Recent content by dehartma

  1. dehartma

    Chickens Losing Feathers

    Is it normal for most of them to start at once? And for one chicken to have an entirely bare behind?
  2. dehartma

    Chickens Losing Feathers

    We have a flock of 8 chickens, 1 rooster, and 2 ducks in a large coop with attached run. I don't know the exact dimensions, but it's not a pre-purchased chicken tractor, it was custom made and it is definitely spacious. Flooring is concrete to prevent raccoons from digging in (a problem we...
  3. dehartma

    Ducks and heatlamps?

    IMG-0117 by dehartma posted Mar 15, 2018 at 12:29 PM Hopefully that works. S/he's a bit lighter gray but you can see her better here. Yeah, I think that we've decided to take them away from the heat. They're almost too big for what we have them in right now anyway, so we're going to move them...
  4. dehartma

    Ducks and heatlamps?

    That was last night, so 4 weeks might be a closer approximation :). I just can't get over how big they are, I guess - much bigger than the chickens! Heat in our house generally hovers around 68 - 70 degrees. We actually got them from tractor supply.
  5. dehartma

    Need advice creating a secure coop - particularly from raccoons

    Connie - we used to have three outside dogs that did a pretty good job, but they moved inside as they got older and two have since passed away. My dad got two Aussies with the plan of having them be outside, but one had heartworms when we brought her home so they were indoors and they just...
  6. dehartma

    Need advice creating a secure coop - particularly from raccoons

    We're planning on putting the whole thing on top of a concrete pad, then covering that with dirt. So that should stop the diggers. We thought buried wire would be enough, but it wasn't. I'm fairly concerned about other predators, but in my experience nothing is as hard to deal with as raccoons...
  7. dehartma

    Ducks and heatlamps?

    I don't have any updated pictures, just this kind of terrible video of them in the tub (don't worry, they can touch the bottom): As for breed, I really don't know. We've tried to figure that out but haven't had much luck.
  8. dehartma

    Need advice creating a secure coop - particularly from raccoons

    Good idea. The run isn't chain link, it looks like this...
  9. dehartma

    Need advice creating a secure coop - particularly from raccoons

    Oh, wonderful. The door is really thick, solid wood so I don't think they could shred their way through it, I'd just be worried about them opening it like they did the egg door (that we had to permanently close off). Maybe there's a way we can fashion it to lock at night? Ideally I'll be able...
  10. dehartma

    Need advice creating a secure coop - particularly from raccoons

    The permanent roof is a good suggestion. The tarp is pretty well secured down but I wouldn't put it past them! I'll add that to my list of to-dos, I'm sure my dad could build a roof no problem.
  11. dehartma

    Ducks and heatlamps?

    I have experience raising chicks, but this go around we also got two ducklings. I've never had ducks before, so this is a new experience, but they're doing well so far. They're about 6 weeks old now and HUGE but still don't have their adult feathers yet (the chicks we got at the same time all...
  12. dehartma

    Need advice creating a secure coop - particularly from raccoons

    Hi! Our chickens last year fell victim to raccoons, not for lack of trying on our part. Of all the things that can get chickens, raccoons are the worst because they are so smart and so determined. Our setup is pretty basic, we have the following coop: http://www.upcitemdb.com/upc/27077079418...
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