Here's an update on Frostine. A week ago I was sure she was dying. She just sat/stood in her little house and didnÂt eat. It was like a death watch. Then about 5 days ago I saw her out in the grass-pecking at things. I kept pushing treat foods and she would eat at least some. Over the weekend I was out of town and my husband let her out with the others one day and said she was acting quite normal. But he put her back in her separate pen. This morning she was acting despondent and I realized she had been essentially without chicken company for most of 2 weeks. So I let her out. She was definitely not keeping up with the others but she seemed to like being with them. SheÂs still very thin but her abdomen is not swollen. IÂm giving her the meds again. Tonight sheÂs roosting for the first time in two weeks. She still seems frail. Tomorrow I will figure out a way to give her some treat rations when the others are not around. Anyway, sheÂs still with us and I wanted you to know and to thank you for your support.

I had a sick chicken this summer, she was about 4 months old and she was very lethargic, would eat occasionally but like yours stayed away from everyone. Long story short she had an impaction in her intestines. She was not pooping (the green part of the poop) only urinating (clear or white stuff), which meant that food was not passing out, she eventually died a very slow death. After taking her to the vet and actually checking if she had an impacted crop it turned out to be a balled up wad of grass that was like a cork in her intestine not allowing food to pass. You may want to try giving her a few drops of mineral oil or if she is still eating make sure she has grit. Depending on how long she has been this way there may be nothing you can do. I hope this is not the case but it's one possibility.

Thanks for all the information guys and gals. I think I will get two plymoth barred rock hens and two Australops and two Delawares if I can find them. I am not getting six maybe 7 incase one dies young. I am making a hen house 4X8' and plan to have two chicken runs about 15/10' planted with chicken free range plants. Got some seeds from Peaceful Valley Farms in grassvalley calif. They only sell organic stuff and had these paticular seeds you plant that chickens like to eat. This is thse seeds in it incase any of you want to plant some from a seed place near you. Cow peas, Buckwheat, non dormant alfalfa,ladino clover B.L. trefoil and flax seed. I will plant one and wait about a month and plant another crop so the chickens will have plenty fresh greens to eat. I will feed them layer pellets too. Plus after the garden gets old I can make a fence and let them at the weeds and plants in the fall and winter in the yard. I am also going to make the hen house with exterior doors to each nest box so I can collect the eggs from outside the cage with out having to track the waste on my shoes. But I might enjoy going inside also. I plan to have the hen house about 7 feet tall inside with next boxes up 2 to 3 feet and perches up 5 and 6 feet with a ladder for them to walk up. I will have to make them all wire outside, even on top to keep the wild birds out and keep disease from getting in. Thanks for all you advice, They tell me at the feed store I should have chicks in by the middle of February. Ca't wait to get those cute little guys ( I mean girls) home. Maybe I can post a picture of the hen house and running pen when I get it all made. Bill C

My old whirlpool has white handles under the peanut butter and jelly. I know 'cause I scrub them off from time to time. When I first found this site EVERY SINGLE KITCHEN had an island, granite, pendants, and stainless. Not only was that not my style, it wasn't my price range. I had a 1950 kitchen remodeled quite nicely - in 1970. It was time for it to retire. It had a peninsula. I hated that peninsula from the first day. It's gone now. When I went cabinet shopping I was looking for oak. Oak is my favorite wood. I veered sharply when I saw the hickory shaker. I lived through avocado/orange/gold/brown. I ducked the mauve/blue. I've found white. Love white. Easy to decorate around, easy to keep clean, looks crisp all the time. My kitchen was never in. I'm accessorizing with 1930-1950 kitchen stuff. So is it dated? I hope so! It's not easy finding that stuff we threw out in 1986. If I would have saved half the stuff I threw out from my parent's house, I'd be retired right now. As it is, I'm buying a lot of it back at a price I sometimes can't afford. Since it's blizzarding today, I'm baking! So far French bread and baklava. Reading the cookbook but running out of steam.