Recent content by HousyRunner

  1. HousyRunner

    hens burrowing?

    Yep, dust bath gets rid of mites and other tiny creatures--plus the dirt they dig up is cold and helps cool them.
  2. HousyRunner

    Chicks Arrive, Hens Stop Laying

    Hmmm. Not surprising. But my hens have stopped laying for two weeks now.
  3. HousyRunner

    Chicks Arrive, Hens Stop Laying

    My (three) year-old-plus hens suddenly stopped laying when I moved my six new chicks (not the hens') into the coop. The chickens (Rhode Island Reds) all free range and the hens intimidate the chicks. The chicks are now seven weeks old. The hens are generally not aggressive with the chicks...
  4. HousyRunner

    Hens have raw shoulders, how to heal?

    While mounting my hens, my rooster clawed the shoulder feathers out of two of my three hens. Rooster is now gone, but some questions remain. First, is this par for the course or might this have been simply an overly aggressive rooster? Second, rooster has been gone four or five weeks but the...
  5. HousyRunner

    What's the value of a Rooster?

    I started out with six chicks of which one turned out to be a rooster (all Rhode Island Reds). The rooster got to riding the hens pretty hard, so that that their shoulders got raw (they also squawked a lot and ran away from him in the morning when he tried to chase them down). Rooster also...
  6. HousyRunner

    When to switch from chick feed to ???

    When I got my new chicks (Rhode Island Reds), I also stopped at Blue Seal and bought a bag of chick feed. Three weeks later, they've been eating like crazy and I'm running low on the chick feed. What's next? Do I buy more chick feed and feed them that for how long? Or do I buy something else and...
  7. HousyRunner

    Screws Poking through Roof?

    If you live in Canada where I presume it gets cold, you might put some Hi-R rigid insulation up there. I put up 1/2" sheet (you can push it into the protruding nails) and then some 1/2" plywood over the Hi-R. Does a good job of covering the nails, although that extra plywood makes for a heavy...
  8. HousyRunner

    Dogs and Chicks....

    Our dog and cat with our three-week old chicks. Dog tends to the maternal busy-body, frequently herding them. Cat is curious, even a bit cautious around them. Cat was left alone for four hours with the chicks in our mud room by mistake, but all survived in good shape. We've got a second cat who...
  9. Our chicks, about three weeks old, with dog and cat. Cat is mostly just curious, dog likes to herd them.

    Our chicks, about three weeks old, with dog and cat. Cat is mostly just curious, dog likes to herd them.

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  10. HousyRunner

    How Old Are These Rhode island Reds Chicks?

    How old are these Rhode Island Reds? I bought them from a local distributor 12 days ago and he said they were only a couple of days old. But they've gotten feathers, have begun to fly, and have gotten big quickly, and I now suspect they are older. Any ideas? It doesn't matter other than I'm...
  11. How old are these Rhode Island Reds? I bought them from a local distributor 12 days ago and he said they were only a couple of days old. But they've gotten feathers and big quickly, and I now suspect they are older. Any ideas? It doesn't matter other than I'm looking to better match up age with development.

    How old are these Rhode Island Reds? I bought them from a local distributor 12 days ago and he said they were only a couple of days old. But they've gotten feathers and big quickly, and I now suspect they are older. Any ideas? It doesn't matter other than I'm looking to better match up age with development.

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  12. Anyone have an idea how old these Rhode Island Red chicks are? I bought them 12 days ago from a local distributor who told me they were just a couple of days old. Given how quickly they have gone from peach fuzz to feathers, and how large they are, I'm thinking they are older than the seller said. It hardly matters, except I like to understand their age versus their development.

    Anyone have an idea how old these Rhode Island Red chicks are? I bought them 12 days ago from a local distributor who told me they were just a couple of days old. Given how quickly they have gone from peach fuzz to feathers, and how large they are, I'm thinking they are older than the seller said. It hardly matters, except I like to understand their age versus their development.

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  13. HousyRunner

    Dogs and Chicks....

    I've had my dog out with my new chicks and by introducing them slowly, they seem to get along fine. My guess is that some of it has to do with breed and temperment, and some with training. Mine's a four-year old lab mix. We let the chicks out first for exercise and foraging. When they became...
  14. HousyRunner

    Exterior Nest Box Access Door: On Top or on Backside?

    Putting a small removable fence or curb at the back of the nesting box seems like a great idea.
  15. HousyRunner

    Exterior Nest Box Access Door: On Top or on Backside?

    On researching my coop design, I noted that some exterior nest boxes had access doors that opened on top (the roof) and others the backside. I had a hard time deciding which design was better, as I could see advantages to each. So I broke down the variables as follows: access, weather, cleaning...
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