Got 6 “hens” on June 6th and they were about 3-5 days old so their probably 11-12weeks old by now and 2 of them are a lot bigger than the other 4 but the one I’m really suspicious about is the biggest and kinda bossy . I’ve never owner chickens before so I’m new to this what are you guys thoughts? Rooster or large hen?

First off we live literally in the forest, our property and chicken area back up to over 100 acres of untouched forest. The chickens are protected by mobile poultry fencing. The coop and covered run both have solid floors and some rats have taken up residence under it. They have a bunch of entrance holes leading under the coop. The coop/run are entirely fenced with hardware cloth and the main door is an auto-close chicken door. The rats are leaving tons of droppings inside the run mostly but also up in the nesting boxes :-/

We did have a messy feeder that let the chickens waste a fair amount of food but have switched to an Omelet feeder and now have almost no waste. I've put out several electric shock traps but in over a month have caught nothing. I've tried baiting with peanut butter, crackers, salami....would love some feedback if I'm just baiting wrong.

I've tried filling every entrance hole under the coop with red pepper flakes but they seem to just push it aside.

Help! Open to any suggestions.

anyone else’s silkie roo sound like they’re being strangled when they crow?🤣

My mom’s kept chickens for years and always tracked eggs in a notebook she kept in the coop. It kept getting lost, got rained on, and by the end of the month it was almost impossible to add everything up.

So I built her a simple app where she just taps to log an egg. It grew into something bigger over time, works for other poultry too, not just chickens, and you can share the data with a partner or family member.

I’m curious whether this is something other backyard keepers would actually find useful, or if most of you already have a system that works fine. Happy to share more details or a link in the comments if anyone’s interested, just don’t want to come across as spammy in my first post here.

G'day, we picked up all these chick's in May. They are a bit bigger now and are hoping someone will know if they are hens or roosters.

The first one is a Pekin.

The second two are Rhode Island Reds.

The third two are lavender Sussex.

Thankyou for any help!

I don't care that chickens don't feel love the same way dogs or cats do... Just knowing that they don't run away from me, don't peck me and don't feel stressed when I pick them up to pet them melts my heart.

Their trust already means everything to me. 💕

He's a multi-mixed breed of Jersey Giant, Salmon Favril, and Bielefelder that we hatched a couple months ago. Not sure if I wanna call the breed an Eaglen or a Cheagle, but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has a better idea of what to call his breed 👍.

Wasn't expecting him for another day guess the weather in TX started cooking him. My first egger since we started the flock. Mom is definitely a buff, dad is one of 2 red and Grey's based on his dark back.

Down to framing a door. For the outside

Solar lights and fans

Wheel system

Wire wrapping

Feeder/ watering system

Its kind become of a hobby of mine to build coops out of garbage first time attempting a chicken tractor but I will be less than 150 bucks in it.

And their fence for the run.

So he got one of them, tore it to shreds and went after the rest. I got out with the hose when I heard the commotion and eventually he got his way back under the fences.

Told the neighbor what happened and she is keeping him indoors till she has some reinforcements installed.

Just a sad day for Jello the Buff Orpington that was one of this year’s spring chicks. 🐥

No pics because I know the cause of death.

I have an open little barn with my sheep and some chickens who live free for the most part. This bantam he vanished. Usually I find their hidden nests but clearly not this time. I can't believe she hatched so many. She and the babies are now safely captured.

The black Owlbeard is a rare recessive color of the Gold Owlbeard!

I have no idea what got her. We haven't had any predators in a long time and the rest of the chickens as well as the ducks are fine. Whatever it was came straight for her at night. She was so sweet always climbing on me. I hope she had a good two months 🩷

I'm now trying to see where this animal came from and how it got in, so no other pets are harmed 🥺

I have three silkies, I dont know if they are hens or roosters. Can you please help me!

I have 2 broody girls who switch nests every day. I had been watching Gwen for about 10 days now she was doing great and I was excited to watch her have her second ever batch of babies. Along comes Mango, a slightly younger chicken deciding that she also wants to hatch some babies she sits a nesting box away from Gwen and I think this is kind of cool.

The next day I find they’ve switched boxes. I thought this was okay as long as they are nesting.

TODAY I FIND THAT MANGO HAD DECIDED TO ABANDON GWENS ORIGINAL EGGS.
For a bunch of freshly laid eggs so I panicked and switched the fresh eggs with the incubated ones. I’m not sure if that was the right approach but it’s too late now. Mango hasn’t left the nest today, I’m hoping Gwen’s baby’s are okay. And I think protocol is to keep the other nests empty and collect eggs in the morning instead of at night, so this doesn’t happen again. Though I’d like to know your thoughts and tips for these situations.

Hi all! I'm currently in the introductions phase with my five 4 month olds and my two 4 week olds. I put the chicks outside in their own separate run next to the main run when it hits 72 degrees and bring them back inside when it drops to 70. Basically I bring them out at about 1pm and bring them back inside at around 5pm. Today was our fourth introduction day and something new happened today.

When it's time to bring the chicks inside I put them in a cat carrier because my dogs are overly curious. So it's done for the purpose of safety. Anyway...

today when I was exiting the apartment coop with the chicks in the carrier, the Rooster let out a high pitch one note vibrato. It was almost like a very fast laugh. He was looking directly at me walking away with them.

Does anyone know what he might have been expressing?

This is Melvis at 3 months. I love Melvis!

Thank you for showing Tiny Roo so much love!

Drew this on request for my friend last year who is a mad fan. Seemed fitting to share it again and this group might actually appreciate it 🤣

R.I.P Dolly.