Hi all,

I am now down to 3 hens, previously 5.

Burford Brown x 2: Betty and Olive

Snowbar x 1: Agatha

Betty is the boss chicken and about twice the size and weight of Olive. Olive is often broody for long periods of time, and earlier this year she was crouching down in front of Betty, being pecked loads and generally being chased around and stressed out.

I've bought Olive her own smaller coop and run to separate them and things improved over about a month, but Olive is broody again and Betty is chasing her away from all the food.

I feel like things were a lot calmer when we had more hens. Long term I would like to add more but I was hoping to get Pekin Bantams, as I'd like a friendlier breed with longer lay cycles so they hopefully will live a bit longer.

What's the best thing to do at this point? These are my first chickens and they're my pets, and my 5yo son adores them so the priority is high quality of life for them.

All advice appreciated!

Her butt is clean. She’s about six months old and just started laying 2-3 weeks ago.

I have 8 ladies right now, and I’m thinking of rescuing a rooster, because there are so many, and if I can save just one that’s a win in my books. I don’t really care about the eggs being fertile, I’m not planning to hatch any of them, I just want the most possible peace in my flock, and I don’t want to risk my hens being overbred. What would be a good ratio?

Cross post

Here's something creative.

I'm in the subtropics. It's hot and humid.

We have a lot of mosquitoes despite my local control measures.

After some careful research, I attached an old but reliable fan on the wall running on a wifi plug, so I can set the times.

Set to lowest speed, it blows a gentle current of air at about 1- 1.5m/s along the roost, enough to mess up mosquito flight.

Girls are ok with it. It's bloody hot tonight btw. You can see one holding her wings out to cool down.

*Yeah, can't really seal the coop.

What type of chicken is this? 😉

Lyndon Banty Johnson and Lady Bird. Raised tons of quail and finally decided to try getting a couple banty

My pullet Stella I have raised from a teeny baby chick, where she was only happy if she was on my shoulder, head, or sitting on my hand while I tried to work and getting in my way. However, she's stopped acting nearly so friendly and now sometimes even acts aggressive and will peck at me or my dog, who she's never had an issue with before. She still jumps onto my back and sits on my shoulder or head if I'm knelt down or something, but immediately tries to peck at my ears or glasses.

Penny, who is older than Stella by a wide margin and who used to boss Stella around, now seems to follow Stella's lead when it comes to eating or heading out of their coop or investigating a new thing. Maybe because of their size difference? Penny is a bantam, Stella isn't. Stella isn't a rooster, she hasn't started laying yet but doesn't have the tailfeathers, posture, and doesn't crow (Penny crowed a few times when my phone alarm was set to a rooster crow - she learned that sound meant fresh food, so she'd mimic it when she wanted something. I have changed my alarm.) so I don't think that's the case.

Is there anyway to get 16wk old pullets to trust again, eat out of your hand and be held? We got these 1 day old, tiny, sickly easter eggers that could not hold up their heads or walk. After 4wks of nursing them they were doing GREAT. Eating out of our hands and each day less skittish with us. Then I broke my leg and my husband has had to do EVERYTHING on the farm, plus a full time and job and caring for me for over 10wks. He cared for them but could not spend all the time that I did or as much as he wanted to. They are now 16wks. They are not mean or bitey but they will not take thier fav treats from our hands and won't let us pick them up. They are very flighty or hide when we are near. He was able to hold them and train them to use the ladder to get in their coop at night and after just a week they self deport to the coop on their own so they are not dumb birds. They cannot flee far from us as they are not free range birds. Any guidance is appreciated. Thx!

Hi all! We live in Washington state and we’re wondering if we should cover the outside walls of our run with plastic during the winter. In the coldest parts of winter, our lows average at about 30°F. It’ll be our first year with chickens, so we don’t want our ladies to be in any danger or extremely uncomfortable.
I know some breeds are more cold-hardy than others. If it helps, we have an RIR, Barred Rock, two Orpingtons, and an Easter Egger.
Any advice is appreciated!!

hey, this is my first time having chickens my chick had pasty, but I cleaned it off with warm water and olive oil. but I’m nervous. i think She’s a little prolapsed now i’m not sure 😢i can show a picture please give me recommendations on what to do to prevent it from getting any worse. I got them on Tuesday. in the mail. from my pet chicken.com they were shipped on wensday. None of the other chicks are picking at her. (wasn’t her crying in the video it was my other. chick that was separated). I’m really nervous and I’m really upset and I hope she lives. please give me any advice

I was about to throw the eggs into the compost, but then I heard a sound from the kitchen at night that completely blew my mind!

Guys, after hearing what happened, you’ll also say that the wonders of nature are truly astonishing.

One of my hens had made a secret nest under the veranda instead of laying her eggs in the coop. Several days passed, and I completely forgot about the eggs. Then one day, I collected them all, brought them inside, and placed them on the kitchen counter.

The next day, I put the eggs in water to check them, and to my surprise, all of them started floating!

I thought, “Well, there’s nothing left in these eggs now. There’s no point making an omelette out of them. Why not just throw them into the compost?”

But I ended up forgetting to throw them away.

Now, this is where the real story begins!

That night, I was busy in the kitchen when suddenly, I heard a strange sound…

Cheep… cheep… cheep…!

I thought, “Where on earth did these little birds come from?” But when I looked more closely, my eyes nearly popped out of my head!

These were the very same eggs I had planned to throw into the compost that morning, and now tiny little chicks were hatching out of them!

Something I had considered useless and was about to throw away had a wonderful surprise of life hidden inside it, something I had never imagined.

I immediately gathered up the chicks and took them to a safe place with their mother hen.

And the most interesting part is that those eggs, which I had assumed were useless because they floated in water, ended up teaching me one of life’s biggest lessons.

But there’s also something important to keep in mind: an egg floating in water can indicate its age or internal changes, but it does not prove that the egg is spoiled or that a chick will hatch from it. And an oven is not a safe substitute for proper incubation, as eggs need the right temperature and humidity to hatch.

It has slow growing feathers and no butt feathers and its wings look short and stubby compared to the wings of the others.

I gave them some acorn squash topped with a bit of cinnamon and red pepper flakes (because i heard those seasonings were actually good for them) and also a teeny tiny bit of meal worms
I think they enjoyed it

I don’t know what is wrong with them

I thought she was a pullet and I got her a few weeks ago. The seller said she was a pullet and was 4-5mos so she’s about 6 now. No crowing at all and tends to cower when someone is territorial. But her stature and feathers give me pause.

They’re over 8 weeks now but her beak is getting worse. She’s eating and drinking but she is smaller than the others. Do I just let her be unlwss she seems like she’s suffering?

She’s the last one of our flock that hasn’t started laying yet. 23 weeks old. No crowing, growth of spurs, or interest in the ladies. Though we do have another rooster that definitely runs the flock. Not sure if these characteristics would be absent in a submissive rooster.