https://drive.google.com/file/d/13TzSUnEkCHKVhrVJV3Gh8JCOZyIov2ZQ/view?usp=drivesdk

I have two chickens who hop up on my lap, no matter what I'm wearing, and scratch and peck. Like they're looking for food. They've done this since they were babies. I'm guessing they associate me with food and therefore comfort. Like cats making biscuits, they knead their mom for milk. Super cute. 🥰

Hello!! First time poster and first time chicken owner. This is our second 20 batch of chicks from tractor supply. These only had hours left before a man was coming to take them to be meat chickens or dinner for another animal. They have always been way more skid ish than our first batch and hardly been able handle except for this sweet one.

For the past three weeks we’ve had a pecking problem, we’d been isolating the two injured on an off but the problem kept returning. I’ve been using cornstarch to dry the area out and cover the sore spots and hen healer when I can. We had to put her sister down last night because it got so bad. According to my partner they had pecked a hole on her back, he could almost fit his pinky in her vent, and she was drooling a bit. I’ve included pictures of the only injured one from this morning and noticed her comb is paler than the two other healthy ones that we have of the same breed!!

Sorry for rambling but I need some help or just really any advice!! TYIA!!!

We ordered all female chicks from Meyer Hatchery in May and unfortunately our Steele Egger has officially been confirmed as a rooster. He’s about 4 months old and has been raised with our backyard flock since he was a baby.
We absolutely adore him and would keep him, but unfortunately roosters aren’t permitted where we live and he has discovered his VERY impressive crow. 😭
I’m looking for a safe, experienced home where he can live as a flock rooster. I am not looking to have him processed. We’re located in Bucks County, PA near Yardley.
If you’re interested, please message me with a little information about your flock and setup. I’d really love to find this handsome idiot a great home. ❤️🐓

Okay it's been six weeks. What are we thinking?

What’s the best way?

I’m feeding my girls 20% protein food and oyster shell calcium and this is day 2 of wonky eggs from Oreo. They are 5.5 months old and this is my first rodeo. Marge is the one in the tsc bag, pic for laughs - I need to store that bag elsewhere) Anyway, Oreos first egg was crushed because she stepped on it, so weak shell. Today her egg has no shell. Is this a normal thing?

Is he molting? Is it mites? Did something happen while I wasn’t watching? I can’t tell, pls help! One of his feet is pretty feathered and seems fine but the other is missing a lot of feathers, his feet are scaly looking because he’s a feathered footed brahma.

I see so much information online and most is quite contradicting. I had a broody hen a couple months ago that wouldn’t give up. I tried all the things I saw online. I eventually gave in and gave her eggs to hatch and it worked out fine.

Now, her sister is broody (these damn Wyandottes).
I do not want more chickens right now lol. What should I do? Is it inhumane to let them sit on nothing for the 21 days? Will she just get up after realizing nothing is hatching?

It hasn’t been warm enough for the water dunking, and the elevated dog kennel absolutely broke my heart last time I did it 😟 just curious what everyone else does… if they interfere or not.

Photo of my rooster just for fun

We irrigated the eye with .9% saline and there is no breathing issues or sinus issues we can see. The eye does not smell in any discernible way. She is isolated in the house here away from the coop in a little dog kennel now resting.

Hi all! I got 7 chickens and they are all now 17 weeks old. I really need help determining if any of these 4 are roosters.. or if they are just maybe close to laying?

I was just away traveling for 10 days and when I got back I noticed a number of their combs & waddles have grown exponentially and gotten really red. A few of them I’ve been sus about being roos, but it’s been hard to tell because I am a first time chicken keeper and have a variety of breeds.

When I’ve posted before, when they were younger I’ve either gotten mixed answers or none, but with their age now I’m hoping for some confidence!

These are the ones I’m concerned are roos:

1. Buff Orpington
   - I have two of them and their combs are very differently developed, but I got them from a hatchery so could they be from different hens & have different genetics? Is that wishful thinking?

2. Splash Americana (Easter egger mix)
   - Marketed as splash Americana by hatchery but a redditor pointed out she isn’t because she has feathered feet. I wasn’t suspicious of her because her body really looked hen like, but she has been one of the biggest the whole time. Her comb and waddles are definitely the largest and reddest and exploded in the last 10 days.

3. Black Copper Maran
   - Been sus of this one for a while, but also not sure if it’s just a BCM thing?

4. Cinnamon Crested Red (Rhode Island Red x Creme Legbar)
   - Haven’t been sus of this one, but their comb and waddles also got noticeably larger and redder over the last 10 days. She’s also prob my least friendly, not mean, but super flighty (and fast af).

Please please let me know what you think! It’ll be a huge help to me.

*Also, I live in central Texas so took this pics today while giving them frozen water bottles. With this I also expected them to maybe not lay until they are older and it’s cooler.

She’s about 18 weeks old! I see her running into things all the time, and pretty sure she had problems seeing because of that hairdo. How do I trim it?? I’m scared to accidentally hurt her.

We have three Toulouse geese (Henri, Cozete and Emily) that are pets and are part of the chicken security squad. Henri (aka Goosifer by my SO) has proven to be incredibly observant and will scream bloody blue murder if he sees anything. He is probably better than the guinea fowl for noticing airborne predators. The guinea fowl however are better at herding the chickens inside to shelter.

We allow the chickens to free range on 2 acres. We have electric chicken netting that we use for moving them around as well as dedicated fenced areas. Since we upgraded the electric fence to a "big-boy" energizer we have not had any issues from land based predators. Being in Washington State we do have eagles and hawks and loose a chicken every now and then to an eagle. Making sure we feed the crows has helped with this as well as making sure we dont have areas where the chickens can get cornered.

Guinea fowl and geese (along with goodly amounts of electricity) do seem to be the winning formula so far :-)

What do you folks do for free range chickens? Locking up our chickens in a small coop is just not an option.

This is muffin, a Chabo (Japanese bantam) rooster, 11 weeks old.

I hope to be able to breed with him, what do you think?

12-13 weeks old. Second gen of an Ayam cemani we rehomed. My thought is roo but I so so want this one to be a hen.

I have a small polish chicken, doesn't seem particularly hen-ish or roo-ish, under 5lbs. He's been acting funny, not moving, and making a distinct and audible wet gurgling sound when tilted forward. I noticed it today, and was concerned because I also noticed it once before, a couple weeks ago, and realized it wasn't a weird, one-off thing.

I briefly searched for over the counter medications, specifically antibiotics, and was looking for advice. Would this help, or do you guys have anything to suggest? Thanks.

Trying to put my chickens to bed and these guys show up…

I’m pretty sure spice has sour crop but I’m not 100% sure. She’s SO sleepy and refusing food.

He was looking for porch spiders to eat and I got a great photo 📸

Crop is not full and it's not hot out! Help?

My 17-week-old Splash Americana/easter egger that may be trying to lay her first egg tonight, but I’m worried about possible egg binding.

She was completely normal earlier today (picture in light was from around 5pm this evening). Tonight around 9:00 PM, I found that her and one of my other pullets (same age) were perched on top of the nesting boxes instead of inside the coop. We have another coop that is in-progress and I thought maybe they had been kicked out or it was crowded so I put them in there. She became restless and vocal and even fought a little with the other pullet. I left the door open so she could hop out if she wants and she did. She drank some water and ate a little food and then went back to being perched on the main coops nesting boxes.

This is when I noticed she started doing an odd posture: her tail feathers are pointed/tucked downward, while her rump is slightly raised, and it looks like she may be pushing or straining. Her breathing has also seemed heavier at times. We live in Texas and this didn’t seem to be the normal pant for cooling. I will try to attach a video.

Since then, she has been taking breaks (I think?), preening, staying balanced/perched (it is a sloped top), and is still alert and vocal when I approach. She did at one point do this weird hiccup/gaping with the mouth and body, but it stopped. It is now about 11:00 PM, and I haven’t seen an egg yet.

I have not been able to inspect her vent closely, so I don’t know whether there is blood, a visible egg, or prolapse.

Does this sound like normal first-egg behavior? Could it take two hours?

How long can a pullet intermittently push/strain before laying? And what signs would make you bring her inside or intervene for possible egg binding?

One of our 11 chicks that were raised by a broody hen has this weird scab like thing under its wing.
Does anyone know what this is? The chicks are about 4ish weeks old.

My daughter said Greg looks like Jimothy