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Yesterday afternoon I mysteriously lost a chick from its covered coop, and today at mid-day I have just lost another one (heard it happen this time but didn't manage to see what it was. I now just have two chicks left. Mother hen was separated as she had a respiratory infection. She is now...

It seems there is now a new wormer for chickens Panacur AquaSol. It is administered in the water, which makes it far simpler to use than Flubenvet. It appears to have zero egg withdrawal from my understanding. I don't know the price.

I have a bird raising chicks which has gone down with a respiratory infection (symptom noisy breathing) when the chicks (not her own eggs) hatched. I am desperately worried as she is not improving in spite of Tylan then Baytril (which I found too difficult to administer) antibiotics from the...

My young Marans cockerel, who looks after the hens beautifully. He is huge and I am not sure how to begin handling him again, or reassert my dominance. He does a lot of wing-beating and goes for me if I go in the pen with his hens. I know I'm supposed to pick him up and carry him, or push him...

I have a tiny feathered-leg sablepoot with completely spraddle legs born 24 hours ago. I have no vet-grip and am really struggling to get a sticking plaster on both legs. Does anyone have any tips? What position do you have the chick in? Are there any other methods with such tiny chicks...

I have reared large fowl and bantams together with no problem in the past, but wonder if it is OK to mix sablepoots, which are very tiny, with large fowl (Plymouth Rock, Vorwerk, Marans). This would allow me to put them with a mother hen, which would be much nicer.

I have a Marans hen that has grown up with an Araucana (large fowl), which I would now like to put with my cockerel. The two girls are good friends and both have lived with a cockerel before. Would it be unkind to put the Araucana in with the Marans cockerel? I think she will otherwise miss...

I wonder if it may be more difficult if an egg has pipped from the narrow end. I guess there is nothing I can do about it.

If an egg has been quiverring sporadically for over 12 hours, should it be turned over, just in case it is in the wrong position for hatching?

I am on day 19 of incubating 20 eggs and have found to my dismay that the incubator has had the humidity set too high for the first 18.5 days (65% instead of 45% humidity). I have now reduced the humidity to 30% but am not sure what to best do for the last two days in order to give the chicks...

I have some three-year old marans and one-year old Marans hen that I would like to put together with a cockerel (that has grown up with the one-year old hen) for breeding. However I'm finding the older hens are not very nice with the younger hen even though the introduction has been quite...

One of my favourite birds has a swollen face around her eyes and a swollen comb. She has not had any respiratory problems and seems well in herself, but the area all around her eyes is swollen so her eyes are not fully open and I am worried about her. Does anyone have any idea what could be...

If you live near a river where mink have been sighted, what is the best sort of fencing, or is it impossible to keep them out? I have dogs.

One of my henhouses has white scales when I clean it out. Does this mean it might have some sort of mites, or do the birds have something like dandruff?

I have an Araucana that can't lay her first egg, but the vet has no calcium injections, and it is flooded where I am so I can't get to another vet. I've bought some calcium tablets 400mgs and will try crushing and giving some of this. Does anyone know how much is safe to give by mouth?

My beautiful 7-month old Araucana was fine yesterday, but this morning she was not with the other birds and lethargic so I have brought her into an unheated room (with a window open) in a catbox. It has been desperately windy and rainy in my garden this week. She was eating and drinking this...

It is now mid-December but about half my birds haven't moulted yet and I'm worried about them moulting in freezing weather. I have kept them on layers pellets. Should I have given them a low protein diet to bring them into moult?

I have a three and a half year old Pekin that I bought as a multiply vaccinated young bird. She used to be a big character but she has been thin all year in spite of lots of feeding and for the last 6 months she's been gradually getting much quieter although there are no real signs of illness...

I have reared three marans cockerels this year, a copper black, cuckoo and copper blue that all look good examples of the breed, and would like to keep one for breeding. The copper black is already mature and has been living with the hens for 3 months. He is lovely-natured with me, and just...

Just wonder what everyone is doing about the storm tonight, and hoping you all manage to keep your birds safe. I've moved one or two of my favourite birds indoors in cat boxes but am at a bit of a loss to know what to do about the houses apart from moving them all to more protected bits of the...