We've had chickens for a little over a year, and sometime at the end of July we discovered what we thought to be "piojillo" (Dermanyssus gallinae), but after some research I think they could be other kind of mites since they do not seem red. They climb up our bodies and do not bite, but I have skin problems and their walking around me itches a lot, so I have been showering compulsively whenever I step into the coop.

My family always had chicken, so I asked my mom and she said to use "Zotal" (I don't know the English equivalent, but I believe it is a phenolic disinfectant). So far, we've applied the product five times, eliminating the plague for up to three days, but they always come back.

The chicken were very plucked, but it could be due to it being time for them to molt. Two of them died during this time looking really thin and another one died of a fall (she was very young and we took most things out to disinfect, so she must have tried to get on a post that was too tall for her and fell breaking her neck). We are now left with six hens and three roosters (two of them very young, they do not fight yet), and they seem very happy and energetic, but I can't stand going to feed them and seeing these bugs everywhere.

Has anyone had to deal with anything like this? Any advice you'd be willing to share? Thank you in advance!!

PS: Apologies for my English. It is not my first language and, while I have considered myself quite proficient for a long time, turns out I do not have the vocabulary to talk about chicken and mites.

Hi guys, first time poster here.

I am in Australia and my chooks are dropping like flies, I am pretty rural and none of the vets around here specialise in poultry so they're not much help. I have lost a half a dozen chooks in the last month and it's actually really upsetting me.

Basically, I have a crop of chickens that I raised from eggs. They're about 6 months old, and I have had them in the same place the whole time. I had 21 that made it to adulthood and now they are one by one getting really sick and just dying.

They start off by having really droopy wings then they sit down a heap then I find them dead the next day. Sometimes I do notice them with their wings drooping a couple of days before they die.

I have one of my favourite hens quarantined because she is showing the symptoms that all of the others were showing and I have her on a coccidiosis treatment. I have only started that today so I am going to see if I can hopefully fix her.

What do you guys suggest I do to stop all of this? they are all in a big chicken run but it is an older one and its just plain dirt. We have been getting a bit of rain and it does have parts that do hold a little water. I am in the process of fixing it up bit by bit but I want to stop the deaths before I end up with no chooks at all. Is there anything I can spread on the dirt to kill whatever is killing them to begin with?

Thank you!

I’ve been reading the comments on my previous post, and ventilation came up as an important factor in raising healthy chickens.



It got me thinking about what really makes a chicken coop well-designed.



Besides having enough space, what do you think matters most when designing a coop? Good ventilation, easy cleaning, predator protection, or efficient feeding and watering systems?



For those with experience raising chickens, what would you do differently if you were designing your coop from scratch today?

Hi all,

I built Hatch Day, an Android app where you set a clutch and it shows what the eggs need that day. But I'm a developer, not a poultry farmer so I need feedback from target audience.

What it does:

- Day counter and countdown for each clutch

- Today's temperature and humidity targets (°C or °F)

- Turning reminders at times you pick, and when to stop turning

- Candling days, lockdown and the hatch window on one timeline

- Cooling and misting days for waterfowl

- 11 species built in (chicken, duck, Muscovy, goose, turkey, Coturnix, bobwhite, guinea, pheasant, partridge, peafowl) plus a custom profile

- Works offline, no account

The free version tracks one hatch at a time. Pro adds multiple incubators, a candling log, temp/humidity logging and hatch-rate stats.

Most hatching charts assume chickens: 21 days, done. Muscovies (35 days), geese, and bobwhite vs Coturnix quail each have their own schedule, and that usually means digging through university extension PDFs. The targets come from incubator makers and university poultry guides. Your incubator's manual and a calibrated thermometer still come first.

What I'd really like to hear:

1. For those of you hatching waterfowl or game birds: do the humidity and lockdown numbers match what has worked for you?

2. Is there a species or step I'm missing?

Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mintwave.hatchday

I'll answer questions in the comments, and I'm happy to fix anything that's wrong.

Male layer chicks are born into a system that has no use for them.

Because they cannot lay eggs, millions are killed shortly after hatching. Some are ground up alive in industrial macerators. Others are suffocated.

They are born. They suffer. They die.

All because they are male. 💔

This is the reality of the egg industry.

My question is what can i use for a diy brooder or warm light for chicks, since i have a project of raising chicks and dont know what can keep them light with warmth.

Ive only thought of the idea of a nightlight for a box for my chicks, need help😅🥲

If you are a poultry farmer looking to expand your chicken farm, our H-type layer cages are a great choice.
Our equipment saves labor, improves egg collection efficiency and reduces manure handling trouble.
We provide full chicken house design and one-stop farm solution.
DM me for catalog and price.

#poultryfarming #chickencage
#layerfarm #automatedfarm

I recently purchased some land with a chicken coop area already set up, but it was severely overgrown and neglected.

I've put in the work to get it cleared out, but I've never owned chickens before and all the videos I see look a bit different than what I've got going on. Im hoping to get 4 or 5 chickens in a few weeks, but want it to be a safe, functional space for them before being brought here.

Oh, I'm in central/north-ish Texas, so it gets crazy hot. Feel like that's probably important to note.

There is currently no power.

WHAT OTHER NEEDS ARE THERE THAT IM NOT THINKING OF??? (The cheaper the solution, the better please 🖤)

Already:

Planted chicory, forage turnips, and sweet clover(thats what is visibly green scattered around)

Planning to reinstall 1 or 2 of the nesting box rows in the coop.

Have a water source.

I know I need to remove the gap between ground and edge of coop/hut part, but havent yet figured out what to use.

🖤🖤🖤Thank you so much in advance 🖤🖤🖤

This is my setup. Not gorgeous at the moment I know, it's an omlet eglu and run. I need to figure out a good roof solution as I am in Canada and the snow collapsed my run a few years ago. I think I'm going to try and build a high pitch roof with electrical conduit and a heavy duty tarp to cover. I'm not sure if I want to attach the conduit to my existing metal poles or make a wooden frame that runs around the run. I would probably just use the cement feet for decks to anchor the wood.

1. I am thinking of laying some flooring down in the run to make cleaning it out easier. I have put wire grids on the bottom as an adorable murderous mink dug under it a few years ago and murdered my beloved ducks. What flooring would you suggest? Outdoor deck tiles or just grab rubber sheets or tiles. I plan to put mulch or wood shavings on top for the winter.

Thanks for the help!

Has anyone actually done experiments on the use of artificial intelligence in poultry wards?

So, I have (had) 6 chickens, alongside one cockerel.
Everything has been going great until recently where we have had a real boom in a rat problem. The rats have started going into the hen house and eating the eggs. When I got on top of that problem I noticed that some of my hens now had a taste for pecking and eating their own eggs and others.

I’ve been trying to get on top of the situation. I have a live feed camera in the hen house. They have plenty of space in our yard. They have good quality layers pellets. Oyster shells. And several drinkers with one large feeder. Also the occasional cabbage or melon thrown enrichment.

Friday night I came home to find one of my chickens dead inside the hen house, curled up and on her back was a gaping wound. I initially thought a rat had done this. I cleaned up her and any blood and set a humane rat trap inside the house with eggs as bait (so as not to poison or harm my chickens).

I checked the rest of my flock for injuries when I shut them all in their house that night - nothing.

The next morning when I went out to let them out and to collect eggs I found another one of my hens in the exact same spot with her abdomen pecked open.

I made the decision then to move two of my flock out to my mothers as I couldn’t be sure if this was rats or the chickens now as this happened overnight. The two I moved consisted of: my cockerel (a little Bantam who I have had for years with several different chickens and never had an issue with, he has a lovely temperament) and my Buff who has been his companion since I got them, the two seem very bonded and I never see them squabbling. They are my original flock.

The three I left here (I moved to a new area in my yard) are rescue batts, who have always squabbled and pecked each other a lot but I assumed it was pecking order.

I did the same again, checked them all for injury. Checked the house and shut them in. I also woke up every on the hour last night and checked them on the camera (I know.. anxiety 🫠) they all seemed fine..

At some point this morning between my camera checks, another chicken attacked. I spotted her on the camera at 7am, she was off the perch and on the floor in the corner. Her chest had been pecked open. My partner humanely dispatched her.

I have 2 of my batts left and I feel completely broken and at a loss, my mother says the cockerel and Buff are both fine at hers with no injuries. My partner is suggesting we start fresh and dispatch both of the remaining batts as we don’t know if it’s both or one. I know what and why is he is saying that but I feel awful.

Does anyone have any advice or have any better ideas? My priority is preventing suffering. I won’t see anything suffer and I don’t want to put another chicken at risk tonight.

Grateful for any help. Please be kind, I’m trying my best here.

few days ago like Thursday I noticed my roosters leg looked funny then yesterday it was bleeding but now it’s not. I washed it with water and hes molting too so is it tied to that?

I Will be selling eating & fertilized chicken eggs starting next year.

What color are you most likely to purchase and how much would be willing to spend for 12ct(dozen)?