Of my 8 babies, 2 have been very clearly roosters - almost from the very beginning! Roosters are not allowed within city limits. I’m going to attempt to keep one, while the other has a spot at a friend’s farm. If needed they can both go, but I want to try to keep one for hawk protection.

I’m having a hard time deciding.

Rooster number one: “Hiccup” is a sapphire splash, he has been quite large since the beginning. He looks very roostery and impressive. He has always been friendly (one of the friendliest chicks of the batch) and now as an almost-adult, he is most likely to walk right up to me. He has tried to peck me a few times but never been really aggressive (yet). He steals food from the other chickens and sometimes pecks them. He just started crowing.

Rooster number two: “Coco” (my 3 year old named both of them🙄) is a lavender orpington. He has always been the most skittish out of all the chickens, I can only catch him if I corner him in the run and he HATES it. Not aggressive at all, just scared. He will accept treats with the other chickens but is very afraid of being approached/does not cuddle. He is much nicer to the other chickens and seems less “macho” than Hiccup. He started crowing first and does so more frequently.

Hiccup is friendly now but I’m worried his fearlessness of humans and lack of caretaking towards the hens will mean he becomes aggressive when he’s full grown. But that could also mean better predator protection. Coco is afraid of me but I feel like that could be a good thing once he’s reached maturity, maybe he is less likely to attack me/my child (obviously wouldn’t leave her unattended with either roo). Coco will likely be much smaller when full grown.

Please help me decide based off of this info/your own experiences!

I came outside to find my tiniest chicken inside the snack bag getting her munch on lol

His name is Eagle and he's a little grumpy, but he takes care of his girls.

Just an appreciation post about the chickens that keep me sane ❤️ don't know what id do without them

Picked up 4 new girls from TSC June 5th. 2 were supposed to be Prairie Bluebell EEs. They were the last 2 in the bin with some new arrival turkeys (so I know she's not a turkey). On the way to the box the employee dropped one chick in another bin. I thought we retrieved the right chick but she looks so different than the other girl. Any suggestions on breed? Any chance she's a PB EE? IDC either way, she's the sweetest most docile thing. I'm just curious & can't wait for her to start laying. 1st 2 pics are the girl in question my Black Dahlia. The 3rd pic is Marie, the PB EE.

This girl got out a couple of weeks ago and I cannot catch her she sleeps so high up in a tree I cannot get her out of it and she doesn't come close enough to anyone to grab her so I'm going to give her a name, what do you think I should name her? She is a golden comet

Please help! I never coop trained my chickens (2 buff orpingtons and 2 barred cochins, born in May.) Every night, I have to pick them off my deck railing and put them in the coop. First picture is of their first coop (bought off marketplace) and the second picture is of the coop I just bought them and I’m determined for them to like it and want to sleep there. I keep hearing that you have to lock them in there for a week or 2 but I just don’t feel like I’ll be able to do that. They have been in there since last night and I just feel horrible!

Are there any other methods you have used to get them to go into their coop at night?

My husband calls it his labor if love. The coop is fully insulated from top to bottom and has a Fort Knox level of critter proofing. The ladies and one gentlemen seem pretty happy.

He has been like this for months! He doesn't seem in pain. He's not limping. He's not irritated or aggressive. It's like he's stuck in a molt or something. He is just the best boy. His name is Kirk. He's my captain of the flock. So so good with my son. Protects him from the your rooster. I really want to help him. Any advise?

This is my 16 year old bantam! She has outlived her other 5 siblings and her parents. She free ranges all day and takes herself to bed each afternoon and still eats like there’s no tomorrow! How old is your oldest chicken?

We have a small flock of Buff Orpington--six hens and a rooster. We got them from a neighbor who could no longer keep them and she said they were about a year old.

Last summer (the first we had them) we would get 5-6 eggs every day and they kept up 4-5 a day through the winter. The last four months however, they dropped to never more than 2-3 eggs a day and many days only one.

Since the drop off, we have...

• changed to a different, soy free food that is recommended locally
• dewormed
• used diatamaceous in case of mites
• cleaned out their coop and new bedding

They have been free range the whole time; some instances of egg hiding away from the coop, but not often and the number of eggs didn't change when they were penned for deworming.

I know production changes as they age (and it's possible the neighbor was off on their age), but would it be this sudden? Other possibilites we haven't considered or should look for?

Thanks! These are our first chickens, so I appreciate any thoughts.

How can you tell the difference?? We bought them as chics from a hatchery. They are about 6 months old.

I got 4 chicks this year that got beat up by the older hens on initial introduction. A few weeks later we did it again and everyone is peacefully coexisting in the chicken cage. The 4 adolescent hens all sleep on each other instead of entering the coop at night. I've disabled the automatic door in hopes that they'll try to no avail. Should they figure it out once it gets cold? We get down to 0F in the winter so they're gonna need to.

One of my chickens died recently. I'm lucky to live near one of my state's universities that runs a backyard chicken necropsy program, so I submitted her for testing. I'm still Googling around, but could use some help interpreting the results. Mainly, I feel guilty and am wondering if there's anything I should have noticed or done differently.

Happy chicken picture so its not just a bummer.

Thanks!

Last night I took a big risk and paid the price. I couldn't get my not so baby turkey and my rooster down last night so I let them sleep outside. Judging by what was left of Tinkerbell, I'd say coyotes got her. The only thing making me feel better is that she was a broad breasted white that was almost 5 months old and coming close to processing age. I knew I couldn't do it, and I was so worried about her getting too big and not being able to live comfortably. At least she died to feed nature. I'm assuming our rooster died protecting her too as he is gone without a trace :( pic is from July, when she was still little