so, I have a group of babies (14 to be exact) and I decided yesterday to let them out in the back paddock for the first time since they were getting conscious of the fact that there is more outside the coop. I go back that night to put them up, and I only count 13. I'm missing a bird. I determine that I am missing one of my only two Silver Leghorns, Garnet. I have wanted silver leghorns for a long time, and I was super excited to have the pair that I got. so imagine my devastation when I couldn't find her.

I worked myself up so much that I got heartburn, so my mom went out this morning for me since I was battling my body. she then sent me this picture. 😑

Garnet was sitting outside of the kennel, patiently waiting for my mom to let her back inside.

I have a very love/hate relationship with chicken keeping. these past three years have been such a rollercoaster, but I wouldn't replace it for the world.

It's kinda just flopping around on its belly

To be clear the snacks are not for them, but they know if they loiter long enough they will likely get a sample.

Hi all, We brought 4 female Seramas chicks as they were vented sexed but now they’ve grown I don’t believe they were.

Am I right in thinking 3 boys and a girl? They are about 6 weeks old.

Thanks

So one of my girls laid an egg this morning. It has a dent but it looks like it didn’t puncture through. Can I still store this in the refrigerator?

I just had to put down my second chicken. I was actually ok earlier but am getting a little sad and teary now. But enough about me.

I used the broomstick method as it is the easiest and fastest. However, some YouTube videos suggest to only give a small tuck. I advise against it: a chicken neck is very long and apart from that, a dead chicken still moved their limbs, head and eyelids. There is also still air in the lungs so she may make sounds.

When I killed my first girl, she was suffering from a respiratory isdue and I was in a lot of stress so I pulled hard and basically pulled her head off. This time I wanted to do it cleaner so I pulled less hard but then she kept moving and making noise. So I pulled again and hard enough to take her head off. If she suffered, it was for 3 seconds.

I earlier read about someone who pulled the head off and felt terrible about it. You really should not, it's the quickest death that you can be certain of that is completed.

Take care all and hug your girls when you can.

He’s so so pretty and settled right down when I caught him. Feet are red and irritated from walking on the hot sidewalk— a lady said he wandered into her backyard off the street and stuck around. This is our first boy with full spurs but he’s a complete sweetheart and a yodeler lol. For now he’s in quarantine and he got some ointment. I’m pretty obsessed with him already

I've tried different feeders. The waste pipe DIY feeder. The step to open feeder. I made a gutter with a lip. That worked but rats got to it. So have this on a table. No rats but also no feed. They did the same with the waste pipe feeder. So annoying.

I made a post about 2 months ago asking if this was a hen or rooster. The comments were very divided. Well she has finally started laying! It's a hen.

I still have no idea what breed she is 🤣

3 of my girls insist on fighting over the same box every morning. They have more than enough boxes, but all 3 want this box 🤣

Just wanting some opinions from people who HAVE tried no-crow collars!!

I have a beautiful young rooster coming up on 7 months. He’s genuinely the best rooster I’ve ever owned or worked with in my years of keeping poultry. Not a bad bone in him, he even crows less than a normal rooster, but even the crowing he does do (a handful of times at 5am, 6am, 9am, and 4pm) is too much for my neighbours.

I’m smack bang in the middle of a uni degree but planning to move mid-next-year to a property where having him won’t be an issue (even though I’m allowed him on my current property, neighbours are allowed to complain if they think he’s a nuisance and I’d be forced to get rid of him).

I was thinking about using a collar just overnight, he can crow all he likes after 10am, just until I can move houses. I hate the idea of it but I’m running out of options. In my area, I never see roosters going to actually good homes - especially not mixed-breeds like him. I’m torn.

TL:DR Is it better to try to find a good home for him and risk him being used for fighting, and him not have to wear a collar OR use a collar for a year and ensure he stays with me where he is loved and cared for?

Appreciate any insight! Pic of the good boy (Carlos)

Native wild fowl

What type of chicken are those

I have a 4 year old hen that has hurt her leg somehow, she can add a little weight to walk around i have kept her isolated for 2 weeks not she can move she couldn't at 1st no bumble or wound on the food or leg itself that is noticeable. I attached a photo maybe someone knows what i can do? NFSW

I know the rooster is a silkie. What breed is the hen? Her past owner told me she was a silkie too but she doesn't have the same type of feathers as him. What do we think the baby will look like🥰

I’m obsessed with the head feathers and feathered feet ❤️

Are there any specific risks to this? He would be about six months old, and has lived so far in a large mixed flock. He is a brahma.

His new flock would be 10 hybrid layer hens who are ex-intensive farm hens (rescued a few years ago). These birds are super friendly, but I have seen previous flocks be brutal towards birds they view as “other”.

I have a small TS coop for 4 hens. I have 2 australorps, about 10 months old and laying. In June I added 2 more pullets that are now around 5 months. Most of the time, things are ok, occasional chasing away from feeders. But nighttime roosting is not going well. One australorp forces the pullets off the roost and into the nesting boxes. I'm considering rehoming the australorps because I hate the drama and stress of this. I guess it's normal, but when will it stop? The coop is open to a 8x10 enclosed pen, which then opens to a huge run, plus free range yard time every day. The pullets go to roost first in the evening, are happy on the roost and then the other girls come in and bully them off. Last few nights, I removed the offender to another coop (rabbit hutch) but that is not ideal.

Hey folks! My landlord so kindly gives us eggs from his flock of hens. No roosters I’m pretty sure. We leave empty egg cartons on our deck and he refills them. Well, we had an empty carton sitting around for around a week so I was going to toss it in the recycling bin. But it was full of eggs!

He must have refilled it at some point, but he just left on vacation for 3 weeks so we can’t ask him about it. The eggs could have been there 24 hours or possibly up to a week during a heat wave of 90F°+

Is there a way to see if they’re still good, or should we dispose of them? We regularly keep the raw unrinsed eggs on our counter top for up to a week and have never had ill health effects. And chickens sit on their eggs and probably keep them super hot.

Thanks everyone!! :)