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Great update. I'd've been your wisty-eyed victim in that story. Rules are meant to be broken. Unless you're a rat breaking Fret's Zero Rodent policy, which she's evidently serious about. Interesting diversity of color. Seems like 2 of the chicks got looks from the Legbar-mix side this time.

I suppose I'm also mad at myself for not pushing through the fatigue to ride around the mountain to watch/photograph more. Like you, I was having a hard time staying awake. I told myself I'd take a few shots and take a break before the lights were supposed to peak. Then I slept through the 1...

That's hilarious. Also the first time I've heard plank used as an insult. Excellent. When I first started keeping chickens and was trying to learn all I could to keep them well, I remember several online sources that said unusual breathing sounds basically mean certain death from respiratory...

I know I prefer trying to understand chickens over trying to understand humans 🤷‍♀️ Tax: A completely unlikely photo of our chicken yard under the northern lights. Who else was treated to this phenomenon Friday? It was so beautiful that I spent more time watching than photographing, which I...

I haven't forgotten this. Just lurking during a disorienting week 😵‍💫 The chickens and I may take a crack at this project in the next few weeks. Tax in the meantime: a boundary battle brewing between Lil Nugs and Miss Lorraine. Lil Nugs recently perfected her pterodactyl screech. When...

Which other behaviors would you include, ideally? Tidbitting, dancing, herding, preening, soilbathing...? I've only posted phone videos to BYC but have a decent videography setup. With patience and a little elbow grease, I could produce shorts that are much easier on the eyes than what comes...

I'd be happy to write an article about this. What do you envision as a subject, specifically? A description of the behavior? A commentary on the merits of keeping roosters and/or the ills of traditional confinement? The fact that Stilton evidently learned these behaviors from some kind of...

Setting these chick feeders in basins has been a great way reduce waste and mess. Feed they shovel out gets poured back into the feeders.

This reminds me I meant to compile a burble video. When Unquestioned & Most Esteemed Head Hen Brahma Donna is about to lay, she turns into Most Cantankerous Head Hen. Scolding, running others out of the coop, etc. Stilton sometimes steps up as mediator, providing Donna with the Head-Hen-level...

Sorry it reached this point. If it's not in your heart to off him, time and separate housing can turn a violent cockerel into a gentleman. I'm not saying something you don't know, and separate coops may be unrealistic. But since Dig had a good upbringing, this is most likely a phase that will...

Poor Coed. I hope he's able to mend. If he's no longer well enough to come for breakfast, he'd be easy to catch, and you may be able to keep him from starving to death if he hasn't already. Do you know of a bird dog who could help you flush or track him (gently)? Either way, he's hopefully...

Tax: Merle Hagbird (BYC Calendar Mr. March 2024) just being handsome on the last day of his month of international fame. His saddle came in so nicely this year.

If I recall, it's Jeff Mattocks of Fertrell who says chickens can fight intestinal worms by ingesting certain kinds of plant fiber that make the gut inhospitable. He's a big proponent of ranging and says he's never had to chemically worm chickens because they self medicate naturally. That...

Mmm hmm, you did say so yourself. In an extraordinarily interesting article I've now read 3 times, which makes me feel extra silly for the mixup. But I thought you weren't going to burden us simpletons on this thread with your complex articles anymore 😁😉 This article has so many tendrils that...

I hope the hens realized Big Red didn't know what he was doing before they ran by and grabbed the wire 😛 Thank you! My eyes also seem to have much less resolution these days than the camera that the first photo was taken on, sigh. Ah, so it's the gizzard, not the crop, creating the sea glass...

This reminds me of a funny story about Unquestioned Esteemed Head Hen Brahma Donna. Back when young Stilton was working to win over Donna and her crew, he enthusiastically tidbitted everything he scratched up...without inspecting it first. As head hen, Donna takes first crack at whatever...

Thank you for the kind words! That's funny you keep a chicken calendar in your restroom. The BYC chicken calendar is on our fridge, but we do have chicken presence in the bathroom. This was a gift from DH a while back.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. They're helpful. I sat with Pinkie's group tonight when they were going to roost. It was quiet. While Miss Pinkie was a model of manners on the roost, 2 of her biggest fans, Stilton and Eula, usually cause chaos. Tonight they weren't. Instead of her normal...

Awoke to a sad thing this morning. Pinkie, known on this thread as our crowing hen, was dead under the roost. Her body was stiff, but otherwise, she looked perfect, as always, not a feather out of place, eyes closed. There wasn't poop on or under her, nor was she pecked, nor was anything else...

The cost makes good sense. Protein is expensive, and last time I priced sourcing ingredients for homemade chicken feed, it was substantially more than commercial feed. Because your friend raises a particular breed (and I failed to notice that you included the number of chickens in your original...