One of my friends unfortunately has to re-home a rooster. Not because of aggression, unfortunate other reasons. However I'm wondering if there will be some changes for the hens and also the rooster. For example I know he has formed close bonds to his flock, will he become sad if moved to another one? And is there anything we can do to help the hens feel safer? I feel so bad for all of them. He really is such a good boy. :(

I saw a short video online then lost it otherwise I’d link it, it was a guy showing that he had cold smoked eggs. It gave a good flavour and also preserved for another 6 months. Is this just instagram bs or is this a thing??

This goofball has come by the last 3 nights. Luckily I've been able to run out and chase the bear away....until last night when it got away with one my golden comets. I've since moved the wooden coop completely inside the metal cage.

Bear came back today and is looking for more. Going to be a long night.

Hi! I have a broody hen currently sitting on a clutch of eggs in our nesting box. Another hen sits right outside her box for hours just laying there.

Is this protection, loneliness, etc? TIA!

We have 3 hens that are 8 months old. We are in an HOA that technically restricts having them. Our house is on the back edge of the development bumped against the forrest on one side, and we have a large back yard because our lot was originally going to be a small park. Anyhow, currently we have a small cage/coop and a decent sized fenced run for them. Since getting them, we've let the free range the yard for a few hours a day and sometimes all day.

I'm building them a new house and upgrading their run to a 19x10 fenced and covered cage. While I've been doing the work, I've kept them in a small temporary fenced area, and haven't been letting them free. Also, the plan going forward is to keep them in their new run most of the time since it's pretty large. Well, they don't seem to like it. I assume it's because the got used to the free time. So...Is there a way to train them to be quieter?

One of them is surprisingly louder than the other two. She's not the smartest one of the three, and when she loses track of her sisters in the yard somewhere (seems to happen a few times a day), she goes into this incredibly loud panic clucking. I don't know how to stop it or if there is anything I can do with her. It sounds like she's freaking out or panicing(I'm still learning about hens).

Looking to keep a bully bird for a few days in a separate cage - is L:24” x H:18” x W:17” big enough?

I'm planning on turning this old playground into a chicken coop- it's the perfect spot in the corner of our yard and has plenty of room to buid an exterior fenced in roaming area. Thing is, I've never owned chickens and have only helped others with their flocks a few times and again. Is there any avice you'd give a newbie- both for building the coop and raising the chickens- that you wished you had heard before starting your own?

And I'm planning on maybe using some for meat. Any advice there? Maybe on taking chickens to be slaughtered because I've certainly never done that myself.

https://preview.redd.it/7w7391qvjw0e1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c6e7a625f57b4c58a82a343cc796aba13f59dd7

Honestly shocked that I’ve gotten this many! She lays like every other day, sometimes two in a row. Their eggs are so cute together :,) Brown eggs are from my RIR, she is a prolific layer 💪🏻

Happened last night in an open area in my backyard. Had a chicken die similarly 4 or 5 months back. I'm fairly upset now that I'll have to stay up late with my vermin rifle

I have a hen getting old. No sign of disease. She quit laying about three years ago. Prior to that, she had about three years of intermittent egg laying. Prior to that, she had about three years of daily egg laying. I just couldn’t cull her. Sometimes I get attached to hens. Roosters, not so much. She’s given me lots of eggs. Too many to count. She’s eating, but just getting so much slower 😢😭

Hi everyone,

I have always had two hens. Recently one died and we had to get a new companion... the thing is this new hen is super aggressive. I am always reading that existing chickens will attack new flock members. Why am I experiencing the opposite? The new hen is 8 months old, the old one is 2 years old. The old hen would not attack back, she gets beaten and that's it... this has been going on for 2 days. Unsure what to do, any suggestion? Thank you so much

I have about an 8 month old BCM who has been off since yesterday. I noticed that she was standing still and from far away, it looked like her eye was shut. After further inspection, her eye was closed and seemed like it was either injured or had an infection. I brought her in the garage as a precaution.

Yesterday, she still had an appetite, although not her usual one and my husband and I flushed her eye out with with diluted apple cider vinegar water and put some manual honey around it (for antibacterial purposes).

Today, she seems worse. She’s not eating (although she looks at and kind of pecks at the food) and she just standing there fluffed up and eyes closed. Her eye looks worse this morning. Flushed it with ACV water again and put an antibiotic eye drop in that we had from another chicken. I ordered some terramycin and can apply that when it’s delivered today.

She also pooped maybe once or twice overnight but I figured it’s because her appetite was decreased yesterday.

Is this typical behavior of an eye infection or is something else going on? Any recommendations?

It's been about 6 weeks since we got any eggs. I have 4 buff orphingtons about 1.5 years old. I know they were molting but that seems to be over know. Is it normal to not get eggs for this long. They have also been eating less than normal.