Does deliberately putting chickens in a situation where they eat fried chicken constitute a morally questionable act on the humans' part, even if the chickens experience no apparent distress and have no understanding that they are eating another chicken?
Last friday my chicken suffered an internal egg rupture while I was away. The next day she got a bath from a family member which helped remove the crushed egg ( I found it near her roosting spot) and when I saw her on Sunday she was in a bad condition and not eating or drinking. I gave her 2 very small doses a day of augmentin (antibiotic), and an epsom bath which didn’t remove anything, yet she looked much better, and was eating, drinking, walking, and roosting. I could feel a lump on her bottom, around the small intestine area near the vent which I assume is an egg that won’t come out because she was in shock. When I went to feed her this morning, she was at her laying spot bobbing her head and would not eat her medicine. When she walked she was kind of wobbly. Does anyone know what is happening to my chicken, and if there is any way to treat what she has or even save her????
Hey everyone,
I've been digging into poultry feed lately, trying to actually understand where things go wrong before I build anything not just take it from industry reports.
Would love to hear from anyone running a farm any size, though I'm especially curious to talk to people running bigger operations
1.What's the most frustrating part of your feed situation right now — cost, consistency, availability, nutrition, or something else?
2.Roughly what are you paying per kg (or per bird cycle), and how much has that moved in the last year or two?
3.Ever dealt with inconsistent quality, contamination, or feed that just didn't perform the way it should?
4.Tried any alternative protein sources, like insect meal or algae? What happened?
5.Is there anything that would make you switch suppliers immediately if it existed?
Not selling anything here — genuinely just trying to learn from people who deal with this daily. If you're running something bigger, I'd love to jump on a quick call — feel free to DM me.
Thanks so much, really appreciate any insight!
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some candid, real-world feedback from experienced flock keepers, small breeders, and homesteaders.
My wife loves animals and wants to breed poultry full-time. I support having hobbies—even ones that cost money—provided there’s a steady income to balance things out. I’ve suggested she work a part-time job during the week so she can enjoy her birds on weekends without risking our household financial stability.
However, the scale of the operation keeps escalating into major financial losses, legal risks, and extreme logistics, and I'm looking for an honest reality check from people who actually raise birds.
Here are the main issues we are facing:
Bylaw Risks: Our town strictly limits residents to 5 egg-laying hens and zero roosters. She repeatedly exceeds the 5-hen limit and brings home roosters, keeping them temporarily until neighbors or city code enforcement notice.
Fragile Birds & Bad Timing: She heavily favors tiny, delicate species like quail and small broodies/bantams. She is importing and hatching them right now in late August—heading into a harsh northern winter—which leads to high heating bills, sickness, and cold-related deaths.
High-Cost Import Runs: She just drove across the border to New York to pick up a $2,000 USD shipment of birds, adding massive upfront costs and travel stress on top of our existing debt.
Extreme Travel for Tiny Returns: She will drive 5+ hours round-trip to deliver a $10–$20 small animal because she feels obligated to a buyer, spending far more on gas than the sale brings in.
Selling relies on distant weekend auctions that swallow up whole days.
Predator Losses on Remote Land: Sinking $2,000 cash into an unverified lease on remote, wooded land without daily oversight or heavy predator-proofing, resulting in wild predators repeatedly wiping out the birds.
For those with long-term experience with poultry and quail:
Bylaw & Neighbor Realities: How risky is it to consistently exceed local flock limits and keep illegal roosters in a town setting?
Quail & Late-Season Breeding: Is raising tiny, delicate birds like quail or hatching chicks in late August financially viable, or does winter heating and high mortality make it a guaranteed money pit?
The Business Math: Does spending thousands on imported stock or driving hours for $10 sales ever make financial sense for a small setup, or is this strictly a high-cost hobby?
Appreciate any candid perspectives, cost realities, or advice from people who keep birds.
Thanks!
Picked up four Blue Laced Red Wyandottes from Murdoch’s back in February (straight run). It’s now mid-August and I haven’t seen any eggs.
One of them crows several times per day — so that’s clearly my rooster.
All four look basically identical to each other and the crower in terms of coloring and comb/wattle size… except one has just slightly smaller comb/wattles than the others (but still redder & bigger than any pullet I’ve seen).
BLRWs are slow to lay but at this point… am I just looking at four roosters??
Pics attached for reference — would love some second opinions before I start making decisions.
Thank you!
My rooster had visible mites around his ass/back area so I gave him and the rest of the flock a permethrin bath. It seemed to have worked because I no longer see any mites on anyone. I also cleaned the coop really well and applied diatomaceous earth everywhere. This was about 6 er 7 weeks ago I did this. I have been applying Blu kote to his red skin but there hasn’t been an improvement. Feather loss may be even a little worse tbh. I’ve also made a homemade mix of cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, garlic, to add to their food, just in case he might have worms or something. Now that’s just a home remedy and it may not be 100% for getting rid of parasites, but I don’t know. I’m not really the type to take a chicken to a vet so I’m asking y’all‘s opinion.
The one pic is what he looked like before the problem started
Whats happening with my chicken? The Vet couldn't give me answers so I'm lost.
Need advice because I cannot keep doing this in this Alabama heat 😂🥵
We just moved my girls into their new coop/run and they have not figured out the routine yet. At night I’m trying to get everybody from the run into the coop, and in the morning some of them act like the ramp/stairs are a death trap and refuse to come down into the run.
I’ve tried mealworms/treats on the steps, calling them, giving them time, etc. Some get it and some absolutely do not. They’re still young and this is all brand new to them, so I know there’s probably a learning curve — but I am literally outside dripping sweat trying to herd chickens. 😭
For those of you with raised coops/ramps:
What was the easiest way you taught them to go into the coop at night and come down into the run in the morning?
Did you physically put them in/out for a few days? Use treats? Let them figure it out completely on their own? And about how many days did it take before everyone understood the routine?
Any tricks are VERY appreciated because these girls are about to humble me. 😂
With winter getting closer here in Norway, I’ve started preparing for the colder months with our chickens, quail and ducks.
I’ve been reading quite a bit about how different poultry handle cold weather, especially when it comes to moisture, ventilation, frozen water and keeping their housing dry. I ended up putting everything together in an article, along with some of the sources I’ve used.
Thought I’d share it here in case it’s useful for anyone else getting ready for winter too. 🙂
https://denlillehagen.no/nyheter/keeping-chickens-quail-ducks-winter?lang=en
Need advice on how to help my rooster and one hen out of a flock of 10. They both have these in their feet with my orange hen now limping whereas 1 week ago you couldn’t tell anything was wrong. Thank you in advance!
I know for sure I have at least four roos in my flock. These three I have no idea. This is my first year with chicken so thanks for any help! These guys are a mixed breed that someone has crossbred to get really vibrant pretty eggs. Approx 12 weeks old. Also taking pictures of chickens is like trying to take a good picture of your toddler.
The good news is none of my roos are fighting yet so I kept them for now! It's hard raising them from eggs and having to give them up. :(
Just curious....might wanna own one someday
Because if they had four they’d be chicken sedans
Btw she pass yesterday late evening, she was my first layer of my flock it’s so sad it hurt me she only layed for about a month and then yesterday she got to the point where she wasn’t standing or eating and had water diarrhea with yellow the last time. I’m not sure do I need to treat the rest with corid ?
this is my 16 week old lavender orpington bluebell and she had what we think was cocci. she was sleeping a lot, not eating hardly anything, and just very ill. we isolated her and treated her for cocci but she hasn’t been the same since. we have tried nutri-drench, poultry cell, probiotics, isolation, checking her crop, and giving her vitamins and just trying anything to get her healthy again but she refuses to eat anything other than just pecking around the grass. she is very skinny and weighs practically nothing, she is way smaller than my other lavender orpington, and none of the other chickens have had any symptoms of any illnesses and i have no idea what to do. please help!
I had two geese. Toulouse.
About a year old.
About two months ago my male couldn’t walk and would just fall over. He ended up passing like two days after that.
Then I was left with my female.
Yesterday she couldn’t walk and would just fall. So I separated her and put some food/water next to her overnight. She ended up passing last night.
Does anyone know what this could be? It only occurred in my geese and two months apart from each other.
I see a pretty common attitude on here that a rooster is either a good rooster or he’s soup. Being someone who is used to taming other kinds of animals, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept. Is it really simply a rooster’s natural temperament that makes them aggressive or is there misinformation on how to raise a rooster, that leads to a common attitude of keep or kill? Thinking ethically, I feel like it’s my responsibility to try and raise that rooster for the biggest chance of survival and success, without endangering the other chickens. People say that aggression is unfortunately genetic, and cannot be helped. Is it really so black and white? If so, why? (This is a genuine question as someone who is inexperienced and trying to support my family in chicken handling in the most ethical way I can. I am open to any and all helpful feedback, as I believe there are people on this subreddit probably much more experienced and wise than me when it comes to handling chickens. Snarky commentary is unwelcome.)
Thank you 🫶
EDIT: Thank you so much for all the feedback! Everybody is being so nice and patient with me as they share their experiences, and it really warms my heart! I will do my best to respond to all the comments I got.
Hello! I need some help with a bullied chicken in my seven chicken flock. I am brand new to chickens and acquired these 7 chickens in May this year as a favor to my neighbor who had them from chicks last year and had to suddenly move. We had the fenced in back yard and space so we took them. I don’t know a lot about chickens, but do know about pecking order etc. We have 5 Easter eggers and 2 olive eggers. The 2 olive eggers were at the bottom of the pecking order and commonly had pecked at bare backs. Research told me this is normal. These chickens are free range most days (9am-7pm ish) unless we are away.
About a month ago the other chickens started to really beat up on the one in the picture in particular, pics 4 and 5. We separated her for about 4 days, then had to go on vaca for 2 weeks. We put her back in and luckily the neighbor who we got them from noticed her being picked on again and was able to separate her again for 8 days, then reintroduced, however they were in the coop most of the time since we were away. We got home 5 days later with her skull bashed in by pecking, pics 1, 2, and 3. We separated her again when we got home. The internet/chatgpt said to keep her separated indefinitely and we may need to find her a new home.
Please let me know what I can do at this point. I have been spraying her with chicken Neosporin and giving her plenty of food, water and treats. Do we need to find this chicken a new home?