Recent content by justlearning

Running free is not a choice. Bird flu is big in the MN this year and I have wild turkeys that roam my yard daily. Not to mention we don't own the farmland around our three acres. I can let them out once a day though.

We have a chicken tractor. Any problem with raising the birds on a cement pad?? Tired of them ruining the grass (last year I didn't care dice this is now my garden plot). But we have a cement pad that used to have a barn on it. Wondering if I could just put them on there. Move it every few days...

Thanks for the charts. I know the hens we're getting are silver laced wynandottes, buff Orpington (since they are sweet and go broody) production reds, Americanas plus maybe a few more. We had a really nice Americana that had to head to the soup pot since we lived too close to the city. That's...

We recently moved and will be starting a new flock. This is the first time we will be able to have a rooster. Since we are going to have a mixed flock, will it matter what kind of rooster we get (long term we would love to not have to purchase chicks again). Also since we have kids, what breed...

We are doing our second batch of meaties this spring. We have our tractor all set up but need to come up with a ground covering. Last years batch burned up the little grass we had. Our thought was to build a 2x4 platform to slide the tractor back and forth on (about 3 times the size of the...

My concern with keeping them locked in is the heat we have been having. They have been enjoying hanging out under the big evergreen tree and perching in its branches during the day. There is no way to get the little coop in the big coop.

We have one small coop which was designed for our bantams which we put our "little girls" in until they were big enough to move into the main coop. Everyone has integrated wonderfully in the yard but we are now trying to get the newbies to move into the larger coop. The bantam coop is not big...

I think you may be right. Looks like they will be the first to be butchered.

Does anyone know of someone who processes in Northern IN? We can do it ourselves, but since 24 is much more than the 2 batches of 5 that we did last yearm the thought of taking them somewhere and having them returned to us all packaged up sounds very inviting. We are at 8 weeks--so it due to...

This is our first time raising 25 cornish cross (we did 2 batches of 5 last year). We are right at 8 weeks and going to be processing soon. A few of our birds have floppy chests--almost looks like a growth. We don't know if this is enlarged breastmeat, or if we have a problem on our hands...

I have 5 hens and 2 bantams (all one year old). I am looking to move my 8-5 week old pullets and 4 bantam pullets outside to the chicken yard. I have a 2 options. My husband build a bantam coop that currently noone is living in that I can move everyone into OR I can put the bantams in the...

I got 6 bantams from TSC today and one just keeps flipping on her back. She'll run crazy all over the brooder box like she can't control her body and then fall face down and sometimes flip on her back. The other chicks are already picking on her. One keeps trying to eat her toes. What is...

Cleaning out the garden this week, are there any plants they cannot eat besides tomato? I have beans, squash, pepper, cucumber, and some mystery vine that never did produce anything.

Thank you. Since we finally are getting eggs, I don't want them to slow down. Still waiting on a few of the girls to start laying.

Ok going into my first winter. How much daylight do they need so they do not drop production? Also is it better to extend the daylight in the morning or at night or does it matter. How much light do they actually need? Want to do the coop updates before it gets too cold, and we have already...