Recent content by drdvmd

  1. drdvmd

    Reintroducing sick hen - other hens picking on her

    We let them free range most of the day yesterday and by the time they got back to the coop last night, they were all getting along again! Thanks for the support. :love
  2. drdvmd

    Reintroducing sick hen - other hens picking on her

    Hello- I have a flock of four hens. One has been sick (under veterinary care) and we kept her indoors for 72 hours. She is feeling better. I put her outside with the other three hens tonight and they free ranged together for a few hours. Then we put everyone inside our run and two of the hens...
  3. drdvmd

    Chickens pecking my Ameraucana? Or something else?

    Attached is a photo of the coop. The coop is on the right. It has "two stories" inside, with the nest boxes being upstairs. To the left is a covered area where the girls can be in the bad weather. Someone else suggested to me that this could be the start of a molt for Dorothy. Does anyone else...
  4. drdvmd

    Chickens pecking my Ameraucana? Or something else?

    Thanks all. Dorothy did have more of a beard and muffs previously, yes. She is the only bird with a beard. The feather loss only seems to be on the right side of her head currently. We have a Grandpa's feeder and feed Purina Layena crumbles. Attached is a photo of the run - they also have...
  5. drdvmd

    Chickens pecking my Ameraucana? Or something else?

    Hi all- I'm a relative newbie. In the photo is Dorothy, one of my one year old Ameraucanas. She has been exhibiting feather loss on her neck. It started as a small circular patch and has grown and is now over the right side of her head. I have repeatedly searched her for mites and lice and do...
  6. drdvmd

    Ground squirrels! How do I keep them out?

    Thanks all. My husband was in denial...I thought they were rats the entire time but my husband was insistent they were ground squirrels since we've had problems with the squirrels before. We have determined they are RATS. Currently we've been taking the feeder out of the run at night, and I'm...
  7. drdvmd

    Ground squirrels! How do I keep them out?

    We live on a property with a large number of ground squirrels. Our chicken run was built with hardware cloth extending as an apron 18" out from the run walls, and yet ground squirrels have tunneled under these aprons into our run and are creating massive holes and tunnels everywhere. I am at a...
  8. drdvmd

    Never ending rain/muddy run/mulch vs sand?

    If you are in Stroudsberg you feel my pain with all of this rain! I used straw on the run floor for a few months but I worry about crop impaction, so I don't want to keep that up. Is that a concern with alfalfa hay too?
  9. drdvmd

    Never ending rain/muddy run/mulch vs sand?

    I am a relative chook newbie and live in PA, outside Philadelphia. Our hens have been outside since June and it has rained at least 50% of the time since our girls were big enough to be outside (rainiest year on record in our area). Their run is a mud pit and never dries out. My husband and I...
  10. drdvmd

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    I'm looking purely for egg layers, not for meat (I'm a vegetarian.) Are Easter Eggers cold hardy and friendly? It's totally overwhelming how many breeds there are!
  11. drdvmd

    Is part of a 160-year old barn in PA acceptable for a coop?

    Yogifink- Thanks so much for your insight. I didn't even think about the top walls of the barn, near the rafters. We've had an occasional squirrel in there so I do think we need a wire wall there. There is a screen door on the porch right now (it's just open in the photo so it looks like there...
  12. drdvmd

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Hi! Barbiegirl...I was thinking about Orpingtons. I'm open to suggestions but want a cold-hardy, docile breed!
  13. drdvmd

    Is part of a 160-year old barn in PA acceptable for a coop?

    Thanks, Danielle. We do have a resident hawk, so I was concerned about having some sort of netting over the outdoor run. So you use sand inside your coop? Our barn/future coop is quite big so we would need a ton of sand...I'm not sure that would be feasible. I was thinking about pine shavings or...
  14. drdvmd

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Thanks, Stake. Is "chook" another term for chick? (Still learning...) So do people on this thread sell their chicks to newbies such as myself? :) I'd like to start with Orpingtons, I think, since I want something cold-hardy and docile. I actually work in Malvern so maybe we could arrange for a...
  15. drdvmd

    Is part of a 160-year old barn in PA acceptable for a coop?

    Bear Foot- Thanks for the prompt reply. So I can use hardware cloth for the walls and "floor" of the outside run? Do you run it as one continuous sheet? I can't envision how this would work. What would you recommend over the top of the outdoor run instead of bird netting? I think the three...
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