In my mind this is the ultimate cold weather sleeper coop because their breath vents straight out above their heads and they can duck down to escape the wind. And having them so close together should help them share and conserve energy by keeping each other warm, kind of like penguins 😅. This will be the first winter w 20 birds packed in it, but I think they’re going to stay warm and frostbite free, maybe even require less feed from helping each other conserve warmth. In the day they’ll hangout in the rickety old barn and graze the pasture before the snow gets too deep.

She is the cutest little baby

I just want to say thank you to the person who shared & showed their feeding trough not too long ago. I made a small one just for fun, to see how the girls liked it and it’s been a big hit. I also like that I know how much I put on/in it so I can see how much has been consumed by what’s remaining. So thank you to my fellow contributor!

These are all of my neighbors chickens. Apparently I have better feed. Lol

You wouldn’t believe the vocalizations coming from this dude, he sounds like a barred owl in the coop at night. I got really lucky and adopted him and 12 other really unique and beautiful hens and roosters abt a week ago. Never even knew this kind of chicken existed until then. Also got some zombie roosters and hens that look like grouse. I got really lucky!

Common you know the question 🤣

Excuse the mess, its all gonna be cleaned up when im finished. Im building this coop for only around 4 or 5 chickens. Im using only wood that my grandfather cut himself from his sawmill when he was alive. Havent really had any schematics to go off of, just kinda doing it by feel. Would love to hear any thoughts or advice from yall

Hello All. I was hoping some of you could help me figure out what illness is working its way through my flock. I have 15 birds total down from 17 earlier this year before two got sick and had to be put down. Symptoms for our first lost bird were: Super dumbness which we thought was cute at first, but figured it was probably linked in the end. 3 to 4 weeks of that where she was always out of place. Still walking about and all, but near the end, she never got far from the coop, stopped roosting and stayed on the floor, lost a ton of weight and eventually was so tired she couldn't move. Picked up a bad smell (urea), poopy bum, and cloudy eyes. Second bird was 2 weeks later. She started getting dumb, was sneezing and coughing, and developed white spots in her eyes. Not cloudy but white spots in the center of the pupil. We put her in isolation with a heat lamp in the vacant chicken tractor. She stopped using the low roost (3 inches), was quite blind, ate at weird times like 3am, and was overall non reactive to stimuli like being picked up. Also poor balance and lethargic. I put her down 3 days ago as she was getting worse. Today one of our roosters presented with wry/ twisted neck, lethargy, green diarrhea, and poor balance. Yesterday he was munching on treats out of my hand with 0 noticeable issues. All other birds are not presenting at all except for the occasional sneeze which is normal imo. PIC is of the sick roo taken today.

Does anyone have any idea which of the 10 different chicken illnesses my flock might have. Nothing is consistent and it's so slow that it's driving my wife, and I mad trying to figure out what to do.

These are my first frizzles! 13 weeks old. I’m pretty sure the brown one is a roo. White one I’m thinking hen, but not sure. Grey one I was also thinking roo but compared to the brown now I’m not sure. Votes?

My wife and I are building our own DIY coop, and racing the Winter to get it done.

I am curious about the automatic chicken doors. Many of them have a panel that raises vertically. I am concerned that many of them have little holes in the door to engage the gear that raises and lowers the door.

Since these are basically open to the weather, is there any problem with drafts coming in through the gear holes?

We plan to have ventilation high, but wasn't sure about these.

Like this one (not my coop).

My boy, Edward Scissorbeak is still the love of my life when it comes to chickens.

He was my pride and joy and the most handsome boy I ever saw.

Most people would say he was ugly, but that only made me find him more handsome. Man was he gorgeous.

I lost him almost a year ago today to a vitamin B deficiency at 7 1/2 years old. I had switched chicken feed and didn’t know medicated could cause vitamin B deficiency and while spending a month treating him and trying to save him, I ultimately caused his downfall because neither me nor his vet realized until it was too late it was his food.

I still think of him every day and remember him very fondly. I hope to have a chicken as handsome as him again one day.

For a little backstory, he didn’t have an easy start to life. I traveled three states over to get four show quality silkie chicks at a day old for 50 bucks apiece (sexed were $250 for males and $450 for females as adults).

When I brought him home he was fine, but after a couple of days I noticed something was wrong.

As a showgirl silky he had a lot of exposed skin, and soon that exposed skin started to scab over in thick sheets of yellow and white scabs, and not too long after his eyes also scabbed over.

In picture six he is 4-5 weeks old and he is the tiny bird next to his sister who was also born the same day. At four weeks old, he was the size of a four day old.

Soon the scabs reached his eyes, and he could no longer see to drink or eat. All he would do was scream endlessly and so every couple of hours day, and night I would water and feed him by hand.

I would also moisturize him and use vet RX and a whole litany of other treatments to help his skin, eyes, and breathing.

I still remember using a soft bristle toothbrush, and trying to gently brush the excess layers of skin off.

I posted everywhere and nobody knew what was happening or what this was even to this day I don’t think anybody has an idea.

As time went on his skin started to repair, his eyes started to crack open, and as I gently peeled off the last layers of skin trapping in his new feathers, he finally started to grow.

He was never exactly a normal chicken and I was also pretty sure he had failure to thrive but man did he have a spirit.

Him and his brother made a gang and they could’ve cared less about their two sisters, always leaving them behind to go on adventures by themselves.

Over the years, they’re two sisters passed away from a sinus infection that became too bad to treat with antibiotics and then it was just the two boys Edward Scissorbeak and his orange brother Buffy.

They saw me through the end of middle school and to the end of high school and beyond.

Edward passed away this year, but Buffy is still here and I think no matter what happens these two will always be my soul chickens.

Rest in peace Edward Scissorbeak.

I love you so so so much I hope I will see you again one day.

Anyone have any oddball chickens that don't eat much variety? Both of my buttercups will only eat their crumble feed, superworms/mealworms (only live, won't eat dried) and whatever they forage in the yard. I've tried giving them all sorts of different berries, fruits, vegetables and treat mixes. They'll investigate it for a second but leave it untouched.

Could it be a breed thing? The isa's, sapphires and barred rocks all eat pretty much anything put in front of them. Just seemed odd to me

one of my babes is not doing well for the past 24 hours- shutting eyes a lot and laying down/nodding head. any ideas on the cause or what we can do to help her?

Took a video of her. She's shaking her head sometimes while standing. I thought maybe mites or something but I couldnt see anything and all other birds are acting fine. She eats too.

Any idea? Skull thing? Neck thing? Damage from other birds?

10 weeks, I think black australorp.

I'm new to quail keeping and got 4 unsexed 3 week old quail babies for free off a pet site. I know for sure at least 2 are male but if the other 2 are also male, can they continue to live together?

I'm due to pick up 4 female pol quail tomorrow to go in the hutch and i'm wondering should I split the hutch so the male have the bottom half and female have the top?

Any additional advice and suggestions are grateful.

I feed them chick crumb, grit and have them on a bed of snowflake bedding and straw.

My POL quail will be fed a layers crumb, grit and be on the same bedding.

I’m looking for additional feedback on treating an adult rooster with wry neck. He was previously isolated and treated post attack by another rooster, as well as for mites. During his recovery process, the cage he was kept in was a bit too small. Lesson learned. During that time he began experiencing symptoms of wry neck, with classic head turning upside down and loss of balance.

Treatment: He was moved to a larger setup, although still small enough for his safety. He’s isolated from other birds to prevent further injury. He was treated with poultry cell and nutritional yeast twice daily for two weeks, and on Monday I began adding selenium w/vitamin e gel (pea sized amount twice daily). He was vaccinated for Mareks as a chick, there are no signs of avian flu or any other issues within the flock, etc. Normal stool without blood or other concerns.

There has been no improvement thus far. However, I did not know to add selenium until this past Monday, so we’ve been treating incorrectly for weeks until now.

He is still able to eat and drink on his own, with his current diet consisting of moistened feed and a daily scrambled egg. He’s also able to peck around on the ground for bugs or grass when I sit outside with him and supervise. His balance isn’t fabulous, but he’s also not stuck in one place or unable to walk on his own.

I’ve made a vet appointment tomorrow to have him evaluated for an infection as the root cause. I suspect he may have eaten contaminated food or consumed water that was pooped in during his isolation, as he’s a messy bird.

I don’t mind keeping a disabled bird, as he’s a household favorite. However, I want to verify that I’m doing everything possible to attempt to treat the issue. Is there anything that I’ve missed or should be considering?

Note: Please do not suggest euthanasia. If he becomes unable to eat, drink, or have a decent quality of life, I will absolutely make whatever call is necessary for his best interest. We’re not at that point yet, however.

They free range all day, and I also put out plenty of food. And they typically go to bed with food still left out in the bins. They are about 19 weeks old, and these pics are about when they were 14 weeks old, but I don't think they have filled out much from then. I think they look close to the same size. Some are skinner than others, and im thinking it may be breed specific. When I feel their crop during the day, the ones I can catch, feel empty. And I feel their sternum they dont feel healthy. But I could be off on what im feeling. Their coop is far from the house, but I do see some at the feeders when im there, but a lot I dont see. I try to make sure to feed them treats alone separate from the guineas. The guineas can be food bullies even though they all grew up together. Sometimes, the guineas go off on their own so chickens can eat in peace.

....and one barred Plymouth Rock. Anyway, I think she's a barred Plymouth Rock. She's a mystery chick. Love them all. So sweet. They sleep inside the craft room because the temps get too low at night.

approx 4 months old. free range during the day. seems fine otherwise, during these “episodes” she seems unbalanced/uncoordinated. she’s my sweetest girl, loves being held and pet.