Table of Contents
Introduction 6
Chapter 1 Food and Water 8
1 My chickens have stopped eating their regular feed 10
2 Feed is going moldy in the sack 12
3 Wild birds are eating the chickens' food 14
4 Too much feed is being spilled 16
5 New feed is not being eaten 17
6 One bird is not eating 18
7 The feeder is always empty 20
8 The hens' bedding is wet 22
9 The waterer is turning green 24
10 Ice has caused the waterer to crack 26
11 I caught my chickens eating a mouse 28
12 I'm worried about my free-range hens eating poisonous plants 30
Chapter 2 Housing 32
13 An external nest box is leaking 34
14 The house bedding smells unpleasant 36
15 It's really dusty inside the hen coop 38
16 The coop door won't close 40
17 The roofing felt has split 42
18 The hen coop walls are damp at night 44
19 The run floor in my hen coop/run combination unit is muddy 46
20 My hen coop blew over 48
Chapter 3 Chicken Runs 50
21 My birds keep escaping 52
22 A fox took my chickens 54
23 The electric fence battery failed too quickly 55
24 The fence voltage is too low 56
25 I keep hearing the electric fence clicking 58
26 There are holes appearing in the chicken run 60
27 My hens are huddling next to the shrubs 62
28 My hens seem bored 64
29 My chickens are eating my vegetables 66
30 I'm unsure whether my run needs a roof 68
Chapter 4 Rodents and Other Pests 70
31 My chicks are disappearing 72
32 The bait station is not working 74
33 I want to get rid of rats in a humane way 76
34 I am worried about contracting Weil's disease 78
35 I found a hole in the hen coop floot 80
36 I have caught a live rat; what now? 82
37 Something has been digging under the fence 84
38 Why has a fox killed so many of my hens? 86
39 I am scared of using poison 88
40 The hen coop has been invaded by crows 89
Chapter 5 Parasites 90
41 The hens are reluctant to enter the hen house 92
42 I've found gray, ash-like powder on the perches 94
43 My hen has patches of bare skin 96
44 My chickens' legs have crusty deposits on them 98
45 My hens are gradually losing weight 100
46 My hens are gasping for breath 102
47 One of my hens has diarrhea 104
48 My feather-crested birds keep scratching their heads 106
49 My chickens have lost their appetite but are very thirsty 108
50 My hen is pulling out her own neck feathets 110
Chapter 6 Health Issues 112
51 One of my hens has a swollen, hard lower neck 114
52 My chickens are hunched over and lethargic 116
53 Some of my chicks can no longer walk 118
54 My chickens have become ill after new additions to the flock 120
55 My hen seems depressed and has a hot abdomen 121
56 My chickens have watery eyes and runny noses 122
57 One of my hens has a swelling on its foot 124
58 My hen's vent is red and very- swollen 126
59 A breeding hen is losing the feathers on her back 128
60 My hen has a cut and bleeding comb 130
Chapter 7 Egg Production 132
61 My hens have not started to lay 134
62 My hens don't jay eggs every day 136
63 The eggs are tiny 138
64 The eggs' shell color isn't right 140
65 I keep finding broken eggs in the hen house 142
66 The eggshells are too dirty 144
67 Eggs ate being laid on the hen coop floot 146
68 I am not getting normal eggs from my hens 146
69 My pure-breed hens are not laying eggs 150
Chapter 8 Incubation 152
70 I'm confused about how to state hatching eggs 154
71 I do not know If my hatching eggs are fertile 156
72 I do not know whether to assist with hatching 158
73 Not all the eggs have hatched 160
74 I have noticed fluctuating incubator readings 162
75 There is a yellow-red mass on the chick's stomach 164
76 A chick has died in its shell 165
77 My internet eggs have not hatched 166
78 The eggs are not hatching on time 168
Chapter 9 Rearing 170
79 The ducks are not interested in eating 172
80 I am rot sure which type of brooder to get 172
81 My chicks have messy bottoms 176
82 The chicks arc all huddled under the heater 178
83 Some of the chicks in my box brooder have died 180
84 I found a drowned chick 182
85 A couple of chicks have done "the splits" 184
86 Small chicks are being picked on by the larger ones 186
87 The chicks are not feathering well 188
88 My chicks have suddenly become ill 189
89 My chicks seem depressed 190
90 I can't tell the sex of my chicks 192
Chapter 10 Behavioral Problems 194
91 I can't catch my chickens 196
92 My rooster is too aggressive 198
93 One of my hens has been attacked by the others 200
94 My hens keep pecking at each other's feathers 202
95 One of my chickens will not leave the nest box 204
96 One hen is losing feathers from all over its body 206
97 My chickens are eating their own eggs 208
98 I have a hen that has started crowing 210
99 My chickens are just too feisty 212
100 I have found a hen with a bleeding bottom 214
Glossary 216
Index 219
Further Resources 222
Image Credits 224