never use antibiotics on my flock (trying to help preserve...

It is that dreaded time again - chicks shipped yesterday! Got a note from the USPS this morning that chicks arrive TODAY before 3. Ran out and got everything ready in a hurry - then waited. No updates (I signed up), nothing. Still listed as awaiting acceptance in OH somewhere. Since 11:30 this...

It is that dreaded time again - chicks shipped yesterday! Got a note from the USPS this morning that chicks arrive TODAY before 3. Ran out and got everything ready in a hurry - then waited. No updates (I signed up), nothing. Still listed as awaiting acceptance in OH somewhere. Since 11:30 this...