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This is Spot my, supposedly, 3wo Swedish Flower Hen. I'm aware that SFH can come in any color including black but I thought white tips on their feathers were a defining characteristic. Spot only has a single white feather on each wing. And, so far as I can tell, those 2 feathers are...

I'm brooding chicks in my kitchen. They're 3 weeks old and I like listening to them. I like being around them so they're acculturating to people. Basically, they feel like pets. Everyone stops by their kennel up on the counter and spends time with them. Everybody in the extended family...

I've got some turkey vertebrae left over from making soup. They've been boiled to death and I've microwaved them for good measure. Assuming I can pummel them down into smaller pieces, are they a good source of calcium for my chickens? I give oyster shell and cleaned egg shell. Shall I add...

Their molts are just about done. Some are fully feathered again. The remaining lot are about 85% re-feathered. Still, lots of pale, floppy combs and I average, at best, an egg a day from 9/11 hens. Two might not be fully mature yet, dunno but they weren't laying when everyone else stopped...

I'm about a month into a program of eating 5 days a week and fasting for 2. I've done this before -- and everything else for that matter -- but this is what works for me. I'm able to stay on it for extended periods of time and when I have slip ups this is the regimen I can return to. Love...

We're in NO danger, I'm very happy to say, but we haven't seen the sun in about a week because of the haze. I can look directly at the sun at midday. And we smell the smoke. As I said, we're in NO danger but my chickens have effectively stopped laying. I have 9 mature hens. 4-6 eggs a day...

I'm interested in having chickens and a couple miniature goats. I'm told that I couldn't have a rooster on 6 acres. This astounds me because I can have a rooster on my 1/2 acre lot in Los Angeles. I've become thoroughly addicted to the sound of his crowing. I don't really want to have to...

At least that's the way it seems. I don't want to go outside because it's like stepping into an oven but, still, out I periodically go to bring them ice and cold fruit and to water down part of the yard. They don't even say "thanks". BUT, they stay alive. On balance, I'm grateful to them...

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I couldn't find a better one. I live in Southern California. I'm moving to Maine. Two spots about as different as they can possibly be. So far my biggest challenge has been keeping my chickens cool in 100˚+ weather. I won't know a damned...

I'm in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. I've become interested in giving industrial hemp bedding a try to see if it actually will generate less dust. But, so far, all the suppliers I can see are on the East Coast. And this stuff is expensive enough as it is without the added...

I've got a rooster who's displaying aggression. Not regularly. And it isn't more than a thump and a bit of scratching (he doesn't have spurs yet) but it gets me down. I almost had a chance to rehome him recently and when it came down to it, I didn't want to let him go. I want to find a way...

Silly me. After 3 years of chicken raising I still thought of chicken "flight" as a sort of wing-assisted hop. But this morning one of my 12wo chiclets took off from the roost in the run and flew, yes FLEW, about 15'. She flew toward the chainlink fence that divides their yard from my...

She hatched 3 chicks about a week ago. She's still up in the coop with the little ones -- even tho they no longer need her body heat -- but every time I go out there she's sitting on someone else's egg. I understand it's hormonal but what part of the signal that it's over didn't she get?

My broody hen hatched 3 chicks 3 & 4 days ago. When the hen was brooding I put some food and water in the nesting box with her. When her chicks started emerging -- still in the nesting box up in the coop -- I set moistened all-flock pellets so they could get at it. Now they're running...

CALIFORNIA FREE OF VIRULENT NEWCASTLE DISEASE Southern California Regional Quarantine Lifted SACRAMENTO, June 1, 2020 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have announced an end to the Virulent Newcastle Disease (VND)...

I offered my broody a handful of feed and some grit every day as she sat on the nest. I put a small waterer up there in the nesting box for her. Now there are chicks sticking their adorable little heads out. How do they typically get fed? Should I add a second handful of chick feed and grit...

I've got some good ones but I've used them enough already. I'm looking for something new. Something that will fit a half dozen size carton. Something cheeky or stylish. Something that will bring a smile. Outrageous works for me. One of my favs says "Just Got Laid". Where do you find 'em?

I know they detected a new infected location in San Bernardino County late in January. Anything newer? How about Riverside and Los Angeles Counties? I talked to the owner of the feed store I use on Friday. He said he had just had an inspection and passed with flying colors. He showed me the...

She's so scrawny and the roo has been all over her so she's full of broken feathers. She looked so frail I thought it must be something wrong. Turns out she was broody. I'm not sure what she's sitting on but I pushed a few of the other girls' eggs under her. Then I put some feed and veggie...

Is it just that you want to keep the nesting box clean? Is there something about it that's a bigger problem? I have one hen who just wants to sleep in the nesting box next to the roosts. There's room on the roosts but she's a shy Orpington and she just seems to like the nesting box. I...