I think it's different for everyone. For us it came down to a single incident. We had three buff Brahma cockerels and one was really good looking boy that we were leaning towards keeping. Another one was so-so and the third was mediocre looking. One evening we were out in the lot with the flock...
I agree with Canoe. We have hatched several clutches over the last two years and each time we set the hen up in a corner of the henhouse in a covered nesting box with chicken wire surrounding the area. The wire keeps other hens from laying eggs in that nest but still keeps the broody part of the...
We have used large dog crates(not the plastic travel crate) as quarrentine coops for years. As Jaded points out,they will need to be made more secure. For us that was done by attaching plywood panels to some of the sides and hardware cloth to the others for protection from both weather and...
I agree. In fact,after several years of having chickens raised from mail-order we finally had two girls go broody and let them set eggs. They were in a brooder coop inside the main run so all the hens could see them all day. At 3 weeks we started letting the mommas and chicks out with the rest...
We order day old chicks every spring to restock our flock and have a few extra to sell at "point of lay". I've built a "brooder house" and run to keep the chicks in before they are introduced into the main flock. We don't turn the new girls in with the older ones until the young ones are about...
We've been using pine shavings for several years and while it is messy,I've found nothing that works quite as well. We use a modified deep litter and a poop board under the roost. The poop board gets cleaned daily and the shavings get changed about 4-6 times a year and we have no smell or other...
I've never purchased chicks from Tractor Supply because....honestly....I'm afraid to! I've been in several of their stores and seen the tubs of chicks with empty waterers,heat lamps not on,dead chicks laying around in the tubs...just very poor conditions in general. Add to that the stress and...
Sure they can go in sand. Think about it....in a natural setting (like around the barnyard)chickens do not stay in the grass. Them dang birds are everywhere! In the garden,digging behind the barn in the manure pile,scratching in the gravel drive.....you get the idea! Let them be chickens and...
fatcatx,maybe they only seem to come out two at a time! Usually it happens when we are late getting out to the coop to let them out. It's such a mad scramble that all the girls are out in a very few seconds!
10"x12" may be a little snug but should be ok for a few of them. If you had a whole...
There is no contradiction. None at all. Draft free means no air movement directly on the chickens. Ventilation is simply plenty of openings high above the birds.
My ventilation consists of 6" tall vent openings just under the roof all the way around. They are still 18" above the heads of the...
Either way is fine. The chicks are old enough to not need the medicated feed now,but the extra protein is still good for them for a while longer. I usually switch all my birds(layers included) to a 18-20% flock raiser type feed when the chicks get close to 16 weeks. Since our Brahmas take longer...