One of my sweet hens was taken in the middle of the day a week ago and have been on high alert since, but today I had a work Zoom meeting that went past dusk. When it was over I went outside and saw one of my chickens missing from the coop, with their auto-door already closed. My heart sank, and I spent two hours scouring my property with a flashlight and found zero trace of a struggle, although I ultimately believed she had been taken and was already dead. I was heartbroken and crying to my boyfriend on the phone that I should’ve taken the previous chickens death more seriously and that I had failed my chickens. The one that went missing tonight is by far my favorite and so cuddly and sweet to people. After 2 hours with no luck, I came back inside and scrolled Reddit feeling so depressed. I came upon a post where something similar had happened and thanks to someone’s comment they found their chicken hiding in a bush along a fenceline. I almost didn’t go back out, but thought to myself, “There’s a 1% chance so go look one more time.” I walked 800’ of fence and towards the very end… there she was!!!! Words can’t describe the happiness I felt seeing my sweet chicken bedded down and alive. Something must have chased her over the fence at dusk and she managed to hide and escape. If I hadn’t gone back out and kept looking, she most likely would have been dead by morning. The point of the post is, if the same thing has just happened to you and you’re reading this, go look again. I hope you find your chicken.

Got tired of the muddy run after the rain and wet poop getting trudged into the dirt so after letting it dry in the sun for a few days I cleaned everything up and covered the run in pine shavings.

When I put the chickens back in the run they FREAKED TF OUT bouncing from wall to wall trying to escape lmao. Granted, they have been in the dirt run for the past 5 weeks but they spent the first two months of their lives in a big doggy crate with the same shavings! Here they are acting like this is the first time they’ve seen pine shavings in their entire life! Silly butts!

I was too slow to grab my phone so I missed most of the chaos. 2nd pic you can see one of them frantically trying to fit on top of the feeder. Last pic the tiniest little girl was the only one brave enough to step onto the shavings.

Just excited and sharing this nerd-out, they’re all new layers!

Since he's been my favorite since hatch day and these are my first chicks, I wanted to be sure he's a cockerel before I give him to my friend for her backyard flock. He's 10 weeks old and his comb started turning pink around the 5 week mark. He's second in the pecking order and has been known to chest bump with the top cockerel. Facebook is divided. Someone pointed out that you can see at two ridges on his comb, but I'll need to look closer when I go out tomorrow. I see what they see in the picture, but I haven't noticed it in person.

I noticed she was broody. I've been taking her out of the nest box every day but she's also from Puerto Rico and hates cold so I figured maybe she was just trying to stay warm. I never saw an egg under her when I moved her. I guess it was buried in the pine shavings? Anyways it hatched. Now I've hatched eggs in an incubator and used a brooder before, but if I want to let her raise it, what do I need to do? Do I need to get a different food? Different feeder and waterer that it can reach? If I put one on the ground for it, how do I get the others to keep it clean? Will mom show it where to eat/drink or do I need to take it out? There's only 1 so I don't want to put it in a brooder by itself.

Yesterday when scrolling Twitter, I came across this bread of chickens that look so magnificent, for a moment I thought it was Ai but after a while I found out they were a real breed, does anybody here have them? Also, if I want them, how'd I get one in the UK? Are they worth having if I don't have much chicken farming experience?

Easter egger (I’m pretty sure) that was born mid-June, so 4.5 ish months old

My daughter raised this hen from a day old ,isn't she lovely?

Hey all, got my sweet girl here showing some weird signs around here eyes. Almost likely bubbling if you can see in the pictures. Based on research, maybe MG?? She has not been laying and appears to be molting as there are her feathers all over the place and her neck is pretty bare. She is acting normal, eating, foraging in my yard, and is not isolating her self. I did separate her for the time being to be safe. I am hearing no strange noises or anything like that. Thanks in advance for your thoughts/advice

Hatched these two august 14th
Pekin silkie mix

I’m really hoping to get a rooster for my 12 girls, but the town that I live in says you can have a rooster as long as no one complains so I really don’t wanna get attached to a rooster and then have to rehome him. Are there any breeds that you have found that just happened to be on the quieter side? I’m attaching a video of my loudmouth girls having a squawk fight. Would a rooster be louder than this? They haven’t complained so far. (Also this is not their main coop, just an egg laying hotel, long story)

Upon further inspection and a few days of putting my rooster in a bachelor pad, I let him out today. I supervised his release and watched how the chooks received him. Well... I realize my one ameraucana hen is the aggressor.

My hen keeps going after my rooster! Both born July 5th.
Rooster isn't aggressive or trying to mate with any of them.

What do I do? It's my hen that is after him. He is hiding all around the yard and she is hunting him. No chickens fight like this - with her, eachother, or him. It's just these two. I put her in a separate area so she cannot interact and let him free with the rest of the flock.

Is this the correct move?

Here was my original post from a few days ago - https://www.reddit.com/r/chickens/s/EASdf7dBKe

EDIT: I have two got'damn roosters.

My very broody hen decided she was going to be a mom. I just had surgery so I couldn’t really fight against her wishes. 😂 Found her and her babies this morning! 4/6 eggs have hatched. Hoping the last two eggs are just late bloomers.

Tallest Chicken Breed Right Now: The Indio Gigante 🇧🇷🐔

The Indio Gigante is a striking Brazilian chicken breed known for its exceptional height, lean body, and hard-feathered, streamlined appearance. It was developed in Brazil in the late 1980s–early 1990s, mainly from Malay and Shamo-type birds crossed with local chickens.wikipedia+1

Roosters can commonly reach 3 feet or more, with some exceptional birds measuring over 40 inches when measured from the middle toenail to the tip of the beak. Hens are also impressively tall, often around 30–35 inches.

It’s becoming very popular in the Philippines, where many backyard and gamefowl-style breeders are interested in raising them for their size, presence, and unique look. Some Philippine breeders are already working with imported and locally bred Indio Gigante lines.

It looks so uncomfortable!

I'm wondering what on earth could be causing this type of nasty chicken poop. It's horrible sludge & stinks beyond belief 😣 What is causing it? (First photo is posted to block the confronting poop photo shown after) #NSFW

My 4 month old, Cheddar, just laid her first egg three days ago. Then another today. The first egg is the lighter colored, smaller one. In the pic, Cheddar is the one in the corner surrounded by her sisters, Apples and Marion, while they support her in the laying process. Is it normal for the eggs to change color and size? Also, why won’t she lay her eggs in the nesting boxes? She sits in the boxes for a while, but then ends up laying in the corner of the coop.

I have three old hens who are mounting, picking/pecking/pushing, and just generally bullying my younger two that are new. They have all been together since February and sadly I did introduce the babies sooner than I should have. Many of them turned out to be roosters and off they went. We are down to just two hens from the “new” flock and I am desperate to get them accepted. The (older hens) flock leader, Cocaine, is really mean and constantly mounting them. She makes sure they cannot access the food or water and even though I spread everything out she is like a friken guard dog running around. I am thinking of separating her in a dog pen for a few days.

I also have their main run which holds food water and outdoor roosts, and then our yard which is about a quarter acre. I was thinking, should I lock the two young hens with the food and water or should I lock the old gals up so the young hens can claim ownership to the yard?

I’m not sure what goes on in the coop but the youngest and smallest hen is always last one in and they often kick her out harshly a few times before she’s in for the night :(
Our big girl and other young hen goes in with serious hesitation and she is limping now so I know they’re not the nicest to her either. She is significantly larger since she is half meat bird.

I have 2 hens. One has a clutch of 3 a month old. The second just hatched a clutch of 3 maybe 4 🤷 just saw the hatch this evening in the nesting box.

I have a problem with rats. The eat eggs an baby chicks at night.

I have been putting the month old chicks with mum in a grow up cage at night.

Need to do the same with the new clutch.

Will there be a hen problem when the two share the cage at night?

The cage is 4 ft long by 3 ft deep and 2 ft high.

Thanks.

Just finished making a brand new chicken coop for a hen flock, 3m x 4m, 1/4" hardware cloth on all sides including the roof underside and beneath the 5" of soil, nipple watering system, low tech PVC pipe feed dispenser and deep bedding with pine shavings and an easy cleaning door for access of the inside of the coop. I also included very big vents for the summertime (it's very very hot here during the summer) that can be partially closed during the winter.
Later on I will add a hardware cloth tunnel leading to an enclosed outside run that I haven't had time to do yet.
I have been reading a lot here and on YouTube about coop designs before making this, and I wanted to thank everyone here for sharing the good knowledge.
What do you think ?