Recent content by Chicken-poodle

  1. Chicken-poodle

    buying a greenhouse to serve partly as a chicken run

    Thank you for this photo and post! Did he put the hardware cloth first, and then the plastic sheeting? The hardware cloth is so unwieldy and I don't want to scuff up the polycarbonate panels so that the greenhouse looks good.
  2. Chicken-poodle

    buying a greenhouse to serve partly as a chicken run

    I want a greenhouse, but also my girls need more room. I have space for a greenhouse next to my current coop/run, which I would attach with a chicken tunnel. Looking at greenhouse kits like the one shown below. I have two questions: how do I make a greenhouse like this predator proof? Do I...
  3. Chicken-poodle

    Is this molting? Or a disease?

    8 hens. Here's a pic:
  4. Chicken-poodle

    Is this molting? Or a disease?

    The coop is 4x5, and the run is 10x15. The coop is in the run, but they can go under it. No rooster.
  5. Chicken-poodle

    Is this molting? Or a disease?

    My girls are 10-11 months old. I didn't think they'd molt in the winter. They are a variety of breeds, but there are ones with downy fluffiness near their butts, one, my RIR, with broken feathers on her back, some with random baldness on their necks (but not necessarily symmetric), and some...
  6. Chicken-poodle

    Should I get a tractor for "day outings"?

    Have 8 hens in our 150 sf run with coop inside. If I want them to spend some time in the yard eating bugs and saving me feed money, how hard is it to get them to come to the tractor in the morning and go back to the run at night? I can't let them free range due to predators, they must be...
  7. Chicken-poodle

    Vertical 2x4 spacing

    It's a run, the coop is inside. The plan was going to be to put hardware cloth on the flat top, to seal it easily from predators, and then add an angled roof- thinking about a metal one, but could do something lighter.
  8. Chicken-poodle

    Vertical 2x4 spacing

    My husband and I are building the run and we have a footprint of 15 x 10.5 feet. Yes, we don't know what we're doing. Now we need to figure out the verticals and buy the 2x4s. How should the 2x4's be spaced? For house construction, I think it's 16". Is 36" spacing too flimsy? I am trying...
  9. Chicken-poodle

    How far up does the hardware cloth need to go?

    Yes, it will be covered with wire mesh, was hoping I could get away with 1x1"
  10. Chicken-poodle

    How far up does the hardware cloth need to go?

    But foxes and raccoons can't get through 1 x 1, so even if they climb, they couldn't get in with the looser mesh higher up, right?
  11. Chicken-poodle

    How far up does the hardware cloth need to go?

    Thank you for this- Can I at least get a little larger of a mesh- like 1" x 1"?
  12. Chicken-poodle

    How far up does the hardware cloth need to go?

    We're building our run now, and I have read about the importance of hardware cloth along the bottom of the run (as well as an apron). Where we live in suburban VA, we have foxes, raccoons, possums, and probably skunks. I bought a dog pen to put on top of our foundation- the holes are 1.75 x...
  13. Chicken-poodle

    How do I splice hardware cloth?

    We're still constructing our run. We will use hardware cloth on the bottom 3 feet of the wall, and bury some into the ground. How do I attach pieces of hardware cloth to keep it secure, both above and below ground? Sew it together with wire? Zip ties? Do I need to overlap the pieces by a...
  14. Chicken-poodle

    Pine Tar as wood preservative?

    We have built a wood frame for the chicken run out of untreated fir, as I will be putting in an organic garden downhill. Now I am researching what to paint/protect the wood with. Pine Tar looks interesting- but a friend says it is toxic if on the skin. Is it safe for chickens? I see posts...
  15. Chicken-poodle

    Feeding chickens in compost bin

    I have this compost bin which is about 4 feet in diameter, and typically is 1/4 to 1/3 full at any point. Lately composting has been going very well, because I have a bunch of black soldier fly larvae eating and heating up the pile. I don't have my chickens yet (still building the run), but it...
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