Well, I've had her put down today... She was hardly able to move, just sitting. The vet is not an expert with chickens, but had a different one today who also could not feel anything obvious, and I opted against x-Ray. At least her last day was a sunny one...

One of my hens, Danielle, has been limping for a week or two. It started very gradually, so I didn't really notice it at first, but over the last few days it got worse. This morning she was just sitting down. She's fine otherwise: bright eyes, red comb, laying and eating. I took her to the vets, who...

Oh yes, I can hand-feed them, but out of the five of them the cockerel is definitely the most timid. He is very watchful all the time, as he should be, of course, but he has never been particularly bothered about other adults. My youngest daughter, who still lives at home and is quite short, did wor...

I had my 4 and 6-year-old niece and nephew visiting over Easter and while all humans involved enjoyed the visit and the lovely weather we had, my cockerel almost died of a heart attack twice. I had been worried that he might attack the children, having heard stories of aggression, but instead he com...

Any chance you could get her a couple of young chicks? You could sneak them in under her in the middle of the night...

My first lot used to get really wet when it rained - it took them ages to learn to go under cover. But I've noticed that those growing up with a broody hen for a mother always go for shelter. Maybe because they learned it as chicks?

My Bobby, Blue Copper Maran, is five months old and crowing a lot. He has four hens, three older than him, one his nest companion (a Welsummer). The Welsummer hen is lowest in the pecking order. He never tries to mate with her - in fact, he seems to go sit somewhere quiet with her every now and then...

And while we're on the subject of door openers: I have a light sensitive door control which is absolutely brilliant. It work on batteries, which I replace once per year, and I've never had any problems with it whatsoever. It did cost a bit of money when I got it 6 years ago, but I don't need to get ...

Chickens need to learn what to do when it rains. If you got them Point-of-Lay they will need to work out for themselves how not to get wet, ie where to find shelter. If they are brought up by a broody, or if they join a flock that has older hens in it, they will watch and learn much faster.

I took a hen to the vet's a couple of days ago because she has been wheezing and head shaking for weeks. She's perfectly fine in all other respects, but the wheezing had gone on for ages. He checked her over, listened to her chest and briefly considered gapeworm, but then said she seemed to have som...

I gave away my 4 young cockerels last year, and this year I've found a new home for one of the two that hatched, but the other one I'm going to keep, at least for the time being. Seeing them grow up has been so interesting and I just want to see how it goes. Soo - first crow this morning from Bobby ...

Started with 4. When down to 2, added 4 more. One of those went broody and hatched 6 chicks, so briefly I had 6 hens and 6 chicks in the garden. Found new homes for all chicks and earlier this year was down to 2. Since then, 1 rescue hen was aquired and 3 new chicks hatched, so now it's 6 altogether...

Thanks, especially to Richard - I rang the train company and they confirmed that chickens count as livestock and can therefore not be taken on board. I'll try and do it by car, which is probably better anyway...

Has anyone ever taken a chicken on a train? Apparently it's possible (well, in a carrier, obvioulsy)... I'm in the process of finding a new home for one of my young cockerels and a friend who lives quite a long way away has offered. The train journey would take about 4 hours, with one change. What d...

Same here - I have three 2 month old chicks and three laying hens, all on growers' pellets... I guess free-ranging chickens will find a lot of what they need anyway, whatever age they are.