Recent content by LeeWren

I had a chicken who had to convalesce from a hawk attack in my kitchen for about two weeks -- an extenuating circumstance. I didn't have any guests over during that time, and cleaned up constantly for my own heath. And certainly didn't let the hen roam the house. This is extremely unsanitary...

I freeze water in old milk and OJ bottles and place in coop at night. The flock free ranges during day and there are lots of cooler and shady spots for them.

Most styrofoam is not made of corn. The vast majority of styrofoam is made of polystyrene, which contains styrene, a known carcinogenetic. And it is a petroleum product. Chickens won't die after eating styrofoam, but it isn't something they should be having in their bodies...

Great article. Things you wouldn't necessarily think of as hazards, like styrofoam and plastic...I live in a city where styrofoam is constantly blowing in from the trash in the alleys. I have to be very vigilant. But also RUBBER BANDS. The mail service here uses them and they are discarded all...

I have a wattle fence like yours and also lots of hawks, kestrels, and peregrines even though I live in the middle of a large city. The wattle fence can provide some protection if there's some depth to it or maybe you could build out one corner with branches that overhang but what you really...

My super-layer, a Black Star sex link, is food-mad. She acts like she's starving all the time and gobbles food down like crazy. She is always looking for the better thing. If I throw scratch as a treat, she'll peck a bit and the minute I move she'll look to me to see if I might put out...

My Chicago based hens start laying in mid-January after their molts and temperature doesn't seem to be an issue. It is really cold here right now and they are laying, and laid all through the "Polar Vortex" of several years ago -- I had to scramble to get the eggs before they froze!

Thanks for your story. I had a hawk attack that tore one of my hens' wattle and neck skin loose on one side, requiring numerous stitches. She otherwise wasn't injured but the other hens immediately went after the purple stitches, I guess thinking they were worms or something! I had to quarantine...

My almost seven-year-old Barred Rock, always a good 3 to 4 a week layer, started laying a few weeks ago after her molt but the eggs are very small! Bantam sized, and compared to my Black Star sex link, tiny (see comparison photo)! They have yolks, and seem normal in every way except for size...

Great article; just wanted to mention that my hens were fooled by -- of all things -- Billiard balls in their nest boxes. Even better, they were 8 balls, so I could always find my eggs "behind the 8 ball" but in my case that was a good thing!

So sorry for your loss -- I live in the middle of a big city but we have hawks and peregrines (not to mention coyotes) and my Barred Rock pullet suffered a hawk attack. Neck flayed down to her breast and wattle on the left hanging by a thread. As I live in a city I was able to scoop her up and...

My rescue pittie (probably with some bulldog; may he rest in peace) was a guardian dog to my three precious backyard girls who always free range, despite a very persistent neighborhood Cooper's hawk. When in the yard he watched out for the hawk, broke up the infrequent squabble, but basically...

I have a very secure small coop that my three chickens can keep quite warm until temps fall into low teens -- I leave bricks and stones on my radiators all day; they get almost too hot to comfortably carry without gloves. I put them on floor of coop when locking up for the night. No fire...

I am so sorry at such a sad outcome. One of my three hens disappeared without a trace in my fenced in backyard a couple of months ago...we live in the middle of Chicago but have a real hawk problem -- one of my gals was badly wounded by a hawk attack when she was a pullet. I searched everywhere...