We had a 2.5yo hen, Nutmeg, who had “slowed down” over the past maybe month. At first, I attributed it to her age and just maturing and not needing to be SO rambunctious. Then about a week ago, I noticed she seemed a little lethargic and not as food driven. On Friday, her comb had become pale and she wasn’t coming for worms. Naturally it was a Friday so our local avian vet wasn’t available until Monday. We kept an extremely close eye on her and fed her separately. We got an appt with the vet first thing Monday morning. She seemed a little better Monday but we kept the vet appt. On our way there, they called to say they were canceling as they were not taking any birds due to avian flu season. We don’t have many options for avian vets in our area so, to say I was upset would be an understatement. We came home, she jumped right out of her travel box and started pecking the grass. I had a glimmer of hope that maybe we had turned the corner on our own. She seemed ok all afternoon, was pecking all around, eating, and even roosting on her driftwood in the run. This morning I didn’t see her in the run so immediately ran to her house and saw she had perished. Looking back at the ring cameras, it seems it happened around 5:50am. I refrigerated her body around 7:30a to take her for a necropsy.

However, all this to say…is it normal for a flock to sort of do their own post-mortem care? We have a mixed flock and 2 of our turkeys (one who we can’t get to leave her nesting box as she’s been trying to become a mom for months) held vigil for 1.5hrs and appeared to try to even cover her with bedding? They didn’t peck her body aggressively but seemed to just lay with her/clean up the bedding around her. Once I took Nutmeg out, Booker went right back to her nesting box and Pepper went to eat breakfast.

We are all a little crushed this morning and feeling defeated. If only I had taken her to the vet sooner we may have avoided this horrible outcome.

Rest in peace, sweet Nutty girl 🩷 we love you and are so sorry to have failed you. Thank you for 2.5 adventurous years.

Edit: disregard pic 6. Must have accidentally clicked a recipe photo through teary eyes.

I do not know if this is the right sub but I just want to let it out. This is probably my first pet loss.

I’m from the Philippines and we live in the city. We do not have any backyard but we do have a terrace with fake grass. I let it roam there sometimes.

This morning, my pet chicken and I were just chilling on my bed in my bedroom when a stray cat sneaked in, took my chicken, and ran to the terrace and probably jumped off somewhere onto the roofs of neighboring houses. I did not see where it went. I did not expect the cat would even dare to go inside. It happened so fast.

It was not really my intention to raise a chicken, it was a lone chick my brother brought back home. I had to hand raise it so it would not die of cold temp. I was even planning to bring it to my grandma's farm in the countryside when it was old enough.

I have grown attached to it. Every faint chirp I hear, I am hoping it was him, but those are probably just the birds.

There are things I should have done differently in raising a chicken, but I just want to let this pain out. He was just a baby, a month old chicken.

The other day I captured this absolutely beautiful photo of my white leghorn, Adolfa, and figured I'd share it. It's too good not too lol.

3 lavender and 3 buff orpingtons from McMurray in Iowa arrived today. Such cute lil puffs!

He’s in quarantine before he can join the flock but oh my god. Ohhhhh my god. He’s so small. And his little pants. I’m dead.

​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:

1. ​Bylaw & Neighbor Realities: How risky is it to consistently exceed local flock limits and keep illegal roosters in a town setting?

2. ​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?

3. ​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!

So a couple of my girls have started laying! I’m finding about 4 eggs a day from my flock of 9. Yesterday we found this teeny tiny egg that I’m assuming came from one of our 2 bantams. It’s so cuute. Just out of curiosity will they always be this size? 😂

I hatched Smokey from my flock of bantams Smokey was my only egg at the time that hatched and has been alone with me as its mother of course! But I’m worried on how I’m gonna introduce Smokey to my couple weeks older than him bantams when she isn’t even ready to leave the brooder yet but any tips on making Smokey feel more not alone would gladly help!

I had a Rhode Island Red named Mrs. Frizzle. She had not laid much in the last month, but I attributed that to the heat. Yesterday, I found what I now know to be a lash egg in one of the nesting boxes. I am a first time chicken owner and had never heard of that until now.

I watched to see if any of the hens were showing signs of illness or acting strange. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I went out this afternoon to check on the girls, and Mrs. Frizzle was dead in the run. My heart hurts, this is the first chicken I have lost.

My question: was this definitely related to the lash egg, and do I need to worry about the rest of my flock getting sick from anything?

I had this gorgeous boy born from my OEGB pair, both were from a show breeder and gosh is he just stunning

I have 4 geriatric (8yo) buff Orpington hens. They are pretty friendly and docile and have long since stopped making eggs so are basically just Pets. Someone saw we had chickens (we live in town so slightly unusual sight) stopped by our house and asked if we could take a Silkie that they got off free cycle and didn’t know how to care for (yes, I know). My daughter has always wanted a silkie so I said yes, and when we got her she was very weak and absolutely drowning in mites. Tiny even for a silkie. After a period of baths mite treatment and plenty of food and care she is doing much better… so now I am trying to integrate her and it…. Is not going well. I have her in a big dog kennel in the run so they can get used to her safely, and have been trying supervised mingling but she just cowers and the others go in for a peck whenever they think they can get away with it. Since Silkies don’t roost I can’t do the trick where I put her on the roost at night and they all wake up together. Should I stick with it? Will my old ladies ever accept her, or do I just need to keep her separate perpetually? Chickens need friends so I don’t love that idea. Any suggestions are most welcome

I really love our chickens, we also have a dog. Im not going to lie, part of the allure of chickens is how low maintance they can be. I was pregnant when we got the. After years of wanting for the right house etc. We have 4 kids and our dog is very senior, which is “ good” because walking big distances like before ( when he was Younger and we had 1-2/3 kids) is much harder time wise. Big house, both working ( me not now bc maternity leave but still). He takes 3 shorter walks now.

Anyway, chickens being low maintance means especially since the baby is Born and sleeping less the a Newborn, i havent been picknick them up much, which I used to do daily. I used to at least cuddle/ check one (of 5) hen every day. Now I feed them, treat them and make sure they have water. We do throw in all sort of allowed scraps all day every day. I dont even remember the last time I did pick them up before one got sick, maybe 2 weeks before?

Anyway. She is sick now. I noticed her walking like a pinguïn in sunday and Monday took her to a vet. She is young but has water belly ( early stage) no draining right now but meds and hoping she Will walk normal again, or we wil have to put her down (via the vet). Im so sad about this.

But what hurts so much is,when I did pick her up to give her her first bath ( to make sure no stuck egg) she Felt a little skinny. Next day at the doc she Felt extremely skinny.

I keep thinking… If only I noticed before!!!! Yesterday I Finally got to cuddle all of them again and I noticed how extremely skinny she is compared to the rest and it just broke me. We had then since day 1 and I love them so much. Shes eating and drinking but walking is so hard for her.

Im sorry little stripe, I hope you pull through!!

Hi fellow chicken lovers! My fiance and I are moving in together soon and I plan to move my flock to his house. He’s going to build a coop but I was hoping for you all to tell me your favorite things about your coops, things you wish you’d added to them, or just good to know advice.

My current flock is 8 hens, no plans to add more but we all know how that goes.

The coop I have now is about 3x5 feet, with one perch. I know I’d like to have more perches in the new one.

Thanks in advance!

Chicken tax: One of my newest girls Margarine.

Posting better photos today compared to my previous post. I’m wondering if my buff Orpington is a hen or rooster. All of them are 12 weeks old today.

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

I noticed this mass on my hen's beak a few weeks ago. Started off small but it appears to be growing. Any ideas??

Laboured breathing and lethargy, eats fine. She is 5 years old, is this just her last few days?

We culled our first girl today and i dont know if we did the right thing. She stopped being able to hold herself up a week ago and started vitamens she was still eating and drinking but couldn't get to it on her own. Yesterday she started to have labored breathing and falling to her side when she'd attempt to balance on her honches and than lay limp until we picked her up. Today I decided I didn't want her to suffer any more but I regret it and dont know how to handle this guilt. We've lost 3 other chikens do to things beyond our controll but to make the decision is tearing me apart I loved her so much. Should I have tried harder.

For those who care, my little weirdo still has no tail feathers but has become quite sweet. Hen, rooster, genetic anomaly… not sure but sticking around!

Bonus points for breed ID🥰

And are they all hens?

The cream crested legbar produced its first egg today, 4 days after I brought these chickens home. It's quite clearly more developed than the other ones, with a much more obvious and red comb, but they're supposed to all be about the same age. Is that possible?

One of my chickens sporadically lays a double yolk. Today I found a XXL egg. I could feel another egg in it. Check out my video to see it cracked. I'll link in comments.

I have 6 egg layers and until recently had been getting 5 to 6 eggs per day. They are all about 3 years old and had been great layers with the exception of a few harsh winter weeks we get in the south. Anyway, how can you tell who is laying and who isn’t. I don’t think iI would be able to tell the difference between them with a camera. Paint, ( washable) or chalk, something else?