Q. I want chickens, I’ve seen that your family doesn’t buy a lot of stuff so I’m assuming you make chicken/duck feed some how. How do you do it?
A. We feed the chickens primarily with greens from our garden; however to be healthy and lay eggs, they do need chicken food which contains grains. For [...]
Q. & A. I’m so impressed, and inspired! I have a few questions though, about animals:
1) does it require a rooster to keep the chickens laying? If so, do they
crow around the clock?
Answer: Hens will lay eggs without a rooster – the eggs, however, will be
non fertile. To read more go [...]
Q. I’m interested in getting a few chickens. I know chickens are pretty adaptable but am a little worried they’ll be agitated by our soon to be house construction work/noise. Any help you can provide, would be appreciated.
A. Chickens are amazingly adaptable – just like you said. And, as a matter [...]
Q. We love our new chicks, any tips you could provide to make us better care givers would be appreciated. Thanks.
A. I’m sure they are going to be great. Enjoy them! They are a lot of fun and will only get more beautiful as they mature. They’re in the kind [...]
Q. Hey there this is Joelee Joyce, and I am a builder and permaculturalist in Tuscon Arizona. I have a problem with my hens , and a friend told me that your daughter knows quite a bit about raising and caring for hens. The problem is that they are molting, even though the temperature is [...]
Q. Hi. Thanks for writing me back. Thankfully, that experience ended as abruptly as it began. I thought maybe if I put a bitter tasting substance on the feather ends it would deter them from nibbling further, so I put lemon juice on her wing and I never saw blood again. I [...]
Q. Hi. i’m hoping to start raising bantam chickens in the spring. the minimum order from hatcheries seems to be about 25. Did you keep all 25 of your chicks? If not, what did you do with them?
Thanks,
zainab
A. Yes, most hatcheries will ship no less than 25 bantams because the chicks need heat and the [...]
Q. I just wanted to give you an update on our chickens and ask a question. All 4 of our girls are happy and well adjusted. Their feathers are glossy and eyes bright. I was worried about the cold nights but they seem to be thriving. We have a little dog house in the coop [...]
Q. We’ve discovered in the last 2 weeks that Mrs. Whatsit, the Rhode Island Red hen we got from you, is actually not a hen. She’s a rooster. Her comb kept growing and growing and she got bigger and bigger but we were in denial until she started crowing in the last few weeks and [...]
Q. Not sure if you will remember me….I’m the chicken lover from Queensland , Australia. I am really worried about one of my chickens this morning as she is behaving oddly. Being new to the whole chicken experience I’m not sure if my worries are founded and need some advice. She is moving very slowly [...]
Q. This is Tina at Los Angeles Eco Village, I went to visit your garden (“in heaven”) in February with a group of people from LAEV. Thank you so much for showing us around, it was very motivating for us to do something in our garden. I have a question about chicken. We are building [...]
Q. My son and I are interested in raising backyard chickens, which breeds do you recommend for newbies and is there a place where I can purchase day old chicks? Thanks for your help.
A. Sure. First, if you don’t mind – you could let me know state you live in so then I could find [...]
Q. Heya, I am Ruby, I live in PDX, OR, a wonderful city. I love your web sight, good job. I have questions about chickens. I had them for a while, loved them sooo much. They were in a large pen on the side of the house…eventually, the rats came and overtook things, destroyed the [...]
Q. Keeping Animals in Town?
I’m really enjoying your website- it has been such an encouragement to me! We recently moved from a 5 acre farm in OK, complete with dairy goats, pigs, calf, chickens, and ducks to a urban neighborhood in CO. I was initially very frustrated to be so limited here, but I [...]
Q. Do you have specs for this coop? It’s so perfect that I’d love to copy it!!! I’m getting some chickens this weekend (of course I panic and “do” last minute) and the coop they’re giving me is lame and shabby. I want to give them a better home and THIS looks [...]
Q. HELLO i got a ? for you if you can help with this ? i got some bantams chicks but when they get older what size nest i need for them and can i make it out of wood ? THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR TIME.
A. For bantam chickens, I would recommend you [...]
Q. Can bunnies and chickens live together?
A. My bunnies, chickens, and ducks all share the same outdoor run area. I am by no means an expert, but as far as I know, there isn’t much of a problem with ducks and chickens living together.
The only problems I have found out are:
1.) You have to either [...]
Q. Born 8/17/05 received the chicks at 9:30 a.m. on August 18th. The chickens were on the medicated start and grown feed from Southern States. In the middle of December I started giving them 1/2 start & grow and half of the laying pellets/corn mixture, since they were 4 months old. I was [...]
Q. A friend of mine raises chickens in her backyard. Recently she has been having a problem with the red hens picking feathers and eventually pecking holes in the sides of some of the hens. What is causing this too happen? Any help or ideas that you have that I can share with [...]
Q. HELP! Maybe you don’t answer chicken problem questions?? But maybe you can help me- don’t know where else. Have had 3 roosters, 2 hens for 4 years. No problems until yesterday when 2 roosters started fighting. Came home to 2 bloody, beat up roosters. What is going on all of a sudden, & what [...]
Q. I need help with my chickens. My “girls” are laying their eggs on the floor of the coop and they roost/poop in the nest boxes.
I have an indoor roost built for them as well as “free range” them during the day. The majority of the girls use the roost, but I [...]
Q. My chicken is suffering, how can I put it to sleep peacefully.
A. There’s a reference here:
http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChickHealth.htm
I’m still hoping she can pull out of this, but wanted to send it along to you just in case.
I’m still working on researching or obtaining something which would allow me to put a chicken to sleep [...]
Q. Our hen looks like she has crop infection, can you help?
A. Sorry I didn’t stay long on the phone with you. I knew I had some stuff in my files but couldn’t remember them off the top of my head. So, email will be the best medium for this.
I forgot to [...]
Q. Can rabbits and chickens live together in a fenced area, or will they fight? I would have separate hutch for bunnies at night.
Thanks,
Sue Brookings, OR
A. My rabbit lives in the same enclosure as the ducks, chickens and goats.
I cannot really [...]
Q. I’d like to raise chickens; however I’ve found out they are against the law in my city and the officials are giving me trouble. Can you help?
A. Sorry to hear of the difficult time the city is giving you regarding your desire to raise chickens. Sometimes, all they can see is the laws [...]
Q. Hi. My family and I are thinking about getting some chickens. We also have 4 dogs and would like to know if chickens are good with dogs? Please let me know if you have any information on this.
Thanks
Erin
A. Chickens can get along with dogs, especially if you raise them from babies. But I [...]
Q. Were the ducks raised from chicks together?
A. No, we raised the ducks a year after we raised the chickens. So the chickens were a year old when they were introduced to the ducks.
Q. How did you introduce them?
A. Well, we definitely didn’t want to introduce the ducks when they were [...]
Q. I stumbled upon your wonderful site when searching about urban chickens. My husband & I (and 2 yr old) are considering building a coop/run and purchasing chicks so that we can raise a few hens in our backyard in Eugene, Oregon. But I’m wondering if bringing chickens into our [...]
Q. I’d like to get a couple of hens for eggs, but can they defend themselves against a neighborhood cat? David
A. Most STANDARD ADULT chickens can defend themselves against a neighborhood cat. In fact, most cats I know of are pretty frightened of chickens. Chickens will charge and peck at a cat and scare the [...]
Q. Dear Dervaes Family,
I actually have a few more simple questions. My housemates and possibly neighbors are concerned about smell and noise from the chickens. Can you tell me how loud they are and how smelly they will get? Also, what is the proper sq footage of lawn per chicken? I [...]
Q. So, showing my ignorance again about chicken breeds…does “Bantam size” refer to a smaller Goldenlaced Cochin as opposed to the standard Golden Laced Cochin which, as you mentioned, is rare?
My basic anxiety is that I won’t know what the “%#&^$ I am doing! I would love to get ideas on building a chicken [...]
Q. Do you think my chickens will travel in a car for less then 2 hours and be fine and happy?thanks so much,
chavonne
A. Well, I think it’s a great idea to send the chicks along with the kids to Grandma’s. As for the travel, the chicks might not be “happy”, but they will survive and [...]
Q. Noticed you don’t have any Aracaunas. Why is that?
A. The reason why I didn’t list any Aracaunas is because it’s very confusing to some people.
I can get you the “Easter Egg” chicken which lays bluish / greenish eggs which range from turquoise to deep olive. This is the one Martha Stewart made “famous” and [...]
Q. My chicken is sick, can you help?
A. Sorry to learn of your sick chicken. I hate it when one of my animals falls sick and I am helpless.
Unfortunately, due to the “wholesale” practices of the American Poultry Industry, chickens are considered throw-away and not much time is spent finding ways to heal them of [...]
Q. I was referred to you by a friend of mine who has been to your home many times. I’m looking for fertilized chicken eggs for our homeschool (we have an incubator and brooder here at our house) and she thought I may be able to purchase some from you. I saw a [...]
Q. I have been reading up on raising chickens for eggs in a backyard (urban) setting and I came across an issue that is not answered well by the meat eating author: Since egg production of chickens drops off as they get older, what do you do with the older birds? We are vegetarian and [...]
Q. I want chickens, I’ve seen that your family doesn’t buy a lot of stuff so I’m assuming you make chicken/duck feed some how. How do you do it?
A. We feed the chickens primarily with greens from our garden; however, to be healthy and lay eggs and because of our restricted space, they do [...]
Q. What is the purpose of the goats, the turtle, the ducks, and Quinn (its a bird you have I just don’t know what it is called)? I saw that you feed them leftovers then compost their poop, but couldn’t you just compost the leftovers?
A. Our animals not only provide us with companionship, they are [...]
“Getting Along” Q&A with Jordanne
Jordanne’s answer to a reader about chickens and ducks getting along. Jordanne continually amazes us and others she meets with her immense knowledge of animals. She’s not the type to let on how much she knows but she feels that she should share her knowledge because as she says “I wish [...]
Q. Just wondering how you can tell that an egg is fertile? Does it look different from an unfertilized egg? I was also wondering how many eggs you can hatch in an incubator at one time and how long it takes them to hatch?
A. Regarding fertile eggs, you first need a male – duck or [...]
It’s been absolutely crazy (insane) around the urban homestead lately, no thanks to construction work on the house which makes living and working at home a little more difficult. Can’t wait till the work is complete so one doesn’t have to always feel like walking through an obstacle course when one’s in the yard.
Unfortunately, journal [...]
The hens are doing wonderful, which is a blessing! They seem to like what we’ve been feeding them, naturally — fresh greens and veggies and kitchen scraps and squiggly creatures/bugs from the garden. We get about an egg a day from each hen. We even have some surplus to sell!
It was quite a shock when [...]
