- May 1, 2014
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My name is Mimi, I own 6 Rhode Island Red chickens, 5 hens, 1 rooster. They are all cage free, free range, and they get to fly, flap, scratch, dig, peck, and crow/cackle as they please. I live on 1/2 acre in central Arizona. They get into everything, and when I'm working out in the yard, they are right there with me to protect me from spiders, cock roaches, scorpions, baby snakes, lizards, and all other manner of small critter they deem tasty. One thing I have found I have to protect them from is STYROFOAM. They seem to love it. The insulation under the house is made from Styrofoam and they got hold of one sheet of it and ate it till it was gone. I don't think it will hurt them, but it's not good for them so I watch now and don't let any blow into the yard, and I have blocked their access to the crawl space under the house. They seemed to love to go under there to keep cool, and this winter, they had a nest under there where one chicken was setting. Well, after a month of freezing her butt off under there, and no eggs hatched, she decided to abandon the nest. Thank God she did! So now I'll have to provide some other kind of "setting" area for them because they can't get under the house anymore. I have some 55 gallon cardboard barrels I plan to waterproof and set up as setting bins. They have a coop, with 4 nesting boxes, but they don't like them for some reason. They will sleep in them, but lay their eggs on the ground in the straw. Yes, I've tried putting the straw in the boxes, but they still don't like it. My chickens seem to have a mind of their own and do what they deem best. So, I just try and go along with whatever they seem to want, and keep them happy. And they are....happy.