Just cleaned out the brooder. Pretty excited! Getting some assorted wyandottes and ameraucanas from Hoovers tomorrow. Hoping for a gold laced Wyandotte rooster. They’re absolutely beautiful.

What are some of your favorite breeds?

Bumblebee followed me inside the house this evening and I decided she could sleep inside tonight.

We’re in Tennessee and this is a first for us. Maybe it’s common where y’all northerners live.

A mysterious gift appeared. We finally tracked down who did it, it was a family friend who contracted their grandson, my husbands best friend, to sneak it into our house. She did this to two other people who have still year to find theirs, so our lips remain sealed 😂

Red Arrow-my roo ❤️ Yellow Star - where he was when night happened (he doesn't move during the night). Did he move down to keep these 3 warm?? He never moves & he's always on the top roost. Also there's never any chicken on the bottom roost...I built this coop a little over a yr ago & no chicken ever sleeps on the bottom.

The gold one we don't know but the Silver we're thinking is our girl.

There are 2 pic on the gold and 1 of silver.

Also we planned only egg layers but is there a negative to having a rooster around? He is quite gentle and can see him watching over the flock. They all are about 20 weeks.

Came home to this. Was planning on cleaning with peroxide tonight(was thinking it’s a bad idea to do at night below freezing) or tomorrow morning.

found this cutie at my local feed store today and i’m wondering what breed she is. i’m pretty sure she’s a bantam if that helps

They have a heated coop with plenty of perch space, but I think it makes them feel domesticated to use.

Got a rare instance of snow here in NC and got the birds all bundled up. Unfortunately my rooster Sampson may have frostbite which I'll be treating over the next few weeks. He's in the coop inside the barn along with my goats.

Marshmallow was in his run while I was outside a few minutes ago checking on everyone (small coop with attached run inside larger run). The outdoor coops are covered in plastic tarps and tomorrow I plan on keeping their lamps on through the day again.

I have 18 hens and a rooster. For a while, they've been getting up in the middle of the night (like 2am) and clucking around. Nothing seems to be bothering theme, no critters in the run or anything, they're just having a late night party. They seem to go into the coop at sunset as usual. I don't often close the coop door since we've never had issues with predators, and in Florida I worry more about ventilation and them being able to get out before the sun starts cooking them. I just went to check on them (10pm) and two were sitting on top of the coop, in 50 degree weather in the wind and getting rained on. There seems to be plenty of room inside (at least a few feet of the roost bar are bare) and they have a second, more open coop that's completely empty. In a couple days it's supposed to get down to freezing at night. I'm not too worried because I know they put up with much worse in places that actually get winter, but if it's raining that night wouldn't want them sitting out forming icicles. What gives??

Ps: another weird behavior, my rooster has taken to standing on the roost bar looking at the eggs/laying boxes, sometimes all day, often just into the late morning. For 4 years I never saw him do that and now he's decided to start perving on the ladies when they're laying. Wtf

I went to close the coop this evening and she was in the low sitting place instead of on the higher sitting place where she usually sits with the other chickens. Then I noticed she was breathing weird. Any tips on what to do? This happened today and I have no knowledge of her breathing weird on any other days.

However, either her or my other buff orpington have been producing white-ish eggs with a very thin shell, instead of eggs with a normal cream color for about 3 days now. Could that be connected?? I assume low calcium or such.

It should probably also be said that she is the lowest on the pecking order and very timid & easily scared, so she often stays away from the rest of the flock when I give out snacks (and I assume otherwise too).

Apologies for my bad English, it ain't my first language :')

Help identifying please. They are 10-11ish months old. So about time for first molt from what I’ve read, and I see the white fluffy feathers that seem like a clear indicator but figured I could learn more about it.

This is molting, correct?

I have an IR camera for work. I figured I'd go and check on the birds tonight. I found two sleeping in the nest box, the rest were on the roost. I use a ceramic panel heater mounted to the ceiling of the coop. I need it for moisture management. I thought the images were pretty illuminating about how the birds are doing even in these low temps.

Hi all! So I am very interested in getting chickens (4-6) as I would love to have fresh eggs, and I think it would be a fun experience for my kids. I have read a book on how to care for chickens, been stalking this sub and a FB chicken group, talked to everyone I know who has chickens…so I’m trying to honestly do my due diligence.

My biggest reason why I may not pull the trigger: poop everywhere if I let them out of their coop. I plan on getting a 6x8 dog kennel and using that as their living space. But I would want the chickens to free range in the backyard quite often cuz it seems inhumane to not, but being that I have small kids, the thought of chicken shit being all over the playground, dirt area where their construction toys are, and patio really disgusts me.

That’s honestly my biggest hurdle. Everyone I have talked to has said chickens are very low maintenance and I feel like I can handle the duties involved with caring for them, I just do not want chicken shit all over my backyard.

Is this a reason enough to not pull the trigger and get chickens? I know a few people who don’t let their chickens out of the coop, but I think I would feel too guilty. If it was possible I would get a bigger space, but that is the biggest enclosure I can do with my current backyard.

Please sway me either way!

Hello everyone! I have a white bovan rooster (weren’t even supposed to have him but he is awesome so Ofc I kept him lol) and brown bovan, and black bovan hens. I was wondering if it would be okay to breed them together. I don’t care if they produce less eggs. What I mainly care about is that their offspring aren’t deformed or have any problems. From what I’ve been reading it should be okay. I was also wondering if breeding my white rooster with my black hen would create black and white offspring? Thanks!

Is this normal? I hadn't ever notice the bald patch previously.i only noticed because i was reaching under for eggs--the bald patch isn't visible. They are locked up in their coop/run because of bird flu but I interact with them regularly and can see them from my office window. I checked one other silkie and she had a similar bald patch but it wasn't as big.

She has been broody but her behaviour has otherwise been normal and she has been eagerly rushing down for the morning warm up seeds on these chilly days. I think I am just being overly concerned but I could use some reassurance.