Recent content by Coldd

Hi Everyone. I clean out my coop twice a year and have accumulated a lot of soiled bedding. It’s mostly straw. (Flock fresh, some hemp bedding, etc. looking to buy from a local ranch soon to save $$$.) Anyways, given that it’s already a mix of green/brown, is there a rule of thumb for this...

I was working late and got a text from my SO about there being banging outside. It’s late, maybe 1130pm. Tomorrow is trash day, the weather is cooling down, and that means one thing: bears. Black bears, for now. I feel so much better about the coop and our back yard knowing we have a...

Replanted a bunch of chats. Having disagreement about replanting greens and beets for fall harvest. 🤪. Current bed looks baaaaaad. Sprayed the fruit trees with horticulture oil. I need copper fungicide kinda bad for a rust problem. No aphids yet but rust and other pest problems. Seed...

I spread worm castings on the tomatoes, squash, and basil. I also moved a few volunteer tomatoes to new spots where watermelon had died. I am really hoping the sun and heat catch our plants up to the previous year. Keeping my fingers crossed. Next garden project is building a hot compost area...

Montana. Lots of rocks…we have a pile from clearing the soil from when we out the garden in.

My partner’s parents are coming so not a lot. Just looks at what was going on. I feel our garden is going really slow this year, which is what it is. Things are taking off though. It’s been a damp, cool spring/early summer. Greenhouse next year? Finding a ton of volunteer tomatoes, birds...

First night back in the coop and there’s a bunch of black feathers laying under the roost… I think she may be the problem chicken.

There is a BR rooster in the neighborhood over and he’s a good 30% larger than all his hens. This one lays eggs! (I pulled them from her shelter during her jail time.) Any thoughts on the behaviors? Feathers are missing off of undersides too, and have been for a while.

Sure thing. Please note she is the same size as all the other BRocks.

I let the hen out of chicken jail. She was kept in a small holding pen inside the run. She was back out being vocal and strutting around. I don’t think shes a rooster as she never crows, however she does not have the pecking damage the other birds show. We also have gotten 8/8 egg days.

It’s odd because all 8 should be hens. We have 8 girls and have gotten 8 eggs in one day. Thoughts?

Big update: Here’s what the chickens were looking like…they still kind of are. I put the suspected pecker in chicken jail but saw prolonged chasing in the run by another… I ordered covers for all the ones with bad feather loss. Fingers crossed that this fixes it. I think they’re off to...

There’s a single, large barred rock that has no feather damage. I am going to isolate her tomorrow evening and see if that helps. They’re all pecked or so bare in places, I feel like I’ve failed them, which is a downer. I should have nipped it in the bud as soon as I saw it starting, but I...

Leaf miners…get the shotgun. Anything that’ll kill the worms? Or just pick the bad leaves and spray with neem to catch the flies? Horticulture oil?

Sorry I’ve not replied to this thread. Chickens are still looking tough. Some more info: -I feed out of a bowl and a feeder in the coop. The chickens generally hit the bowl as it’s easier to feed from. They should know the feeder has food as they used that for their first 9 months or so of...