Reviews by Perris

This is a well written, easy to follow account of nearly a dozen ways to reduce the feed bill. It is well illustrated and has links to further reading on the different topics by members of BYC. Thanks!

This is a well written, well structured, and well supported article on the potential financial costs and benefits of keeping chickens. It works systematically through the type of costs you will incur, and gives advice on how to reduce them by taking a few simple steps, such as buying feed in bulk. It then turns to potential sources of income from a flock, with good advice and plenty of tips and hints on how to succeed via the different routes. There are links throughout to other pages in BYC where relevant matters are discussed and issues of interest can by pursued further.

This article is a clear, concise guide to the multitude of technical terms used by some when discussing feathers and feathering. It includes diagrams to illustrate the fine differences between e.g. pencilled, mottled, spangled etc.. as well as the basics e.g. hackles and sickles. It makes an excellent reference tool.

This article provides many reasons for choosing heritage breeds instead of industrial production breeds for one's flock, such as foraging ability, disease resistance, broodiness (which some see as a positive thing, while others view it as a negative trait), appearance, predator awareness, and productive longevity. Most of these traits are valuable in a free ranging flock, but their usefulness to penned birds is less obvious, and heritage breeds do not always fare well in confinement, so some discussion of the environment in which the flock is to be kept would be appropriate.

Written by a rooster enthusiast, this is a thoughtful article, going through some of the issues that someone considering getting a rooster should address. It has multiple links to other articles about specific aspects of keeping roosters on BYC and elsewhere. It does not address some of the potentially problematic issues that can arise with roosters, such as co-existence with small children, or restrictive by-laws; hence it does not satisfy its title.

This consists mostly of photos of some welsummers and one photo of their eggs; it has little information about the breed. However, the remark on sexing chicks would be valuable if it is true (I do not know if it is true or not, and no references are supplied to support the assertion).

This article, written by someone working to keep endangered chicken breeds alive, gives a clear and concise insight into the characteristics of some breeds that are on the verge of extinction in the US. Each entry has a photo and a description of the type, with an indication of the number and colour of eggs they typically lay in a year. The aim is make them better known, recruit new keepers of them, keep their genes alive, and thereby help to preserve them for future generations.

This is a comprehensive, clear, and very informative article on eggs and fertilization, written by an academic who apparently teaches poultry management for a living. So it is probably accurate, it has much about chicken anatomy and mating behaviour, and is certainly very detailed. But you might need a magnifying glass to read it, because it's been written in a tiny point size. If someone could fix that, I would give it a 5* rating.

really informative article on an important topic, written in a clear and concise style; thank you!

Since reading in one of your earlier posts your ideas about this being connected with an escort request (rather than a celebration of having laid an egg), I have been watching my flock with it in mind, and my experience is consistent with your hypothesis. My hens call for an escort whenever they've laid in the coop and the rest of the flock is not in the vicinity, and the rooster (I have only 1) answers promptly and comes running, then the pair return whence he came, with or without him trying to mate her (he has no competition). If the flock is in the vicinity, the hen emerging from the coop after laying does not 'sing' but just joins the rest quietly.

This is a well written and well illustrated article on the construction of a simple box type coop for some bantams. Pragmatism and utility drive the decisions, and on the whole deliver something that could be built by most people, with a few tools, and at little cost, so in terms of its own aims, this is a very successful project. That it is scaled for bantams might be more prominent, rather than an afterthought, but those wishing to build for large fowl could easily follow the steps here and use this for inspiration and guidance.

As a story of how this person built their coop, it's short, engaging, and well illustrated. And the finished result looks great, including the sign. As something for others to follow, it's less successful. For anyone who can look at a picture and copy it reasonably accurately, this article offers great guidance on building a coop on a budget. It demonstrates that foraging for building materials in other people's cast offs can deliver good results, and asking local businesses for freebies can pay dividends too - big dividends in this case: that roof looks really weatherproof and low maintenance! And repurposing an old gridiron as window protection is brilliant!

What is missing is a plan or diagram which would help the novice coop builder to follow this design; instead they just have to keep looking at the different photos to try to work out approximate sizes of components and how they fitted together. What may be self-evident to the author may not be to someone looking to build their first coop. Of course anyone building from foraged materials is going to have to adapt to fit what they've got, but some indication of basics, e.g. the order of putting the different bits of the coop together, would be helpful to anyone wanting to follow suit. I am also left wondering how it's cleaned out; it is obvious from the photos where the main access to the wired part is for humans, but not to the boxed part; does the whole other side come off for example (the window is grilled, the nesting boxes are on the back, the wired side has the pop door)?

This is a lovely looking coop, well built above ground and great materials; most photos speak volumes for themselves. I just miss something to deter diggers - unless the first photo with a little trench was meant to indicate that you did sink hardware cloth or equivalent before you started (in any case, more explanation needed).

Very tidy coop, and evidently there were plans and more photos, but difficulties trying to upload them weren't overcome, so what's here doesn't reach its potential, and leaves questions, e.g. was the roof finished, and if so, with what? Were the changes to accommodate the smallest chicks permanent features or temporary? Were other adaptations made/planned once it was actually used? It seems small for the intended number of hens. All in all, the product doesn't quite live up to its ambitious name.

Not much here; more on the rattlesnakes than the coop.

A really successful project, blessed with good luck in sourcing various free materials of the right size and shape. Standing it on pyramidal shaped concrete pads was a great idea, and good alternative to sinking them in the ground (using stone in this way has a long history of course). The photos convey lots of info on the construction process and scale, if someone wanted to copy it - with recycled materials, measurements are likely to vary or need adapting anyway, so plans are not necessary, as this build demonstrates well!