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Does anyone know from what age young birds should be wormed?

Someone I supply eggs to has told me they have stomach problems and that they don't want my eggs any more. My birds are healthy and the eggs are generally clean. If they are slightly soiled I wipe them with a hot damp cloth. Do you think she could have possibly become ill from my eggs...

I am wondering about my cockerels and how suitable they might be for breeding. Does anyone know: - if I have a rather flighty, aloof cockerel, is this likely to pass on in his offspring? Does one select for character and friendliness as well as other traits? - I have a rather 'bandy-legged'...

I have a 5 month old Vorwerk hen that grew up as part of a mixed brood of 5 (2 marans and 2 plymouth rocks) but has always been a bit separate from the others. I slowly integrated 4 other pullets of the same age, including another Vorwerk pullet, but the two Vorwerks hate each other and fight...

I have had some eggs hatch from an incubator and put 4 of the chicks with a broody hen, but she is so avidly scratching that it is hard to manage the food and water and I am wondering whether to rear the rest under an electric hen. Apart from the chicks learning what to eat more quickly, are...

I had an egg which was abandoned by my broody hen when her chicks hatched. It was completely cold so I thought no more of it, then saw Marigold's post on the forum c 12 hours later that only after 24 hours could you be sure the chick was dead, so I popped it in the incubator. I switched off...

I have three well-grown 7.5-week old marans cockerels (no hen chicks in the brood) that are fighting badly. Is this a phase they go through, or do things get worse from here? They have been fighting for over a week and I'm not sure what to do about it. I hope this doesn't mean they will be...

I have a submissive Araucana that was being trodden by one of the hens in the spring and she lost some feathers from her back. Then I am not sure if she was pecked in the house at night because the feathers didn't grow back. I therefore separated some of the more dominant birds. She now...

I notice that if a bird has been vaccinated for mycoplasma, as in the case of most non-organic hybrids, the bird remains a permanent carrier.

I recently bought in two week-old chicks. I noticed one wasn't well when I got home and the breeder has had mycoplasma in her flock. The other chick has remained well. Is this likely to carry mycoplasma? I have treated both chicks with Tylan.

Last night my loveliest bird (18 months old) laid an egg with no shell or skin. Only part of the skin was laid and the rest retained, so she is now looking unwell. I am not sure what to do.

I have bought in two 8-9 day old chicks. One is unwell - smaller and standing with its wings out and lethargic, although it is eating. It gets cold easily and spends most of the time sleeping under the electric hen. The other seems fine. There is a foul smell to the poo, but it looks...

I have two broods of 12-week old growers - a group of 6 and a group of 4. I was planning to put them all together in a place where they will have more space, and quietly lifted two of them up in the dark, but the whole group went berserk. They haven't been handled but are friendly Plymouth...

Well, it must have been a rat, as Chris suggested, that took my two chicks, as I have now found one in the garden. I've been researching the best way to deal with the problem. Has anyone tried the electronic cages that are supposed to kill rats instantly? I'm slightly worried about using...

I have had one marans chick hatch from a small incubator. It will need company, and I wonder if it can be gradually integrated with three 7-day old marans chicks, or whether it is likely to be bullied.

On my last hatch I had a wheaten maran that zipped all the way around the egg overnight, with a half inch gap in the white skin so it was clearly visible, but it did not hatch. What could have gone wrong? I was so sure it was going to hatch. I also had one pip half cm from the underside of...

I just wonder if cockerels settle down a bit in their second year and are likely to be any less fiesty?

I have some eggs due to hatch in 4 days and they have gone 'springy', tipped on their end and they bounce a bit if I turn them. Does this mean they may be hatching early? I presume I should stop turning.

I've had a chick born at 5am with a round hernia or prolapse around its bottom. I've had this once before and it resolved itself and dried up, but this one is now ruptured and has bled whilst the chick is struggling to get on its feet so it looks very serious. The chick is not yet dried out.

A lot of my birds are laying smaller eggs than before. Is this perhaps a sign of them being overweight, or perhaps lacking something?