summer

I am attempting to grow some duck friendly plants inside my enclosure this year to offer more enrichment to my ladies. I put in a garden bed today including oregano, lavender, and French marigolds. If it goes well I’ll add sage. I also have boxes of various mint outside their reach. Hopefully...

Hi there! We just started our flock from chicks in a brooder box in our breezeway, now about six weeks old and far too large to stay in the box much longer. We have six total (we planned to have three, but all the internet reading suggested buying more because they sometimes die…but now we have...

I was wondering if anyone knew reasons why our two laying hens would suddenly stop laying. It has been hot (low/mid 90's everyday) so I'm wondering if that may affect things? They seem healthy otherwise. We also realized one of our chickens was a rooster in the past couple of weeks so there have...

Her beak has been very hot for the past few days. We believe it’s because it’s summer now, but the AC is always on and though it isn’t cool during the mornings, it’s fine at night. However, her beak is ALMOST ALWAYS hot even during nighttime. She’s panting and her beak is hot, to the point it’s...

I have a flock of five hens who are all a little over 4 years old. Two of the five are starting to molt--a buff orpington and a RIR hybrid. The buff orpington had a light/mini-molt already in May, where she stopped laying for a couple of weeks and lost a small amount of feathers. This molt is...

I’m sorry if this has been answered already. I’m in Arizona and temperature’s are up around 100° already and it’s only May! How long can an egg be left outside in this heat? 1 hour? 3 hours? 5 hours Thank You

It's been pretty hot where I live lately. I'm looking for ways to cool off the coop better. They only go in at night unless they go in during the day. But only locked in at night. Anyway. It's pretty warm in the coop during the day. There is lots of ventilation. But it's still warmer then I...

Hey guys. I have had three hens die in the last three weeks. I am trying to decide if there is something going around my flocks (I have three flocks that live alongside each other) or if these are isolated cases of natural causes. One big consideration right now is the temperature which has been...

Chicken was fine yesterday. Chicken now has a dark hard dry waddle. Chicken is acting fine eating drinking etc. No changes To the chickens behavior other than the lesion on the waddle

It’s pretty simple: In this thread, I want to be challenged by all of you! I will be completing the challenges that are given to me, along with taking pictures. The rules: No inappropriate challenges I will try and complete all challenges, but will not if they: a) put my or someone else’s...

Hello, I’ve been looking at moving to Arizona after I leave college and I was wanting to start a ranch out there with chickens and ratites. I was wondering, what would be a good way to manage overheating in the desert? I’ve heard dugout and adobe buildings are an option, is this true? I just...

Hello, it’s been very hot lately and I’d like to share a few of my favorite ways to keep my chickens cool during this hot weather. My first suggestion would be full their water with ice cubes. Cold Watermelon is also a good one. Cold watermelon can boost their energy and keep them cooler. Frozen...

Hello! I live in Nevada and have 2 silkie hens. I have done as much as Ican think of to keep my babies cool. We have a cover over their coop and run, 2 waterers, everything is ventilated, we put ice cubes in their water, we give them cold fruit as treats, and today I brought out a kiddie pool to...

I live in South Mississippi and it’s already pretty hot down here. I really want to get a fan for the inside of the coop but we can’t run an extension cord way out to our coop. Are there any good solar fans out there? Or do you have any suggestions on keeping the coop cooler? It is very well...

With temps heating up fast here in SWVA, I'm wondering if anyone has any pointers in telling when chickens have passed the line between "normal" response to heat and heat stress to the degree that they need emergency intervention. We've only gotten into the low to mid 80s, humid, and so far...

Question on where to place a brooder in the summer. I’ve always had chicks/ducklings in the spring and didn’t have this problem. It’s starting to heat up where I live and wasn’t sure if it’s safe to put the brooder outside with a top cover of course. Or is it safe to put them in our garage? It...