Recent content by ernndbrtt

Our Buff Orps have been laying since fall when they started and haven't missed day since, we got them in July as day olds. We get between 12-15 eggs a day from 17 hens. We do keep a heat lamp on them all night long just to keep their water from freezing, northern Ohio gets chilly. On the...

Sorry to hear about your loss. Thanks for sharing though because I believe many will now take a look at their heating and lighting solutions and figure out if they are dangerous or not. We too had a barn fire on January 20th of this year. Fortunately we lost no living things as our chickens are...

We tried the same type waterer inside our coop as many others have. Hanging it simply will not work as ours had to have the lid on it just so to maintain a seal and as soon as we hung it it the seal changed because of the weight of the water making it leak. Now we use that waterer striclty for...

If you coop is not elevated, why not just use a dirt floor? We built our coop out of pallets and covered it in painted OSB, shingled the roof and it is very dry. The only mositure that gets into the coop is from the chickens getting excited and banging into the hanging waterer. We put shavings...

We have a 20 x 40 dirt run for our chickens and we just spread out a bag or two of wood shavings all over the run when it's wet. It seems to work very well, it soaks up the water and the chickens aren't getting muddy feet. We just rake it all up and put it in the compost pile when it gets too poopy

We have 17 Buff Orp hens and no two eggs look alike, they are all different sizes, shapes and colors. We do not know who lays what to know if one particular hen is laying different colors, etc. from day to day but from my reading and talking to long time chicken folks I've come to understand...

Not only have I seen the video but I've actually witnessed a few of our hens lay when I've been out collecting eggs

You say that you didn't get pooped on today like it's a normal occurence, it is You buy bags of frozen mixed veggies and thaw them to give to your chickens. You cook six cups of wild brown rice for you chickens every week and will drop everything and cook more if you are close to running...

Our Buff Orp roo used to go after me occasionally when I'd be in the pen with him and his 17 girls until I caught him, sat down, laid him on his back, kind of like cradling a baby and just held him for a few minutes petting him. He hates it, I can feel the tension in his muscles, he's a pretty...

Our girls decided to start laying under their ramp to the chicken door and occaisionally under their outdoor roost instead of their nest boxes. So, after multiple tries of getting them to use the nest boxes, fake eggs, etc., we let them have their way and put a couple small sheets of plywood...

We have 17 hens and ours started laying in Oct?? and ours haven't given us less than 8-10 eggs a day since then. Since the beginning of December we've been averaging a dozen a day, and starting this week we've been getting 13-15 a day! They are now paying for their own feed.

Some roo's are just better off on the dinner table.A friend of mine had to eat their roo for similar issues he was having with him. My wife still has issues with ours, a Buff Orp, he believes he is in charge whenever she is out in the coop or run. He charges at her, pecks her legs, and shows her...

I used deer netting for a portion of the top of my run. It's plastic, @ 3/4 X 3/4, it's very easy to work with. I have mine attached to beams spanning my run. It sags when it's covered with leaves but I attack them with the leaf blower and it springs right back. I got mine at TSC, but I see now...

This is my pallet coop. I have the beginning to end pics on my page here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/ernndbrtts-member-page

I know this is poitically incorrect, but, why not just shoot it and sell the pelt to buy more chicken feed? Our natural resources officer (game warden) told me that anything preying on our chickens and soon to have goats is fair game. Is losing some of your chickens worth not effectively...