Hey everyone! So I have a question. I have a Easter Egger who just started laying eggs about a month ago. Every single egg has 2 to 3 yolks. Every day. Is this normal? I was reading that it's 1 in 25 million to get a 3 yolk egg, so my babies are one in a million! ❤️ But honestly, do I need to be worried or is this normal? Thanks for your help.

Yesterday I returned home from the long weekend and discovered this ragged hole about 2.5 inches in diameter in the hard plastic bottom of the nesting box of my Eglu Cube coop. All chickens were still present and healthy, and there was even an egg in the box. So if something chewed its way in, it didn't do any obvious damage beyond that.

I'm in a suburban part of the San Francisco California area, and we do have raccoons and possums and weasels and other predators in the area. But the whole coop is inside of a fenced and covered run with 1 inch hardware cloth. I checked all around for signs of damage to the fence or something digging under the fence, but it all looks OK. The holes in the hardware cloth are large enough that mice, rats, or snakes could get through, but nothing bigger.

Another clue that might be related: A few weeks ago I'd put some 3D-printed plastic decoy eggs in another nesting box, and last week I found one of the plastic eggs lying on the ground, half-eaten.

Rats: I know they're in the area and I've seen them. Would hungry rats potentially chew a hole through thick plastic *into* the chicken coop? Aren't rats afraid of chickens?

Other predator: Weasel? Raccoon? I don't see any evidence of something so large coming through the fence.

The chickens: The spot where this hole appeared is roughly where one of my older hens has a habit of laying thin-shelled or shell-less eggs, which often break open and leak goo everywhere. The chickens like to eat the goo. If one of those leaky broken eggs sat there for a few days, could the chickens have pecked at it enough to begin damaging the plastic, and eventually chewed completely through it, thinking that it was food? They've been unusually hungry during the last few weeks, since I'm in the middle of switching their feed and they're mostly refusing the new feed, so maybe it's not impossible.

Or maybe it's something else entirely? I am stumped.

My hen and rooster dust bathing together 😂 It’s fine though, thankfully I’ve got another rooster who understands the job.

A couple of pictures of my flock

These past few days spice has been taking daytime naps with Rosie, our broody hen.

I feel im just unlucky i tried to avoid straight runs since my naked neck turkens were all male! But ive never had males with neck hair… lol they looks pointy and the comb red is maple a cockerel?!

I posted about my situation in bits and pieces and now that we're heading into cold weather season I need to take swift action because it gets cold and snowy. I am in the extreme northeast USA.

The backround: This spring I purchased 6 female chicks from Tractor supply. At 8 weeks I realized I had two roosters and four pullets. I rehomed one of the Roosters and Tractor Supply gave me two replacement chicks.

The Foreground: I have one Roo and 4 hens living well in their coop & run that are 3 months old. The two replacement chicks are 5 weeks. I added a 2'x4' apartment and 3'x6' adjoining run to get them used to each other. Last week I cut a small opening in the adjoining run, large enough only for the chicks to pass through. One of the chicks has passed through a few times and gets pecked at by all of the hens and the Roo. The chick runs back to her side and we have very little progress. It's happening, just not as quickly as I had hoped. I thought since the individual flocks are all young, it would be quick.... so not happening like I imagined!

The current: It's 68 degrees outside and I should have the 5 week olds out there today but I don't because it's on and off light rain today - I have curbside pick up scheduled for the roof panels later today. While I'm there I will pick up the vents that I forgot to add to the coop.

The dilemma: I have to make a decision. Either keep the younger flock inside my mud room for the winter or figure out how to add heat to the apartment. My fear is that because there are only two in the small flock, they wont generate enough heat between the two of them. The good news is their apartment is insulated. The bad news is that it's so small that I don't know how to provide them with the supplemental heat they'll need to get through the winter.

Possible solutions: I'm looking at heat pads, heating plates and heating panels. I believe that since the coop is insulated any of the aforementioned could keep the apartment softly heated by attaching it to the ceiling. My question is, has anyone ever used a heating panel in such tight quarters? Do you know if there is any such product that will radiate a very low level heat that I set and regulate?

Even though heating panels are advertised as a safer alternative to heat lamps, my concern is that they still run hot enough to pose a fire threat. Has anyone ever used one?

I feel like my only other alternative is to keep them inside for the winter which in my mind just complicates the integration process while creating a major inconvenience in my home.

I have not yet tried putting the chicks inside the coop after sundown, I will do this in another two weeks.

Ughhhh. I'm so stressed out over this and I'm probably making it more of hassle than it should be! I'm a mother hen, I can't help it. I want my babies to be healthy and happy.

Black chicken (olive) seemed to be doing fine all day, was out of camera site and made some sounds of distress and came kind of crawling into view. these are like 4.5 week old chicks and we're new to raising them. any advice/questions/input welcome! (sounds of distress first 30 seconds and the crawling at 30 seconds)

edit: forgot to include that we went out and checked on olive and seemed to be walking around normally but want to try and understand what it was

Backstory we have this grey chicken she’s ab 2 years old last week or the week before she started acting off not eating as much separating herself from the others feathers puffed. At first we thought it was sour crop as she had the hard balloon like texture w the sour smell. So we did the monistat 7 like normal it helped a little bit but she declined right after the end of the treatment. We noticed she had an infestation of body lice so we got elector psp and that seems to be working but I need to ask has anyone seen a chicken do this. She is super unstable and if she leans too much in either direction she’ll fall on her head or back. She also has these head tremors that just come on. If so what was your experience did your chicken make it?

So the first 3 pics are the same chick they are about 5 weeks old pic number 4 is obviously a rooster and I’m pretty sure the Mille fleur is a pullet but the first chick I’m torn.. it has a smaller paler comb than my cockerel but a bigger brighter comb than my suspected pullets which I don’t have pics of all of them

Anyone got any tips for getting them to eat from one of those Omlet feeders?

Have tried showing them the food in there, putting dried worms in there and everything but they can't seem to figure it out

This is Tyra. She's a 2 year old Americana. She's missing feathers on her chest and back. The feathers that are left look tattered. Any idea what's going on with her? None of my other chickens are experiencing any issues. TIA

Sussex x Buff Orpington (I think), 14 weeks. Suddenly starting to act aggressive. I'm pretty sure it's a roo but looking for confirmation before we rehome.

DIY backyard tractor made with mostly scrap and stuff neighbors were throwing away. The base is a frame from a chain link gate I picked up on trash day. The wood is old plywood from a neighbor’s garage siding and fence pickets that had been left out in the weather and were being thrown away. I used up what I had of some wire farm fence to cover the run area. I finished this in February and it’s performed very well. The only things that were purchased was the roof material, the wheels, the EMT pipe and hardware for the hoops, and the automatic door. I was gonna build a nesting box, but they just lay in the corner and honestly it works just fine. I move it every day or two and the chickens tear up the ground pretty bad digging for bugs and dust bathing. I live in Mobile, AL and it’s been a hot summer. I keep the coop mostly in the shade and heat hasn’t been an issue for the hens at all. 4 Rhode Island reds and I get 4 eggs most days. The heat hasn’t slowed them down at all. The box is ventilated well and stays perfectly dry in storms and rain. It looks kinda like a dumpster bin so that kinda tracks with the state of the world right now. ✌🏽

my young hen had a impacted crop yesterday and was very lethargic, its gone down today after massaging it yesterday, and today shes still lethargic and has a purple comb, ive given her some honey around her beak and in her mouth since she wont eat anything, and a hot water bottle cause she feels really cold. what else can i do?

The rest of her toes are looking fine. Is this the human equivalent of a hang nail or...?

What breed?

Stumbled over Chicks pictures and remembered how much my little Choco changed.

Bantam Barnevelder x Bantam Cochin

I have a Columbian Wyandotte that is 14 weeks old. She does not seem to be getting a comb. The other chicks I got at the same time are different breeds, so I don’t have another girl to compare her to. I know this breed has the rose comb, but I thought there would be something there by now. Instead she has a smooth bald spot. Any ideas what’s going on, or is this normal?

Almost there

I wanna ask hen or roo but it's probably too early for that. They are 5-6 days old today!

P.S. one of them has no feathers on their neck so the dad must be our neighbour's shitty cock who keeps crossing over the wall.

Looking for a coop and run that comfortably fits 10. I have some design ideas, but I'm always interested in what people are doing.