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Right now I get home just after dark so our girls get their special treats on the weekend. This weekend, they will be having cooked rice with canned beef catfood. Last weekend they got oatmeal with applesauce.

1. What size of back yard do you have? Large city lot 50x118 with house & outbuildings 2. How many chicken do you have? 6 girls 3. What area do you live in? Rural, country, mountains, suburbs, city, etc... City 4.What size coop do you have? With run or without? (small, medium, large) Small...

Quote: I agree - We live in an area with lots of squirrels and there would be no way to get rid of ALL of them; you can maybe make small dent in population but good luck with that. Get rid of one, one will take it's place.

They are trying to chase the chickens away from any food they might have so they, the seagulls, can get it. I have a crow (more like I am his human) that will swoop over the girls; I think he does it just for fun. I do feed him & his family since they keep the hawks away.

Quote: Oh you're spoiled now!! After having backyard fresh eggs (especially the blue/green ones), there's no turning back. You'll never be satisfied with the taste of the store bought ones from now on. X2 X3

I had a practice roost in the brooder and then in the pen in the garage, sometimes they would use them but in the mornings they'd all be huddled in a pile on the floor. In June, when I moved them outside to the coop, I put them on the roost every evening (luckily I have only 6 girls) but in the...

We have a lot of raccoons and opossums in the city so I lock mine in the coop at night to keep them safe, otherwise they have the run of the backyard from whenever my husband opens the pen until dusk. I have seen an opossum and the neighbor saw a raccoon recently but none have broken into the...

My 6 girls free range our backyard but always go back to the coop to lay in the nest box (they have two, but only lay in one). I briefly had one of the Sussex lay in a mound of clematis; after I fenced it off she went back to the nest box. I have taken the fencing down and she still is laying...

If it were coyotes there'd be evidence....feathers, blood, digging, torn wire.

Quote: My Speckled Sussex are the worst....they even pull on my skirt or pants leg if I don't hand out the treats fast enough. My hubby says they are trying to trip me so I fall and they will get the treats faster.

My 2 EEs haven't laid in 3 weeks but they are molting. When I was doing breed research I found most EE are not good winter layers (I'm guessing it depends on what breed mix they are), that's why I also got Speckled Sussex and Silver-laced Wyandottes...they are supposed to be fairly good winter...

Quote: Won`t hurt them a bit. When it rains really hard they will seek shelter.......Pop X2 My 6 girls have run of the backyard during the day, when it rains hard do they go back to the pen where it's dry? Nope, they cram themselves under the slide of my nieces' swingset....usually all you...

Maybe slug?

One of my Speckled Sussex will not lay in the nest if there is any poo in it at all, it could be very small....the other 5 girls don't care. She'll lay them in the yard, in the run, on the floor of the coop. I have to check the nest box every morning just in case there might be a little poo in...

I just found this thread, joined the ASA, and will post pics soon. I have 2 lovely, talkative Speckled Sussex....Miss Piggy & Billie.

I give mine both, and they both disappear at the same rate. Maybe that's why their eggshells are so dang hard!

Quote: Pickies!!! Love it!!

chickenn@@b : But for my best half baked chicken advice I've received, the no rooster=no eggs theory, of course. My boss still doesn't believe me and mine aren't laying yet to prove it That's best I've gotten too....all 6 of my girls are laying now and I still don't have a rooster (can't have...

I have 2 EEs....one first laid at 19 weeks, the other around 24 weeks. My EE was the first to lay out of the three breeds I have....I also have 2 Silver-laced Wyandottes, and 2 Speckled Sussex. The Sussex were the last to to start laying, probably around 26 weeks.

I don't wash my eggs. If there should be one with poop on it, I keep that for our use, then clean it just before use. Now that's it rainy out I do get a few with dirty toe/foot prints; those I clean off with a damp paper towel before giving them away, otherwise I don't clean them until just...