We have an automatic coop door. I noticed the girls out in their run at 9pm the other night. Sure enough the door was open. I closed it manually. Thinking it was the door, I changed batteries, did all the tests, and the door seemed to work fine. That next night I went out when it was set to close and literally watched as this diva sit in the door frame and let it attempt to crush her 5 times!!! Honestly im not sure how long this has been going on, this was just the first time I noticed it open.

I guess this is a commercial that the crush sensor does work. Anyways I pushed her inside and closed it manually again. The following night she did the SAME thing!! It’s the same hen. I can’t help but think she does it on purpose for some reason. Last night was 15 degrees so I wanted the door closed so they’d stay warm. Tonight is also going to be 14 degrees. I’m going to go out and check on them again- I set it to close a little later (830pm vs 8pm)- but what should I do? The point of the auto door is so I don’t have to trek out there and in case we’re not home that it closes.

On one hand I thought if they want it open for some reason and they aren’t getting frost bite then fine. But then I don’t want a predator getting into the run and killing them all if the door was open. So I definitely want it closed. Any thoughts on how to get them to stop this?!

My young Black Copper Maran hen laid her first eggs in time for the holidays! I see eggnog in my future ❣️

Poop from one of my mystic Maran hens. She’s a little less than a year old. I had two silkie hens die 2.5 weeks ago; were unsure of the cause but it seemed neurological. So we’ve been trying to keep a close eye on the other two hens (both mystic Marans)

Woke with a really bad feeling I couldn't shake today. Went out to check on the girls & didn't hear them. Didn't take long for me to see why. Something had ripped them both to shreds. Whatever it was pulled them thru the bars on their coop somehow. I'm not sure what happened, or what could've done that, as the pen is large enough for them to have gotten away. I'm thinking whatever it was may have been small enough to squeeze thru the bars, & when it couldn't get them thru, tore chunks off. I have a couple pics, but I don't think I should post them, as they're very brutal. I just wanna know if maybe there was something I could've done differently. Were the bar spaces possibly too big? I think the spaces were about 1.5" I'm a 1st time chicken owner, & was actually going to get them something better with smaller bar spaces last week, but I was waiting on a refund to go thru, & it got delayed by the bank 😔

Hi there we live in Joymany and I would love to raise chickens again. Defo at least 2 RIRs for eggs but I'm wondering which normal heritage breed would be good for meat? Look forward to any advice 🤗

I got hemp for my coop based on Reddit recommendations. However the woman I bought chickens from said it would get gross if it gets wet. Has anyone tried both sand and hemp? Which is better? Here’s a picture of our current set up.

Just an appreciation post for my good boy, Canelo. Always protecting his ladies and alerting if danger is close by!

We have a sick temporarily house hen. She's always been a bit of a runt. We got her from a friend where she was almost pecked to death by his other chickens.

We took her back into the house a while ago, because she wasn't well. Our avian vet found candida and salmonella, which she's been treated for. She looks A LOT better and she eats more BUT... I work abroad one week per month and even though my wife cares for her like I do, she just doesn't want to eat that much and as a result she's not gaining back enough weight. But when I get back she eats like crazy and gains back weight every day!

I can't believe it's really my presence... Have you noticed something like that?

Just wanting to vent and I guess ask for some advice here. We had a pretty tough day today with our flock.

I came into the coop to see blood everywhere and a ton around our nesting boxes. Our poor lady at the bottom of the pecking order had a pretty messed up comb by I assume one of our Wyandottes. Luckily when I got back out there it stopped bleeding and just looked bruised up.

I also noticed our Wyandotte’s back was bare and her toe was broken!! I think as a result of overmating with our rooster. He only mates with our 2 Wyandottes exclusively.

We made the final decision to cull him today and I’m emotionally beat up about it. He was also aggressive towards me every time I was in the coop and the overmating was our last straw.

I know culling him is going to change the pecking order dynamic and I’m afraid for my little creambar that was hurt today. I guess it was a tough day overall and I’m hoping for encouragement that I made the right decision.

What in your experience is the friendliest blue egg laying breed? So far, I would have to say my shetlands are the most friendly. I want chickens that are going to run up to me and talk to me and ask for treats not scream and hide as soon as they see me *Edit: not interested in EEs or other mixed breeds. I don't want to gamble on getting blue eggs

So my half leghorn hen is 8 months old and she got what i believe was mycoplasma pneumonia. She was aspirating her water and food, sleepy, she was pump handle breathing, sneezing like crazy, runny nose, puffy eyes all the symptoms. We ordered her a Tylosin and doxycycline powder it came and we put it in her water thankfully she drank it a few times that day without aspirating. That night her comb turned purple and im like dam she isnt making the night. To our suprise in the morning we heard her bock for the first time in weeks ! her comb was pink again she stopped aspirating i mean it was a miracle. Were about 9 days now into treatment but shes still sneezing and at times like when she wants to sleep at night she opens her beak to breath. Anyone ever have a chicken with this they effectively rehabbed back to health im looking for a timeline. I think 14 days is what i need to do for the antibiotics however ill need to stop them at that point unless it might be time to see a chicken vet after that? shes just a sneezy girl while its kinda amusing the little sound i know shes not happy about it.

I must not have payed close enough attention so it’s likely my fault. She was found dead in the nesting box. :(

The loss of feathers wasn’t noticeable a couple of days ago when I was with them and they were all out in their run so I believe I would’ve noticed then, but it looks like a lot of the loss of feathers was on the bottom and all of their behavior was fine…

I’m just trying to figure out exactly what happened and how it happened so fast?? I feel really at fault here, like I didn’t notice something I should have.

EDIT: Forgot to add that I live in southern MN where it’s been very cold this week. We don’t have a heat source in our coop because our research has shown that it isn’t super necessary with a well built and insulated coop and they were fine last winter when we had cold temps.

Help...

So months back I had some free range chickens go missing, we have woods behind us and the dogs do really good and keeping anything from coming up here.

These chickens go anywhere they want tho and that means something can get them if they get too far.

Well today I was driving down our dirt road and about half way down from our house and the highway what do I see. 2 chickens just hanging out in the leaves, they go into the woods when I stop. It's the land right next to ours so at night time I get a free chance to go look for them.

We spent a good hour and a half searching trees on both sides of the road and only found where they have been digging in the leaves.

They haven't been around people in MONTHS so I can just walk up to them in the daylight.

What is my best way to catch them bc it's going to be really cold soon and I don't want them freezing to death or getting eaten by something in the winter. (I lock all my chickens up in the winter)

I dream of having chickens but I know it’s many years off for me. However, I want to live vicariously through chicken owners on the internet so that I can enjoy the ups, downs, swings and roundabouts of chicken life. Which are the best chicken instagram accounts to follow, and any other accounts on other platforms (podcasts etc) that I might like? I don’t need to learn loads of chicken care stuff (although I don’t mind if it comes up) but I do just want to have the joy of watching chickens live their lives.

Hello, newbie here, I've been thing about doing back yard chickens even keeping some as pets but I have one question. How big to easter Eggers get, cause I was recommended them by my boss at my job who owes a farm and even thrown silkies as a throwaway and I've been doing research for a couple weeks and been getting more interested in these two breeds but I need to know are easter Eggers bantams or not?

My family currently owns a 6 month old Newfoundland puppy I want to know what is people option on using them as a livestock guardian to protect our chickens and future turkeys. We have been having issues with hawks and they have killed two chickens in the past two weeks. I just want to know your options on using a Newfoundland dog as a livestock guardian as I know it’s not a traditional breed to use.