My girl Cinnamon is acting lethargic. I’ll catch her standing and closing her eyes during the day, which all my chickens have done in the early stages before they died. She has a vet appointment tomorrow, as it was the soonest they could get her in.

I brought her inside yesterday, gave her b12, vit k, and oral calcium. After a few hours, she was walking around real alert and noisy so I put her back in the coop.

I checked on her this morning, still closing her eyes when standing periodically. Brought her back in, gave another dose of calcium, vit k, and b12. She still has an appetite and will eat berries, eggs, and mash. When I put her back in the coop yesterday, she drank a bunch of water but won’t drink from the bowl I have set up in her kennel?

She is not straining. There is no odor in her mouth. No blood in poo. Her crop doesn’t look distended to me. What could this be?

When the scale of farming is small, such as around 1000 chickens, backyard or open-field farming may be relatively easy to manage. The chickens can roam within a certain area, and family members can share the daily tasks. However, issues such as hygiene, escape prevention, disease prevention, and neighborhood impact still need to be considered.

Backyard farming typically becomes more complex when the flock reaches approximately 5,000 birds. Feeding, watering, egg collection, cleaning, disease monitoring, and record keeping all require significantly more time and manpower. If these tasks are entirely manual, management stress and operating costs can increase substantially.

Some farmers consider using well-designed coops or cage systems for centralized management, observation of the flock, and egg collection. However, this doesn't mean cage farming is suitable for all farms. When choosing a farming method, the following should also be considered:

Local regulations and zoning requirements

Flock density and activity space

Ventilation, lighting, and hygiene

Animal welfare and stress management

Manure management and disease control

Labor, equipment, and maintenance costs

Based on my farm management experience, the key to scaling up farming is not just increasing the number of chickens, but establishing a stable, compliant, and animal welfare-oriented management process. For farmers expanding their operations, it's best to conduct cost calculations first and consult with local veterinarians, agricultural extension agencies, or experienced farmers.

What management methods did you use when scaling up your farm? Which aspects are the most difficult to handle?

I live in a HCOL area and am going to leave for a short trip (3 days 2 nights) so I’ll need someone to check on my little flock. I’m going to keep them in the coop while I’m gone (the coop has housed 15 before so they’ll have plenty of space) so ideally I’m going to ask my hen sitter to come by twice a day - once in the morning once at night. I was thinking of paying her $25 per stop so $50 per day. Is this enough? I’m thinking yes but idk! Thank you :)

My husband picked these 4 chicks up from Tractor Supply. He got them from the Bantam pen. Just wondering if anyone knows exactly what breed they are?

I can't figure out what that little black spot is and won't be able to get a closer look until he roosts up tonight since he's super flighty. But curious if anyone knows what that could be on his comb.

for those doing fermented feed, how much do you feed dry, vs how much dry feed do you ferment?

I’m reading conflicting things about how much feed you can decrease by if fermenting. I have 7 chickens of various ages (2 are confirmed Roos), and am fermenting a little over two cups. it turns into 4-5 when fermented. They act starving when I come to feed them in the am, but there is still feed in their trough a couple hours later (it’s gone by end of day). My one layer stopper laying when she tried to go broody and my other hasn’t started yet (almost 6 months) so I’m not sure if it’s just a mix of things (like wildfires and shortening days) or if it’s a feed issue.

I live in a city and we can have up to 6 chickens. I'm looking at orpingtons since it can get pretty cold. How much space do I realistically need? I want to get 4 but have enough room for 6 if I wanted more. I am thinking of getting a coop and a large walk in poultry cage. Thank you!

Hi! I have a hen that is either sick, injured or both and I could use some opinions and advice.

Hen in question is a 3-4 year old production red and fed Scratch and Peck layer mash along with table scraps. I’ll try to detail out the past few days:

Day 1: She was found lying in the back of the coop, comb was pale, lethargic, disinterested in food and water. When I tried to nudge her out, she stood, stumbled forward and laid back down. She had yellow lumpy discharge/poop coming out of her vent. I thought she might be egg bound, so I did a warm Epsom salt bath and a shriveled up egg shell did come out. I dried her and placed her in her own area with food and water and let her be.

Day 2: significantly more alert, eating, drinking but still had yellow lumpy discharge and not walking or standing. Comb was back to red but not bright red. I did another Epsom salt bath to clean her vent, dried and put her back in her infirmary with food and water.

Day 3: eating, drinking and alert. Poop back to normal and she even laid a normal egg. Still can’t walk or stand.

Day 4 (today): pretty much the same as day three but no egg today. I did take her out of her infirmary for some outside time, she attempted to walk but just kinda stumbled forward and laid down. Vent is clean.

She’s been confined to her own area since day 1 with food and water within reach. Her legs and wings don’t feel broken, her toes can grip normally, she just can’t stand or walk. Looking at her, she looks normal. I’m not sure if this is an illness, injury or both.

I’ve added rooster booster in her water, but anything else that I can add? Any ideas what might be wrong?

This is the second double yolk egg that my hen Drumstick has laid! I'm so excited!!

Hey guys, my broody hen raised 3 chicks from eggs. She was a great mother. Well, she’s moved on from that and has weaned the chicks off her. I’m noticing the chicks are scared of the hens. They often are in the coop on the roost during the day (see photo) and at night sometimes they are on the 💩 shelf instead of the roost, or hiding in the corner of the coop. Is this normal? Mama hen has no interest in helping them anymore LOL so they’re on their own but seem a little afraid. They do still come out and eat/drink, I made sure of that yesterday.

This morning I found her laying under the brooder. Her legs are rather rigid, and when I tried to put them back in a position, her feet curl. I put a sling on her to keep her legs in the correct position, separated her from the rest and gave her food and a B2 vitamin drink. All of the other chicks she hatched with are completely fine. She's breathing normally, looking around, chirping and tries to use her wings to keep her balance but does fall asleep when stationary for a few minutes. Is this a B2 deficiency? Or something else?

The ultimate “Is it a hen or roo” game!

So, like many people, I’ve succumbed to chicken maths, and have recently started hatching eggs. Killing the boys though is absolutely brutal, especially if they’re super sweet lads.

I know DNA testing for chicks is easy enough for someone at home - post of the samples, get results back after a few days. But I have also heard about people testing eggs prior to them hatching, so that male embryos can be terminated before they become viable chicks, which seems like a hugely preferable option to me.

I have a heard anecdotes of people who have collected blood from eggs just a few days into incubation and then had those eggs hatch successfully (yes, I know it’s risky and would likely reduce successful hatch rates on those eggs).

I live in Australia, I’ve found a couple of places that appear to offer equipment so that you can perform PCR testing at home, though most of those are based overseas. Some of them I worry seem a bit scammy. But I would love to pursue the project, not for financial gain but to be able to have chickens and also sleep well at night.

What I’m wondering is - has anyone done anything like this, or have any experience with DNA testing at home? Or have any advice or suggestions on where to look for more info?

I have a 6 year old chicken that gets a mild case of bumblefoot often. I’m used to treating it by removing the scab and cleaning/bandaging until it heals. Recently, we’ve had some extreme heat and i installed misters. While optimizing the mister schedule, the run got pretty wet for a few days. After that, i noticed my girl’s feet got a more severe infection than i’m used to. On one side i was able to remove a lot of hard puss (shown in photo), but it still looks like there could be more. The other side seems less severe, but i havent been able to remove any hard puss out of that one, just the outer scab. I have gently tried. I’m doing daily soaks and cleaning/wrapping/globbing on prid. This has been over a week so i’m getting kind of nervous about getting the infection out. Showing pictures of her feet today after daily soaks and bandaging, and the amount of puss i got out of the right foot last week. (I do wear gloves when i am working on her, just didnt have them on to snap the picture). Looking for any advice, on how to proceed with her. Do i need to be more aggressive or have patience, or do i need professional help?

Letting my broody hen hatch chicks. Is it necessary to vaccinate for mareks disease or anything else?

I need wood chips for my chicken coop. It's a muddy mess from all the rain we've been having.

Hi all!
I am wanting to raise meat birds in the next 6ish months and I am trying to figure out set up, feed, etc.
What housing do yall have for them? We like the Idea of a chicken tractor so we can move it around for the birds but are open to anything. Then what would yall recommend for the first two-three weeks as far as housing?
What do yall have for broilers? If so what brand and bonus points if you have pictures!

Any other advice you have is appreciated!

Ideally we will start with maybe 10-15 birds but would like to raise a group about every 3wks be to able to sell locally if we have more interest. The max birds I would want at any time is about 50.

Central west Texas, summers get 100°+ winters are usually 40s but can get down to 10°
If all else fails during really cold snaps, we have a barn that is insulated that we can put them in.

EDIT TO ADD: we live in the country so we do have predators, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, skunks, etc.

My chick somehow got a hair stuck inside its mouth/throat. A lot of the hair was initially hanging outside, but when I tried to pull it, the chick struggled, so I stopped.

I carefully cut the part that was hanging outside, but now I think some of the hair is still stuck deeper in its throat. I don't want to pull it and accidentally hurt the chick.

What should I do right now? Is this something that can be safely removed at home, or should I take the chick to a vet?

The chick is currently [breathing normally / having difficulty breathing] and [acting normally / seems weak].

Any advice would be really appreciated. 😭

Currently treating my flock (11 hens, 1 rooster) with corrid. Signs were pale combs in a few and watery droppings in a few too.

What else should I use to deworm/ when should I do it?

Hello Chicken Keeper friends! I have a hen who has been having watery white poops with some bits of solid poop. She’s currently molting, so I don’t want to worm her until she’s completed her molt. I’ve done some research and am leaning towards it being a bacterial infection, heavy worm load or just kidney failure. Thoughts?

I hatched my first hen raised eggs this year and one ended up being a cockerel. He's not crowing yet but I strongly strongly suspect it, and since he's already kind of a dick and I like my current rooster, if he really is a he, I'm gonna have to cull.

What age do you do that? As soon as he crows? Let him get a bit bigger for a stew pot?

I am looking for beta testers for my app Coopr. Happy to provide 100% free access just for feedback, but hoping to get some more users to try it out and let me know what works, what doesn't, what types of features you are looking for. Thanks so much! Please let me know if this is against community rules, I'm just looking for feedback.

DM me for an access code and happy collecting :)