Recent content by Briarhopper Ranch

  1. Briarhopper Ranch

    What kind of litter for run?

    Pelleted horse bedding is my go-to for soggy areas in the run and near my barn. It’s amazing stuff and easy to work with.
  2. Briarhopper Ranch

    Mites or molt?

    Do you have a rooster? I’m asking because I saw a similar feather loss on the back side of one of my hens who happened to be one of my cockerel’s favorite ladies. I could find no health issue contributing to her bare bum. No other ladies had this type of feather loss. The hen in question was...
  3. Briarhopper Ranch

    Is it time for Supplemental Calcium yet?

    Hi @Feathered babie , I found that my ladies prefer the flaked oyster shell over the rock form. I offer flaked oyster free-choice in the run. Laying hens eat it right up, non-layers (including molting hens plus cockerels + my tom turkey) simply ignore it. A good sign for me that a pullet is...
  4. Briarhopper Ranch

    Transitioning from Starter to Grower Feed Help

    I feed Kalmbach 20% Flockmaker to everybody: Laying hens, roosters/cockerels, pre-lay pullets, turkeys, chicks. This keeps things simple: One feed bag, no feed transitions. I keep crumble handy if I have babies, and serve pellets if no small beaks are present. With freshly hatched chicks...
  5. Briarhopper Ranch

    Hands off chicken keepers: how do you manage sick chickens

    Hi @angc11, Hope I can help a bit. First, a bit about my birds. I have a country flock of birds, and not counting turkeys and babies in the brooder, my flock is an about the same size as yours. My birds free range sunrise to sunset on the land around the coop / barn / our home. (We’re on ~50...
  6. Briarhopper Ranch

    Is my coop too small?

    @chickenana707 dropping a quick note to remind you that the *upfront* costs of chicken rearing are always shocking, but things level out from there. This is not to say the ongoing costs don’t exist - far from it - but just to give some assurance that once you get your coop, run, feeders...
  7. Briarhopper Ranch

    Introducing New Chickens to an Existing Flock

    I also employ look but don’t touch. I place new birds in a jumbo dog crate (covered with feed bags to protect them from poop bombs) inside my walk-in coop. After a few days of this, I head out mid-morning when the bulk of the flock is ranging and open the crate door. The new birds can come and...
  8. Briarhopper Ranch

    Moving 15 hours away

    In mid-November, we moved 22 birds from Colorado to Kentucky, an 18 hour drive. Some tips from our experience: • we did the drive with as few stops as possible / drove efficiently (we had one overnight) • we shopped thrift stores in advance for cheap dog crates and grouped birds in comparable...
  9. Briarhopper Ranch

    Selling meat birds

    You can try listing your farmstead on Local Hens (https://localhens.com/), though your mileage may vary spending upon adoption of that site - or similar sites - in your area.
  10. Briarhopper Ranch

    Extreme Cold Warning

    I’ve moved to a place with milder winters, but used to live at 7,600’ in Colorado where we could see overnight lows of -30°F with little warming during the day (up to single digits if we were lucky). When I had a small flock in a smaller, uninsulated coop, I would put an oil filled electric...
  11. Briarhopper Ranch

    Chicken coop recommendations for beginners?

    @flars +1 what is written below by @NatJ, bearing in mind end of summer monsoon protection / keeping the chickens dry in daily, heavy seasonal downpours. (I’ve got property in Pima County and know how Arizona goes from “hot and dry as a skillet” to “people, cars and livestock flowing down...
  12. Briarhopper Ranch

    Chicken coop recommendations for beginners?

    The Omlet will get far too hot for your birds, like a little oven. I’ll let others comment on the rest. Someone in your region should have solid insights on cops for low humidity, blazing hot summer days, cool nights and mostly mild winters.
  13. Briarhopper Ranch

    Is overall health tied to breed?

    My turkeys will come find me on the farm, then stand patiently waiting for belly rubs and under the wings scratches. They are like dogs with feathers, except they stay standing for belly rubs. We don’t eat our turkeys, we leverage them as aerial predator alarms. 🚨
  14. Briarhopper Ranch

    2026 Chick Thread!

    1. What breeds are you getting? •White leghorns •Brown leghorns •Silverudds •Wellsummers •Black copper Marans 2. How many? •15 total (3 each x 5 breeds) 3. Are you hatching, getting day olds or started pullets? •day old chicks 4. Are you going to raise them yourself or let a broody do it for...
  15. Briarhopper Ranch

    Chicken underbite - how to fix?

    One of our Houdans had an underbite when she was young (brought her home at 8 weeks old). We *gently* trimmed the lower beak twice with a sanitized nail clippers. (More like “shaving” than clipping.) we also ensure that she always has a honing rock / brick available. Her underbite now is largely...
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