Posts by MaineChick

LOL!! >More, I dunno how to put it, more relaxed, 'happier', more inclined to pursue personal hobbies and do different things at different times, I'm not sure how to effectively describe it but it's quite noticeable when you SEE...

I think it would be great fun!! It's always easiest to begin with a behavior that they do naturally (pecking,say) and teach them to do it on a cue. Method: wait for chicken to peck. SIMULTANEOUSLY with the peck, click the clicker. Then...

I agree with the above post - you are indeed on the right track. Add positive reinforcement when Abbie is ignoring the chickens as some have suggested, or when she looks at them AND THEN LOOKS AWAY as this will teach her that leaving the...

Pigcoon - I got the pen ages ago, I think it's a Midwest. www.midwestmetal.com. They don't sell direct, but on their site you could find one and locate a distributor in your area. I like this for chicks as it's the kind with a big door...

5 Speckled Sussex and 6 Buff Orpingtons see the outside world (in a dog pen) for the first time today, at 14 days old. They loved it, scratched, peeped, looked at everything. Stopped and froze when a door slammed - instinct sets them up...

I've got essentially the same question as AnnieGirl - I know they need grit, and thought I'd use some from the gravel pile in the driveway - even baked it at 500 degrees to make sure there were no evil little microbes in it - and when I...

Hi neighbor! We're on 75 acres in Waldo County, but on the grid. We heat with a woodstove, though, and if your place is anything like ours I'd make sure to get the chicks up off the floor. I've got 11 two week olds, and they preferred...

Thanks for the help, both of you. Right now it looks as though we will be changing the bulb- the more powerful one at night, as it is still 30's at night sometimes, and a 175 during the day. They seem pretty happy, and do tend to move...

Here's a couple of dumb question from a newbie - I just got my chicks today, and they seem quite happy under a 250 watt white bulb in a brooder lamp, but - doesn't the light bother them??? I know I couldn't sleep with a 250 watt bulb...

Hi everyone,My husband and I bought some land in Maine last winter, and have been working towards adding livestock. We are just finishing a shed, part of which will be given over to chickens. The woman we buy our eggs from has saved me a...