Reviews by BDutch

Excellent guidelines and tips for newcomers and some info is good to know/remember for older members as well.

Great to have an article about the risks of pesticides/herbicides. The plants and seeds they sell in the shop often contain lots of poisons too, especially the extraordinary flowering plants like Lillies. Best buy organic of food grade if you have a choice.

I want to add that where I live we already have problems with chemicals in our water (rivers/lakes) an on the ground too. Especially the unbreakable PFAS (Tefal, fire extinguishers, special clothings) are becoming more and more an issue. 40% of the eggs from backyard hobbyists contain too much PFAS.

Good idea to compare a chicken that is brooding in a natural situation with the artificial setup of a coop with nestboxes.

Super great article. Only the title containing turkey was very strange to me. I didn't comprehend it and thought it was about turkeys.
I wouldn’t have read it if @Shadrach didn’t mention it is really worthwhile to read it.

Nice list but I definitely miss ordinary grass in the list.

And imho its nonsense that you have to avoid poisonous plants around a chicken coop or chicken run, or if your chickens have unrestricted access to your entire property's plants. The chickens know what they can eat and what to leave alone. And they don’t eat onions either.

Great project! Love the idea of using a flat pack playhouse and adjust it to use as a coop.
Many people who have barely any skills and machines for carpentry could make such a project work for them too after reading this.

Nice coop for a little flock. Good sturdy building and documenting.
I only wonder why it has no windows.

Great way to give tips and suggestions for improvement. How safe and sturdy one needs to build depends on the environment of course.
There is no way you can make a complete list that fits all. The number, type and size of one’s chickens can vary enormously too. But surprisingly you come a long way.

Great ideas. Missing the most obvious against boredom and to keep your chickens healthy: Free ranging.

Can only be done in daylight if the environment is reasonably safe. But your chickens also benefit when they can free range for an hour each day under supervision.

Great tips and ideas. I would add necessities to the title because lots of what you described are necessities for heathy chickens.

To keep the stress level low it’s important to keep chickens busy.

The sand bath is important to keep the skin and feathers in good condition. Adding a little diatomaceous earth is even better to prevent lice and mite problems to a certain extent (no guarantees, keep checking)

Very nice general tips that are good to read and to take into account if you plan to build a coop.

Great article and pictures.
The second part ‘Prevention of external parasites’ is a need to know for everyone with chickens.

I’d prefer prevention over treating and until now I never needed to use Permethrin or any other poison to keep away /destroy lice or mite.
For me its no go to keep songbirds out of the chicken domain so I need to check often, especially in summer.
I do use DE in their sand bath, mixed with sand under the bedding in the nest-boxes, and use it as a paint (with water) to prevent a red mite infestation. The two times I discovered a few lice I could act quickly (cleaning and applying DE afterwards) to get in control again.

Thanks Perris for this very informative and almost 'scientific' article. I not only read it but also learned from it. : about language, flora, about food and health for humans, pigeons, wild birds, chicks and chickens.

It was a pleasure to read that there is no scientific evidence that commercial feed is better than carefully composed feed from pure ingredients.
And a pleasure to read how and why you prepare your own feed. The only thing I've missed is information about organic food that doesn't contain GMO soy and corn. I believe that the organic mixed grain that they sell in the Netherlands has a good composition that could also appeal to you. It is said that it should be sufficient to feed the chickens if they can free range whole day (except in winter). These organic grains are more expensive than the feed you buy. It’s certainly very different and healthier than the scratch they sell in the US you describe.

Furthermore its my personal choice not to let my bantams free range all day (risks) and I don’t feed my chickens extra meat or fish. They need it no more than humans imho as long as the feed is properly balanced. I do give my chickens organic layer/chick feed as the main part of their diet, because in my situation that is an easy and safe choice. The only animal supplements the chickens eat they find themselves + I give them some dried mealworms a couple of times a week.

Good info!

But this is a bit strange:

The eggs you get from two chickens will range from 10 to 14 per week. Is it possible for a chicken to lay 10 eggs a day?

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Maybe industrial laying hybrids do so. There are Rhode Island Reds who are heritage breed and Reds that are production breed.

Most heritage breeds lay 60 - 180 eggs a year. And don’t lay during winter with little daylight.

On average, how many eggs do your chickens lay a day?

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My 6 bantams (most older than 5) laid about 16 small eggs last week. In winter I had no eggs at all for about 2 months. The younger ones (2-4yo) lay about 1egg every other day and started to lay in January. The oldies started laying very recently.

Great description of a prefab coop (flat pack easy assembling) and what to expect, the limitations and quality.

I think that this coop could be okay if you follow up Shadrachs tips.
What I did with my prefab:
add a new/larger roof, make some improvements for ventilation, higher roosts, active mite control ( ‘paint’ the hazardous inside with diatomaceous earth 2x each season ) , paint the outside with a (natural) preservative .
My coop (other flat pack model) lasts over a decade now.

It’s a good overview with things to consider if you are interested to know what many people do and don’t . ️️️️️ for that. But these are not rules that count for everyone. Your chickens can be very different than average. The reasons why you have chickens can be very different too. Circumstances, like risks for predator attacks can very different too. Some tips just don’t make a lot of sense for every chicken/byc member.
P.S. : How different we all are:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/byc-official-polls-existing-new-brainstorming.1383537/

Good article with need to know information for all chicken keepers. Newbies and even more experienced ones.

Wonderful build. Love the reuse of materials.

Be proud that you made this beautiful coop without being a skilled carpenter! Great to tell about the learning process.

I don’t know about the ducks but you’re chickens must be very happy in it.

Good ideas but Imo its not complete. This refers to chicks in a brooder? I have the feeling this doesn’t apply to all situations.
My chicks are with a broody. From about a week old they try to find their own food in the run. If possible I like to let them sort of free range with their mama in the greens. Always supervised in a pop up run until they are about 10-12 weeks old.
They eat all the insects they can find, but also grasses and herbs. I provide dove grit to digest the grasses and herbs.