Reviews by BDutch

Wow, what a great article.
Just consider: Do I need all these protections or just a few of them? Of course this depends on you’re specific situation.
E.g. I don’t need complicated locks because we have no raccoons where I live (until now). They are an invasive species here and are shot whenever they find one. And I like the rain coming in into the run. This way its possible to grow plants in the run. Therefore I made strong netting against birds of pray / cat netting on top. Hard ware cloth would have been a better option but more expensive and less nice to look at.

If I ever hatch with an incubator , it’s nice to know there is a splendid article to dive into. Until now I didn’t need it because I started with 6 weeks old chicks years ago and had broodies after that first year for the necessary chicken math.

P.S. And thank you for the info about coccidiosis and why it is important to clean daily. This also applies to chicks in a small coop with a mother hen. I like to use old towels for the first week in the drinking and feeding area. They absorb well and have a great surface for their wobbly tiny legs. For water supply I use a flat bowl with marbles to prevent the newly hatched from drowning. ?

This article is a start. But IMHO the article is not honest and complete enough about hatching with a broody. It can be easy with the right breed, the right amount of space and a tolerant flock. But often there occur problems if you can’t tick all the boxes for a tranquil hatch.

Another possibility to hatch with a broody is to put her in a separated area. But if you move a broody she can abandon her nest.

Use fake eggs to test the broody. Mark eggs so you know which eggs are new and will hatch later (not).

A tip for the writer: add some links to other articles. Its important that newbies read more articles on natural breeding or breeding with an incubator if they are planning to do so.

Great and hilarious stuff to read. ? Thanks.
Also great you are still visiting BYC once in a while after all this years. I wonder, do yo have a few new adventures or learning moments about you’re flock today?

Great video explanation. Of course there is more to raising/having chickens. But it’s very helpful for people who want to start with chickens.
You made this very clear: Do it if you like to have chickens - don’t expect it to be a profitable hobby,.

After 2 years: approximately 800 - 10 * 24 is still 560 investment. If you add a rooster and do you’re own natural breeding you have you’re return on investment after approximately 10 years. ? Chickens are a lot cheaper then other pets.

And you had a lot of joy if you like having chickens.

Love it! Every newbie should read this (or another book/article ) to start with when they consider starting with BY chickens. ?

Great to mention and explain all the benefits of keeping chickens. Well done!

A little warning at the end (maybe with links to other threads) would make it even better because it is important to know some basic things about diseases, predators, healthy coops (ventilation) and living space if you are new with chickens and start keeping them to avoid unnecessary discomfort, health issues or even death chicks/chickens.

Thanks. Great to learn more about chicken poop for gardening. And how to avoid health problems.

These building plans are great for a small flock if you can free range you’re chickens all day and you live in a mild climate (withouth snow). Fyi: The writer isn’t active on BYC any more.

Very good article. I like it to reuse things if possible and egg shells are even better (easier to digest ) then the OS.

I read some informative comments too, some with good extra info like: don’t wash the shells , the egg-white in the shells are very nutritious. To keep it safe I put the egg shells in the microwave for a few seconds and give it back the next day. If there is more then they will eat it goes into the soil of the run. Together with leaves, weeds, grasses and poop it wil break down into a great and fertile topsoil.

There is one thing that needs a bit more explanation. The layer feed with calcium should not be given to chicks because of kidney damage. But there is no evidence that roosters and not laying hens get kidney problems from layer feed if I can believe what I have been reading (experiences from other BYC members). Nevertheless I am cautious and I prefer to feed my hens all flock in winter. Especially because I have 4 oldies now who don’t lay much eggs anymore.

If I buy extra eggs in winter I choose the organic eggs. These shells are not poisoned and are safe to feed to the chickens as well.

All this can be a good solution no doubt. I live on clay too and had a muddy run. The soil smelled and after a year it was not alive anymore. However I used another strategy that worked great.
“More roads lead to Rome.”

I did not cover it against rain. I made holes with pebbles/gravel for drainage and extended the run to give the chickens more space. I add compost from gardening and lots of brown leaves every autumn to compensate the nitrates in the chicken poop.
I scatter grains in the run that the chickens partly pick up and what they don’t like is growing. My run is partly green now and the soil is alive. I love it this way and I think it’s more natural and healthier for the chickens too.

Great to tell us a bit more about chickens and bathing. And of course chickens are not like humans in keeping a healthy skin.

A tip for people living in areas where it can rain ? for several days in a row. Make a dust bath area in you’re coop or sheltered run. A big plant pot and sand on the coop floor instead of bedding like wood chips does the trick for me. In the plant pot I add a few spoons of diatomaceous earth if I have to replenish the sand. This might help to prevent feather lice and mite infestations. I have no proof to claim this. But I never had problems with any lice or mite after doing so. Maybe just lucky ?.

I don’t have any of these ‘must haves’ especially for my chickens and didn’t need them either. Maintaining a healthy flock is to provide good shelter, good food and a large area to search for food. But if you have a large flock or live far away from stores it probably is a good aid kit to have.

The only ‘medicines’ I have ever used are mainly to prevent issues. Such as garlic, apple cider vinager, diatomaceous earth, tabacco and lavender. Mainly to prevent worm and red mite infestations. A few times I had sick chickens, but good care and time where enough to heal them. With chicks I took some losses. But most of them healed too after time.

If a chicken gets injured I will use my own bandage and means to heal her. If my flock gets in some kind of trouble I will go to the store to buy what I need.

I have a few elderly ladies and read this article because of that. I think it will be very helpful if the day comes one will get too old to get along.

Wonderful setup Dobey.
Need just this one word ‘wonderful’ to describe you’re carpentry, design and ‘novel’.

It took a while to read it all. Mainly because I didn’t get addicted to chickens so much that I want many more bantams and I don’t have a shed waiting to rebuild it. My garden is too small for such a setup either. So whenever I encountered you’re long read I thought: “ I save it for a quiet and lazy Sunday morning. ?

Very good article.
I only don't agree on deworming every 6 months. Deworming medicines are not harmless and i.m.o. should only be given if there is an infestation.
And I mis info on older hens: older hens take longer breaks in winter. Every year they add a few weeks to their winter break.

Great information about industrial eggs and chickens,

In the Netherlands and other countries in Europe we don’t have battery eggs in the grocery store anymore. But there still are farms who have them, they sell to the food industry and abroad.

Nowadays things are changing towards factory farming because there are a lots of discussions about the negative impacts of factory farming (animal abuse , public health , nature issues & environment in general)

Because of this many people don't eat meat/fish every day anymore. More and more people become vegetarian and vegan.

It’s easy to do because in the grocery stores you can choose from a lot of veggie alternatives for meat. Made with (not gmo) soy, grains, lupine, beans, chickpeas etc. Some are made to taste like chicken or bef hamburger. Other are based on arabic recipes like falafel.
And beside that, there are lots of cooking recipes.

Here and in Belgium we had people who worked in the factory farms and meat industrie that have posted films about the cruelty. Children who saw these films refused to eat meat any longer.

And more people are aware that the factory farmers destroy our environment by NOx pollution and that they are responsible for the fires in Brazil for GMO soy to feed the farm animals, Things have to change. Or our world is no good place to live in within one or two decades.
Our nature is suffering allready .
- ¾ of the insects have died
- Some type of birds get sick and die
- Some type trees /plants get dick and die
- There are outbreaks from certain insects because they have no natural enemy.
Plants like wild blackberries flourish and other get extinct,
- People get sick of the poisons used (a proven connection between Parkinson's disease and poidon used in the flower and bulbs industry)

And one way of doing this is to take responsibility as a consumer and stop eating (much) factory farm meat/eggs.

This is a great article. Only the name of the article isn't very is not.

I agree sand is great for mild and warm climates. I dont know much about the river sand used in this article. How perfect the river sand (or other types of sand will be, probably depends on the area where you live.

Where I live I can dig up river sand for free. It's a spot where the river Rhine had it's stream 1000ths of years ago. It also contains lime/clay. And has nearly no pebbles. Sometimes I buy one bag with courser sand to improve the soil.

I use this sand -mix in the coop. Which is great. The sand I use is not dusty at all.

I do have:

• A poop board under the roost
• Chickens that don't like to leave their poo on the sand inside the coop.

So I don't have to to clean the sand very often. And have allmost all the benifits as described.

• I do provide small stones/grit
• the chickens can free range a couple of hours each day
• I made a big pot with and with sand + a little diatom earth for a perfect dust bath.

I have no experience in keeping chickens in hardy climate but nevertheless I loved to read this article, you’re experiments and what you experienced.

I wonder what makes the chickens lay eggs in the 3th winter/ last setting ?

Insulation is a no go in my climate/europe because blood mite infestations are a high risk here and you never get mites out of youre coop if they get into the isolation.

In winter I make wind blockers in front of the north/west/east hwc-parts of the coop-ventilation (roosting area). And it works great to provide straw on the coldest days to give my 8 tiny bantams more comfort.