Recent content by emrys

I have pullets hatched April 1 that have just started laying so it would be my guess you have a new layer.

Woven plastic feed sacks. Remove the string at top and bottom, Cut the bag open. Now you have several square feet of tough plastic wall paper. Put the printed side out for a colorful touch or printed side in for a white interior.

If your house is cool, they've adapted to the cool temps. Put them out in the coop at night when it is cooler. If they are on the ground, wet the ground so they can stand on damp cool earth. Give them shallow pans of water to stand in. Provide plenty of fresh water and change it often to...

Remove them from the hen. You can raise them yourself.

I took wire dog crate, removed the pan, put hardware cloth on the bottom and set the whole thing on saw horses. The cool air circulates under the hen and after a few days she quits growling. One more day and she is allowed back with the flock. So far that method of breaking a broody has...

A terrier mix that loves to chase small animals combined with chickens sounds like good fencing will be your friend. My terrier loves the chickens. She loves chasing them, catching them and if given the chance would love killing them. I doubt training would be an option for my dog so...

Pullets are named. The ones headed to the freezer are, the black one, the red one....

I don't put water in the coop. Don't want the mess of spilled water and wet bedding. Water is in the run. So is food unless it's pouring rain. If I were to put food and water in the coop I would want them far enough apart that chickens could stand comfortably butt to butt at each item with...

Block off the nest box. Bad habits can be hard to break. You don't want poopie nest boxes and poopie eggs in your future.

If you cut just a little off the end then trim again in a week doing the same thing you can eventually get the nails back to a proper length, at least that's what works for dogs. Chickens with dirt to scratch in should be able to keep their nails worn down to a suitable natural length...

Train them to go insdie the coop by tossing scratch into the coop in the evening at a bedtime you find suitable. It may take a few times to get them all cooperating. Once you get the majority in you might be able to corner and catch the stragglers. I've used this method when I have to leave...

Fairly common. I have had two roosters who would pick up and drop blueberries while calling the girls. They would stand around and not eat until most of the girls had had a turn.

You might try putting one hen in the pen with Sunny. One on one they could adjust to one another. Then in a month or two when you combine flocks Sunny won't be a lone newby. At night when you go out to shut the dog house, just catch your roof roosting pullet and put her inside.

Eggs from the grocery store peel because they are old. Maybe as much as a month old before they get to the store shelves. Your eggs don't peel because they are fresh. I don't like hard boiled eggs because of the green coating on the yoke. A pretty yellow yoked hard cooked egg is best...

Something to consider--the first year your pullets will lay their best. After the first molt, most will slow down and lay fewer eggs the second year. What many people do is regularly rotate in new layers. So if you decide on 14 chickens this year, you might build you coop with the idea of...