Recent content by chrismahon

They are probably carrying 'immunisation viruses' which are weak live viruses from several infectious (and fatal) virus groups administered in stages to infect the birds and give them resistance to the serious variants. Can't remember all of them but Infectious Bronchitis is one. These mild...

We celebrate 14th July here, which is 'Bastille Day', so our Independence Day. The French peasants overthrow the monarchy and the entire royal system and then start chopping their heads off with a guillotine in Paris. Great spectator events and a lot of blood; so much in fact that it became a...

It's been pretty stressful here @Icemaiden . Our second heatwave was pretty severe with 4 days reaching over 40C. The two from the top enclosure were rehomed in the bread oven room behind the kitchen for the first heatwave and stayed there two weeks. I've insulated the roof so it normally...

For whatever reason, which may be due to the embryo being stuck to the side of the egg due to a turning angle problem during incubation, this poor little chick appears not to have developed on one side? Now that isn't necessarily a problem as development may continue to the extent that in a few...

I just wouldn't mix turkeys with chickens.

Quick look at Wikipedia says that it's the other way round, so Turkeys are more susceptible to 'Blackhead' than chickens and can catch it from being in an area that chickens have grazed. Sorry, my mistake. Mareks is an unknown quantity to me, having no experience of it other than reading of...

I don't understand how or why getting them prevents Marek's and in who? I remember going way back to when we had our first chickens and in a panic called the vet because I thought we had an outbreak of 'blackhead', which turned out to be cherry juice and soil on the combs and wattles. But I...

Ex-batts can be pretty aggressive towards other chickens and shouldn't be mixed. If she shows signs of depression perhaps think about a pair of youngsters, otherwise I'd leave her single and spend time with her. Look at pure breeds not hybrids, as UK hybrids carry some infectious immunisation...

I haven't either for a reason. They are very cute indeed, so if rearing for the table it probably won't happen. Read plenty of reports where people bought chicks for Christmas dinner and then couldn't despatch them. They ended up as pets, as I'm sure ours would.

Hello @mandyRS and welcome to the forum. They are not ex-battery hens, the photo looks like a hybrid layer. A sloppy, slimy looking poo like that, particularly green in colour says to me a sour crop problem. This is where food in the crop doesn't pass through quickly enough and begins to rot...

Starting with what we have had (large fowl unless stated otherwise):- Orpingtons- Jubilee, black and buff. These are big birds laying surprisingly small eggs and not that many. A very docile breed and easily bullied. The cocks can be huge and prone to hip joint problems rendering them unable to...

Brahmas are quite big birds, so you can discount Omlet coops which are , as you say, expensive. They have been designed for the manufacturing process, not keeping chickens and make exceptionally poor chicken coops. They are easier to keep clean because you can jet wash them, but all our coops...

You are quite right of course @NestNerd , but the run is 220m2.

Hello @NestNerd and welcome to the forum. Seems simple when you start, but is actually quite complicated. The key is to avoid mistakes and then you won't have to deal with the problems they would cause. Perhaps the only book you will need on the subject is 'Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens'...

Rosie has hung CD,s from steel posts and branches @Icemaiden which seems to have kept the kestrel at bay. Lots of flashing light reflection which is off-putting to us and the chickens so hopefully the kestrel. The raven hasn't been back, but I did spot it sitting in a big oak in the corner of...