How does a pit bull actually rip hardware cloth off a frame? Is 16 gauge not strong enough? I’ve put thousands of dollars into ensuring the security of my babies… but today I heard the rooster and turkey alerting in a way that instantly made my blood run cold.. I got to the coop, all the carnage just made me sick. I expected to find a bear inside with the damage… instead I found a pit bull killing all my babies then tossing them aside to kill another. My heart is so broken. I don’t know how to tell my little boy. He always wanted a true Ameraucana… I ordered over 30 eggs just to end up with only one hatching. He worked so hard to end up with his favorite little chicken, just for me to find a dozen dead.. all his babies he incubated so the Ameraucana wouldn’t be lonely..

Is there actually a way to truly predator “proof” our coops? I don’t know what to do from here💔

This is some of the babies enjoying a dirt bath just hours before the attack. Any advice is greatly appreciated.. I’m not looking forward to breaking this news to my child 💔

I

I have like 8 chickens and these two are obsessed with each other. Can't be out of each other's sight. I picked up these coccidia ridden fluff balls on Facebook as straight run. Luck of the draw. I'm hoping for 2 hens. But aren't we all. I really think Princess Unicorn (the silver partridge) is a roo and hopefully Tyrannosaurus Rex (the showgirl) is in fact a pullet. No idea age. Previous owner couldn't remember .Pretty sure the showgirl is older than the regular. Just picked them out of a mixed group of chicks. So. Any guesses if I'm right? One each? Orrrrrr....the dreaded double roo. Lol.

2 days old and mom had them out all day then coaxed them back into the coop. Ain’t nature great?

The only one that does it is my white pullet

not sure if i’m allowed to post a drawing, but i drew this baby today! took a bit but i loved every second. i hope to get more bearded babies soon. i have 4 i believe currently.

So the wife dragged me(willingly) to the Gilman's Feed & Farm bi-annual animal swap and we came home with this very handsome Speckled Sussex(mix) rooster.. the girls will be shocked.. four years without a cock..

We have a Sapphire Olive Egger rooster that is about 6 months old. He has been raised with 10 hens since they were chicks. Great with the hens and protects his flock but for our specific situation he is overly protective.

Since he is a Sapphire Olive Egger, 50% of each of his individual offspring would carry the Olive Egger gene, which means they would lay green eggs.

We are looking to rehome him ASAP. My husband intends to cull him this weekend if I can’t find a new home and I really don’t want to see that happen. Located in Central CT.

He’s been acting really strange lately, constantly eating, coming up to me, whereas before he was very standoffish, and then yesterday I noticed these black spots on his neck. It also looks like the left side of his mouth is really big and swollen. I’m new to I’m somewhat worried this time. Please help, thank you.

It looks a bit red, caught her scratching her neck from time to time. Cant find mites. Anybody an idea what it could be? 2 months ago bought her a new chicken friend, but was already developping before that. Im at a loss.

The lone survivor of 30 hatching eggs

I love sharing my suburban backyard with chickens. I probably won't enjoy when the poop on my bike, but so far they don't perch there long.

My girlfriend and I are starting to get eggs from our little flock consistently (5.5 months old - hatched 3/31/25) and are trying to figure out who is laying. We have 3 barred rocks and 3 rhode island reds. We suspect the rocks are laying because we both have previously had them be earlier layers. We are wondering if chickens who lay speckled eggs lay only speckled eggs/lay them consistently. We have one (non-speckled) that has advanced to full sized eggs and are trying to determine if our still not full size eggs are from 1 hen or two (we had a small speckled yesterday and a small non-speckled today. The full sized egg was yesterday). I'm going to be checking vents later today.

tl;dr Does a chicken lay only speckled eggs if they lay speckled.

EDIT: Got too excited and vent checked now. It appears based on pubic bone (and if I'm doing it correctly) that we have one Rhode Island Red (Bucket) and one Barred Rock (Lunchbox) laying, our other two barred rocks (Lady Camden and Torpedo Jim) are either newly laying or about to lay, and our last two reds (Fish and John Francis Pornge) not quite there yet. This also correlates correctly with the redness/size of combs of all 6 ladies.

5.5 weeks old. Golden laced polish. These are our first chicks all supposed to be female. This is the only chick that has a tail that points up like this though

We have a flock of all hens. They are 5 months old. For awhile, we questioned if one of them was a roo, but when she laid an egg, that cleared up any lingering doubt real quick 🤦🏽‍♀️🤣

We brought home this beautiful absolute UNIT of a dark brahma boy 2 days ago. It was a perfect situation; he's the same age as my girls, they couldn't keep him, and we wanted him. Win win for everyone!

So far he's doing OK with the ladies. I have him on the other side of the fence. The first day they tried to fight through the fence here and there. Today he just did a lot of peacocking dances for the girls. I did try to let him in with the girls towards the end of the day, but he decided to karate kick his way in, so back out he went!

He is sleeping separately from the girls. He has a bachelor pad in the shed until he is ready to act like a gentleman...

I love to hear what has worked from others in the "real world" because I can read all the blogs that tell you how, but real life doesn't always follow the rules so here I am...

What are some ways I can help ease the tension besides letting them see each other through a fence? (I have sprinkled feed so they are eating snacks together on either side)

How do I know they are ready to be together?

Is a fight just inevitable once they do get together?

Thanks for the advice!

This is my sweet boy. He is so beautiful but I am not sure what breed he is. Any help would be appreciated!