Recent content by Dakar2009

Great and timely article! We have new additions to the flock in a broader right now and am going to modify my coop and run this weekend to get them out there!

@Nifty-Chicken Great idea for a thread! And thanks for the bump. Got bogged down with life, a new puppy last year, a car project, house projects, etc. No excuse for not checking in! Still have 3 of my initial 5 girls going strong. We had a rough molting season. Between that and the constantly...

Hey, I chill hard to Skyrim soundtrack myself! It's my favorite music to paint or woodwork to for some reason, which means it was on a lot when I built the coop. My girls seem to like anything I put on when I'm out there, but may indeed like the more chill stuff like movie soundtracks and chill...

100% agree on suffering, for any animal. The hardest part is for us to let the animal go. Been through this with too many dogs throughout my life. And I know "it's only a chicken", but as you know, raising something from birth in a small flock forms an attachment you can't explain to "normie"...

I had to cull my first hen yesterday 😢 I thought Yolko was improving but she lost the use of her legs yesterday, one wing was splayed out, and she was barely able to get to her water, which she just stared at. No poops, no eating, just laying there and staring at me as I spoke to her. I...

One of my girls was attacked today by random dog that broke into an extra run I give them to stretch out a bit. Huge husky looking thing, never saw it in the neighborhood before, no collar on it either. He seemed to grab her by the back just above her butt and caused a huge gash down to the...

I'm going to leave it for now. She seems to be okay, and I'd hate to go through the effort to transition over the food and maybe them not eating it. And with some of these companies screwing with our feed, I'm hesitant to move away from something that works! I appreciate you all calming me...

Interesting. But she's the only one laying that way, and infrequently now. The other 4 are laying beautifully perfect brown gold nuggets, lol. They all get the same feed and treats.

Black Australorp

All the others are just fine and lay beautiful (and some IMMENSE) eggs, so I'd hate to modify anything that is working for the others. The oyster shell lasts for a while in the cup, meaning they take what they need (in my mind). She probably just processes calcium differently. I'm going to...

Thank you! I figured it was calcium. Those eggs have tough shells, too, but are otherwise fine inside. Aside from their layer feed, they get some cracked corn snacks during the day and some BSF larvae to get them back into their run at the end of the day. They also have access to oyster shell...

Hi All, One of my hens occasionally lays these types of eggs. Just looks like extra material on the shell, and it rubs off with my fingernails. Internally the eggs are fine. Any idea why this is happening? I believe she was the last of group to start laying (all the same age). She's...

I agree on their resiliency! It's actually quite amazing...but they do need our help sometimes. I did the cracked corn thing, too. They seemed surprised I gave them their corn snack crumbles so late in the day and even left them with a corn-snack cake in their coop. It was definitely pecked at...

How did everyone do this weekend? Knock on wood, all 5 girls survived and were fairly active during the coldest day. The plastic wind block was a HUGE help for them. My water plate couldn't keep up but having to unfreeze it and put fresh water out once each day was a small price to pay for...

We make due with what we have, that's for sure. I bought the radiant heater in advance of the last time the temps dropped here and had time to figure out the wiring. I sure wouldn't want to do it outside right now!