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After a few years of holding at around 8-10 chickens, we've begun to increase the rate at which we increase the size of our flock. We're at 25 now. We got there through a combination of buying, raising, and barter. What started out as "let's raise chickens" has turned into a wonderful...

From the Ohio Department of Agriculture: "REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (June 2, 2015) – In an aggressive move designed to help protect Ohio’s $2.3 billion poultry industry from the avian flu that has so negatively impacted other poultry-producing states, today the Ohio Department of Agriculture canceled...

That looks to be a nice coop and a nice setting. One thing to keep in mind:bantams can fly better than standards, and some chickens are more interested in roosting up high, bantam or not. You might find that some of your flock likes to fly up to the overhanging trees. Because chickens are a...

My hens (orps included) all begin to lay at 6 months. It's almost like clockwork; doesn't matter if they're spring or summer chicks, 6 months has been the norm.

Looking good so far! My own take on roost height this is that: a) If the roof/ceiling is higher than needed, you can always lower the roosts if it seems to be important to do so. But, you cannot raise the roosts if the ceiling is too low. So, I would go for higher rather than lower. I do...

I built a second coop last year, left the old one open. For 16 hens I have 2 sets of boxes, each with 4 spots for laying. One set of four is rarely used, and of those four only 3 see much action. That comes to about 5 hens per box under normal circumstances. But, if a hen goes broody...

I've had great success with the latch type below. The sheath on the shaft pushes up against the hook with a spring. When the hook is placed through the eye bolt, it is held in place. Won't keep kids out, though I do have lots of raccoons, but am unsure if they've tested the system. It has...

When we built our run a handful of years back, we opted to enclose the whole thing in welded wire fencing. First, closing off the top gave us peace of mind, as there are lots of hawks and raccoons in our area. Second, by using something that is not a solid sheet for the roof, we do not have...

I've been battling with starlings the past few weeks. They will clean out a full feeder (about 8 lb of feed) in less than 30 minutes, and leave a telltale coating of pellet shaped, chickenfeed-colored poop everywhere. Despite the starling hoarde, I've seen through observing a feeder that is...

This works well for me. So does spreading out some feed.

Sorry to hear of this. Sounds to me like your neighbor had intended to set things straight, but then balked. So, he knows what is right and took initial steps down the path toward setting things right. Assuming that you want to replace the lost birds, my approach would be to order...

There are lots of activities to which neighbors might turn a blind eye, or even approve, but which are not legally allowed. If your neighbors approve of your chickens, that's cool. Like realsis wrote, keep in mind that while a complaint from a neighbor is the fastest way to garner scrutiny...

You might want to look at these threads: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270088/permanent-hoop-coop-in-progress-update-see-post-34 https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/172799/our-hoop-house-chicken-tractor and this link: http://www.plamondon.com/hoophouse.pdf They are each 6 ft. tall...

The above are all good suggestions, based on experience. If you or your neighbors are so inclined, you may want to check with your DNR to see if coyotes can be hunted. In Ohio there is no closed season and no bag limit. I am more of a live and let live kind of person and so do not pursue that...

Nothing that is unprotected grows inside of our chicken run. It is approximately 15'x20' and eight hens keep it in bare dirt all year long. We do allow the grass to grow along the outside of the run, and this provides a steady supply of growing greens from April-October. We cut it down every...

My orps do this when they are in the initial phases of going broody. Have you noticed her spending more time in the nest box lately?

Meyer Hatchery has a feed consumption chart available here: http://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?cat=1020&subcat=5081&prodID=WBRS&grd_prodone_filter=PRODUCT%5fID%20%3d%20%27WBRS%27 According to the chart, on average one of their meaties will consume about 15 lb. of feed. I do not know...

Our favorite is a frittata, which we saw prepared on the Two Fat Ladies cooking show: Ingredients: 6 medium onions, thinly sliced 6 tablespoons olive oil 8 ounces plum tomatoes, peeled Salt Black pepper, freshly ground 6 eggs 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan Handful fresh basil 2...

Zero...again! They just haven't come back after the November moult in their second year. But, their combs are beginning to redden.

We used some of those self-adhesive linoleum tiles, since that provided the cheapest route at the time. I would NOT do this again. The tiles easily pull up after a short while and once that happens they will never go back down after the bedding gets wedged underneath. I had planned on...