My Pet Chicken Blog

Before I got chickens, I pictured them as rather easily spooked, nervous, flighty. But nothing seems further from the truth. When I walk outside, they don’t scatter and run away. Instead, I am the target of a chicken stampede. If you keep chickens, you know what I mean. Wherever they are in the yard, they [...]

We have had mixed success with our egg-eating hen Isa that I talked about in this blog post. I appreciated all the feedback and suggestions you offered on that post—it’s good to know that I’m not the only one dealing with this problem! I tried one of your suggestions, and I also went ahead with [...]

If you haven’t read the previous stories about Hildy, let me introduce her to you. She was our blind hen, and one of our favorites. She lost her sight when she was young, and had only very limited vision throughout the rest of her life. From what we could tell, she seemed to be able to [...]

I love my flock!  Watching their funny antics, getting mobbed when I show up with treats, and being adored by a few lap chickens is rewarding, but being able to supply my family with delicious, healthy eggs from happy hens is one of the main reasons I keep chickens. Hens with access to fresh greens [...]

How can you teach a blind hen to forage if she can’t see what’s on the ground? That was the problem that presented itself to us when Hildy learned to go outside. When our blind hen learned to use the coop door to come outside, we were thrilled—but also frightened and worried for her.

One of our biggest worries relating to Hildy our blind hen was that, while she had learned to leave the coop, she hadn’t learned how to go back in. This made a certain amount of sense, given her disability. After all, when leaving the coop in the morning, she was going toward a bright patch [...]

Last week I wrote about my blind hen, Hildy;  she was completely blind in one eye, and seemed to have very limited vision in her other eye. I’ll tell another story about Hildy this week. (It’s wonderful to be able to share stories about a hen with people who understand how much personality chickens can [...]

I’ve sort of hesitated writing about Hildy, my blind hen. Why? I get emotional about her. Of all the chickens I’ve had, she was one of my absolute favorites. She died a little more than a year ago. But I was looking through some old photographs, and I made it through without crying, so maybe [...]

I need more gumption, chicken coop gumption. I don’t want any more frozen eggs. Yesterday there were four frozen–four! The fact is, I sometimes don’t get out to the coop enough, especially in winter. When it’s icy and cold, I need to go out more often to gather eggs, or they might freeze. I know [...]

At My Pet Chicken, we get lots of questions from folks who would like assistance with chicken breed identification. We can often help… but sometimes we just aren’t given enough information to provide an educated guess! So, be sure to provide details. A picture is always helpful, but keep in mind that it will have [...]