Recent content by abbydmac

  1. abbydmac

    Do we need to break this bad habit?

    I suspect that the problem is that we've done everything backwards from the beginning. The run was secured before the coop was finished so they spent days in the run and nights in the brooder for a few weeks. Once the coop was complete, they would go into the coop and roost in the roof beams...
  2. abbydmac

    Do we need to break this bad habit?

    Thank you! It truly is predator proof, 1/2" hardware cloth with an apron 1'-2' down and 18" out and the roosts in the coop are lower, so I'll stop worrying and wait to see how they handle the cold weather when it comes.
  3. abbydmac

    Do we need to break this bad habit?

    We have 2 sets of pullets. The 4 oldest are 5-6 months old and they have decided that they prefer roosting in the roof beams above the run, rather than in the coop. Our younger chicks are almost 7 weeks old and are spending most of their day outside of their "panic room" enclosure. The last few...
  4. abbydmac

    Bonding with chicks?

    Our Wyandottes have always been more skittish, and they do not seem to like being held. They will come up and let us pet them in the run now, at 21 weeks old.
  5. abbydmac

    4 week old chicks & flock intro?

    Our older chickens just weren't having integration, we started at 2.5 weeks of being visible and brooder in the coop then trying to let them out in the run at 4 weeks. The older pullets relentlessly went after the littles and were pulling a LOT of feathers. We ended up building a pen with pvc...
  6. abbydmac

    First Egg Stories?

    I noticed one of our pullets was checking out the nest boxes today. I saw her in each of the 4 boxes, then noticed she'd seemed to choose a favorite and was hanging out in there for most of the afternoon. I went out to check on her, she was standing in the nest box, I checked on the rest of our...
  7. abbydmac

    Best hatchery to order from with a minimum 3 chick order?

    If you do happen to get a roo, are you on Facebook? Around here there is a local backyard chickens Facebook page and there are a few people who live outside the city that are frequently willing to take roosters. I was so relieved to find a pretty easy solution if a surprise roo landed in our flock.
  8. abbydmac

    Will chicks use poultry nipples?

    I swapped out our waterer for the horizontal nipple waterer this week, our chicks are 3.5 weeks old and have taken to it fine. I do have a small bottle with the horizontal nipples, so they have their own and don't have to compete with the bigger chickens to get water. I did keep an eye on them...
  9. abbydmac

    Integrating chicks, how much pecking is normal?

    Thank you! Very helpful direction on doing this right. I felt pretty sure that I couldn't leave them out as it stood yesterday. I definitely have some ideas for more escape areas. If things don't seem to be working we may just hold off longer. The older girls were kept out of the coop much...
  10. abbydmac

    Integrating chicks, how much pecking is normal?

    We have 4 pullets that are 17 weeks and 6 chicks that are 3 weeks. The chicks have been in the coop in a dog crate for a week, and in the run in a crate on and off over the past week. The older girls were curious, especially when they were in the run. Today I let the littles out in the run and...
  11. abbydmac

    Best hatchery to order from with a minimum 3 chick order?

    What did you get?!
  12. abbydmac

    Best hatchery to order from with a minimum 3 chick order?

    I'm new to this, but we have had 2 rounds of chicks this spring and our Rocks are turning out to be great sweet birds. Round 1 we got a barred rock that is by far my favorite chicken, and round 2 a partridge rock is the friendliest and easiest to handle of the group. From my very limited...
  13. abbydmac

    why do you keep chickens?

    We first got them for eggs, but now they have names and have yet to lay any eggs so they're definitely pets too!
  14. abbydmac

    Go to bed!!!

    We were having the same problem with our 4 pullets and I was tired of "tucking them in" every night. In our case, I think it was much darker in the coop than outside because they were waiting until last light to go in and maybe not feeling confident of entering a dark and unfamiliar place. After...
  15. abbydmac

    Sexing Barred Rocks

    Sorry for a very delayed response! She definitely has female color/pattern, she was just so much bigger than our other chicks (and a favorite) so I got nervous.
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