Question: Chickens Not Getting Along

Hi Backyard farm,

I have 5 chickens who are close to a year old.  Recently, one was attacked by a opossum. She received some puncture wounds to her head and neck but did not physically look bad.  I isolated her for a couple of days in a dog cage on our back porch.  She would not eat or drink much.  I was worried about her vision too.

I took her for a visit with the other chickens and she seemed to perk up a bit.  I reintroduced her late at night in the coop.  For the first couple of days, she seemed to be
happy to be back but now one of the other chickens is picking on her.  Her personality is different now too. I am still curious about her vision--she bumps into the other chickens, etc.  but she is able to find her way into the coop in the evening.  She is always the last out of the coop in the morning.  She is still laying eggs.

My husband said that the bully chicken had her by the neck yesterday but let her go when she started squawking.  Should I let the pecking continue, should I isolate her or the bully chicken?  They live in a very large, fenced in, grass area.  There is plenty of room for her to get away from the bully chicken--she does isolate herself from the others.

I am frustrated and confused about how to handle them

Thanks,

Kim  

Question: Chickens Not Laying Eggs

Hi, I have two Rhode Island Reds.  Between them they usually lay only one egg a day sometimes none at all. I bought them last Easter, they were not little chicks, but about half grown.   Recently, neither has laid an egg in  about two weeks.  We live on the Texas upper Gulf Coast, so it's only been cold for a  few weeks this season. The larger of the two, seems to be pulling out her feathers.  Can you tell me why this is?  I don't believe either is broody because they don't sit on their nest except at night, or when they are laying.  Also can you tell me if you think, when they are laying, are that alternating days to lay, or is one not laying at all.  I can’t tell because they both sit together when they are roosting or laying.  Thank you for your help.

Violetta

  

Do any of you brilliant chicken lovers out there have advice for Violetta?  

Leave your answer in the comments if you do. 

Readers Question: Chicken Lice

 I am new at raising chickens we have 18 between 2 separate houses. The one has ten 20 week old hens, 1 red sex link that started laying in April and one rooster. Roughly 2 weeks ago our sex link started to sit so we assumed she was going broody, but had noticed white bugs crawling on her head…lice. We bathed the whole flock in an organic tea tree and peppermint, cleaned the coop, dusted with De. She seems to be doing better but still have not received an egg from her in these 2 weeks.  Our other girls which are 6 red sex links in the other house started decreasing in egg production also within the past 2 weeks….we would get 6 a day….to gradually 5….then we went to three…. to two….one….then none for two days. These girls were treated the same within 1 day apart from the first one mentioned above other… and we just started getting 1-2 eggs a day a few days ago, still not at normal. Nothing has changed in diet (other than brand of feed) they were on pellets, but went to local feed store and got them a layer mash (which they had on one other occasion with no troubles) there are no predator issues, it has been hot but not to terrible, they have access to dust bathe. So I am stumped to what else might be going on. They all are eating/drinking well and look healthy and no missing feathers. Do you have any ideas or no how long it takes them to bounce back to laying after an infestation of lice ?

Thank You,

M&M

Readers Question: Buying Feed in Bulk

We love your blog and would love to ask a question to any of your chicken farmers.

We have a small organic chicken farm (100 chickens) and currently get organic feed in bags from a local farm.   We would like to buy in bulk instead of bags.  The issue is how to pick up the feed and store it in our barn away from mice and rats.

We are looking to buy a trailer and possibly build some sort of box to transport the feed and attach a hopper to dispense the feed.  We wanted to know if any of you had any ideas/hints/advice.

Thank you,
Farmer Monica

If you have suggestions for Farmer Monica, leave a comment! 

Readers Question: Balancing Chickens

Question: 
We are currently caring for our sons two chooks whilst he is overseas. We have done this a number of times previously and fondly refer to the girls as our grand-daughters. This time whilst one chook is fine and healthy and laying the other chook is molting and displaying signs of balance loss. She appears to stagger to the side and has also been seen to go backwards whilst trying to forward.

Any ideas or suggestions regard this behavior would be greatly appreciated.
~Jeanette & Jim

If you have any answers or suggestions for Jeanette & Jim, leave a comment.

Reader Question - Sunflower Sprouts

My spinach patch and other parts of the garden are full of newly sprouted sunflower seedlings. Weeds, of course, because I don't want them there. I picked one, nibbled it, and it tasted just like a sunflower kernel. Yum! My question is twofold: are sunflowers among edible sprouts (like alfalfa, etc.), and if so, are they perfectly OK to harvest, even if I didn't plant them or know the source? I guess a third question, based on these two: what size or other guidelines for harvest? (I've grown sunflowers enough to recognize their seedlings.) Typing this seems so silly. If the end product is edible, the other parts should be, right? But do we eat strawberry leaves?

Please leave a comment if you have any advice!

Reader Question - Chicken Violence

 I have 11 chickens, 5 Reds and 6 black bantams. They have begun to pick feathers out of each other. I saw one doing it, and some are really bad around the tail area and on the upper back. I have tried everything. They have access to an outer run and have a 12x10 coop. I don't know what to do. 

 If you have any advice for this reader, leave a comment! 

Reader Question - What to do with dead animals

I want to have farm animals, chickens, goats, and pigs. What do you do if you find one dead? I can see digging a hole to bury a chicken, but a pig...or a goat?

I haven't ever had to deal with that, but I bet you some of our readers have, and they always have great advice.

If you are reading this and have advice on this, leave a comment! 

Reader's Question - Companion Planting

 Question:

What plants are best planted next to each other? We are planting our 'spring' garden here in AZ using the square foot gardening method. Thanks! -Alison

Answer

 There are a ton of different options, here are a few that I follow:

Tomatoes/basil to bring out the flavor of the tomatoes

Tomatoes/marigolds, marigolds fight off tomato pests

garlic next to lettuce, beets and cabbage for increased flavor

I think this companion planting chart is very easy to follow:

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html#chart

This is another good resource for companion planting:
click here

What companion plantings have you done or have found successful? 

~marisa

Reader Question - Trash Can Potatoes

Question:  

How did the trash can potatoes turn out? We're going to try them this year - we've done them in the ground before, but are looking for something easier that takes up less space.

Answer:

How did they turn out? They didn't. We did quite a bit of reading online about how to do trash can potatoes, and followed the instructions to a T. We were so excited to harvest the bounty that we were so sure we would get, we searched through all the soil and found 3 measly little potatoes the size of a golf ball. We had planted more potato than we had harvested. My friend Megan tried trash can potatoes last year and had very similar results.

Has anyone had success with trash can potatoes? Or know of any techniques that take up less space?

Reader Question - Chickens in Cold Weather

Question

What about winter and backyard chicken coops? I live in Missouri and today is -7 degrees. What would I do with my chickens?  

Answer:

Wow, that's cold. If you check on backyardchickens.com, they have a breed list, it will tell you the breeds that are hardy and well suited for cold weather.  During the winter we use a heat lamp, it isn't essential here in Utah, it just helps keep the egg production up because they aren't using the majority of their energy to stay warm.  You can make sure that the coop isn't drafty and even insulate it. I know someone who stacks straw bales around the coop in the winter, then uses the straw for their bedding throughout the rest of the year.

If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Reader Question-Fencing

We are having a problem keeping the chickens in the fence and racoons out. What is the best type of fencing, and how high should it be?? I also read we should bury the fence a foot or two. Is that true? Thanks. 

I found this article really helpful. It goes over a couple different fencing options and also suggests burring your fencing at least a foot. 

Readers, please leave a comment if you have any other advice!

Naughty Naughty Girls!

My husband doesn't like the chickens free ranging our property. They poop on the porch, eat all the tomatoes, and eat all the pears - and that is just more than he can take. How much space should they have per hen? 

The minimum for chickens is this:

coop 4 square feet per chicken
run 8 square feet per chicken

bantam (smaller breed)
coop 2 square feet per chicken
run 6 square feet per chicken

I really wanted to have truly free range chickens as well, but like yours they would poop on the porch, they dug up a bunch of my strawberries, were digging up brand new plants in my garden etc. We had to make some changes as well. It was a hard transition for them, so to make it easier, we would let them out in the yard in the evenings (somewhat supervised) for an hour or two, then back to the coop for sleeping.

~marisa

Please leave a comment if you have any other input!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-Readers Questions

I have two hens. They making loud garble and I want to rip my hair out when they do it in the morning! Sometimes they do it for no reason at all, sometimes they do it after they just laid an egg. bock, bock, bock, bock, BAAAWK! 1. Is there anything I can do to fix this? they don't seem too trainable :) 2. For t...he next batch we get... are there any quiet hens out there? please oh please advise.

 ~Laura

 

Please leave a comment if you have any solutions for Laura. 

Chicken Question

Audra:
My chickens are three years old now.  I originally had thirteen, but got rid of eight.  About a year and a half later, two of my chickens were murdered by what I think was weasels.  A couple months after that, my chickens started acting weird.  Two of the hens stay in one little cubical side by side or on top of each other.  I don't think that they are eating or drinking any water.  Every time I go in to check on them, I try to move them, but they nip at me.  I'm not sure what to do.  Can you please help?

Marisa:
Ohh...those pesky weasels! I hope it didn't kill your favorites, the pests somehow know which ones are the owners favorites. Anyways...I have a question for you, are the girls sitting on eggs? There is a possibility that they have gotten broody, meaning they want to become a mama and are sitting on eggs. They tend to get very snippy and protective of their eggs when they are broody. Let me know, if that isn't it, we will investigate further!

Audra:
I lifted them up today and there were no eggs.  I tried to get them to move around a bit because they haven't been eating and they just went right back down to where they were before.

Marisa:
They can still get broody, even if they aren't sitting on eggs. It is her motherly instinct kicking in and they want to be mamas. Hens can get very mean (mama bear mean) when they are are broody which would explain why they nip at you when you try to move them.  Broody hens tend to eat and drink vigorously, and race back to the nest. Is there a way for your to discourage them from sitting in the nest? Could you block off their nesting boxes in the late afternoon and all night? Forcing them to get out of their nesting boxes should help them snap out of it.

Readers, what do you think? Are her girls broody? Is there something else it could be? If you think they are broody, what do you suggest she do?

Turkey Question

I was asked a question about turkeys limping. I have never had turkeys so the only advice I was able to give was to buy them a cane.  If you have any advice or information for the following question, please leave it in a comment. 

I have 4 bronze turkey babies. They are in a warm location eating and drinking. Two of them have started limping and I noticed that each has one swollen knee. Any ideas on the cause or cure?

Questions from Readers

What's best for their "Bath's" we put out a container of ash - I heard it needs to be very small soas to choke any mites like diatomaeous earth we'd really like to use the ashes from our stove insert in an old small vegable bing from a past refrigerator

We just let them give themselves a good old fashioned dirt bath. We haven't had any issues with mites.

My chickens stopped laying eggs. Some of the couple of the eggs I cracked had watery egg yolks, What could be wrong with them. Thanks.

Is is possible that the watery eggs weren't as fresh? As the eggs become less fresh, they become more watery. Did all of your chickens quit laying eggs at the same time? It isn't a normal time to molt. You may have a pest of some sort.

I just discovered a large amount of (what I believe is) "Cup Fungi" in my veggie garden. I don't have a clue what to do about it. Is it safe for my plants? Do I need to get rid of it somehow? Please help! Thanks, Alyson alyson.smth@gmail.com

You must have had some wet weather lately. Cup fungi is a term used for many cup shaped mushrooms. The problem is many of them can send off spores and it may look like you have taken care of all of them, but they could come back. Since they are in the garden, you must be very careful how you take care of them. Do not use any old fungicide from the store, most are poisonous. If it is on just a few leaves, remove the leaves or areas it has affected. If entire plants are affected you may want to put a bag over the plant (to keep the spores from spreading further) and dig up the entire plant and dispose of them. Maybe even scrape up some of the soil below and around the plant and dispose of it as well. You will want to apply a natural fungicide on the area. You can make a Neem Oil spray by mixing 2 TBS neem oil (found at the health food store) to 1 gallon of water. Neem oil is a natural fungicide and should help prevent further spreading.

Readers, feel free to leave any additional advice in a comment.

Questions from Readers

Hey there wonderful readers! I have been asked 2 questions, neither of which I know the answer to, I have never had either problem. So, if you know the answer, leave a comment. 

 

QUESTION #1 

One of my laying hens has this white, very moist mess around her whole rear end and her anus is protruding out and has fell out and has sores on it. I cleaned her up in some warm water. Can u tell me what this is?

QUESTION #2

My chickens have been molting for a few weeks now.Do they usually lose weight during this time. My girls are looking quite scrawny and I can feel the breast bone really sticking out. Someone suggested a mite could be the prolem. Samantha

 

Question from a Reader-Chicken Ordinance

Hello there, I would love to get some backyard hens but there is an ordinance against it in our small town. Have you had an experience in getting these ordinances changed? I'm more than willing to work on getting the law changed, but I have no idea where to start or what information would prove helpful in persuading our local government. Any ideas?

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
Linda

Well Linda,

I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't. I thought that maybe there is someone else out there that may know where to start. So, to all those trusty backyard farming readers....do you have any suggestions? If so leave a comment!



Comments below are from Dale:

Linda,

Here are five suggestions.

1. Try to identify other people in the community who want to change the law. Check with your county Extension Agent because they sometimes know the people interested in poultry. There is strength in numbers. Your County Agent may also be a useful resource to help you in this process.

2. Do your research on the Mayor and town council. Go to the town council meetings. Try to figure out which one might be open to the idea of changing the ordinance and would advocate for you.

3. Collect information for making your case. Show a list of other towns and cities who have changed their ordinances. Get a copy of their ordinances that your town could replicate. Also have several articles that show that hens are not noisy, do not stink, and do not attract flies. Make sure that people understand that roosters will not be allowed. They are too noisy and agressive.

4. Talk to your neighbors about this and win them to your cause. If they are against you, you are doomed.

5. Remember that you are doing this for the good of your community and for everyone else who wants to raise poultry. If you are just doing it for yourself, you may give up because it may be a diffficult process.

Good luck on your quest. It is worth all your effort. Let us know how it turns out.

Question from a Reader: Vertical Gardening

Lauren has written asking about supports for her square foot garden, here is her question:

I'm new to blogging, and love what you are doing with your site. I have a question about the square foot garden. What types of supports do you like for heavy pumpkins and squash that can take up a lot of room? My garden space is about 4x10 and part of an urban organic garden. Any suggestions that you have would be greatly appreciated. I know it's early, but I'm so excited to start in the spring. Click here to see a picture of her garden.

Lauren, in my garden I have used 3 bamboo poles that I sunk into the dirt as far as I could and then tied at the top. I place one plant at the bottom of each pole and tie the vine up the pole as it grows. I have grown winter squash, pumpkins and melons in this manner. Click here for that article. In another article about peas, there is a diagram showing a few other options. Click here for that article. And now lastly, but surly not leastly, click here for a great video Dale put together about the trellis he made.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Leave a comment if you do!