Recent content by lakeguy55

This is interesting. Ours are very much the same way. They show no real fear in their run of dogs, hawks, or anything else. But walk into the run with a stange dish, or different food, and you might as well have a hatchet in your hand. I wish we could condition them to alert, and run to the...

Mine are not in love with cantalope, but put watermelon in front of them, and look out....it's every chicken (or human) for themselves....

Thanks to the advice I received on this site, I pulled the nest boxes out of my coop. My hens were roosting in one of the boxes. If and when I see any significant behavior, or an actual egg in the coop, I'll put them back in....with some golf balls!

We are having the same issue here. Six 10 week old hens stuffed into one nest box, with my roo laying underneath. I am trying to get a picture of this to post. It's pretty funny actually. I always get that "what's the problem" look when I stack them on the 2x4 roost bars. I guess I'll have to...

I've noticed this too here lately....we go out to make sure the chickens (all 8 weeks old) have gone into the coop, only to find them stuffed into one of the next boxes. I mean stuffed.....all six in a 16" x 16" box, with Brewster the rooster sitting on the floor underneath. It's very...

We just went through the same thing here. I acquired a 5 week old Barred Rock roo from another family, and was concerned about making introductions with our little flock (2 BO, 2 Sex Links, and 2 Barred Rocks) all 4 weeks old. I put him in a large carrier, with food and water, and faced it...

We're having some of the same issues here....our 6 week old chicks (and 7 week old roo) do the same thing at dark....huddle up in a corner of the run. We have to gather them up (with many objections) and place them in the coop. I have been reading and researching as much as I can about light...

I had the opportunity today to acquire a 4 week old Barred Rock Roo, in the hopes of adding him to my "flock" of six 4 week old pullets (two each of Barred Rocks, Buff Orps, and Sex Links. I have read several threads and links about introducing a new member to the flock. He was from a "trusted"...

Brought our "girls" home yesterday from Estes here in Springfield. We started with two Barred Rocks, two Red Sex Links, and two beautiful Buff Orps. They are doing great so far, and we are very happy to have them home. Can't wait to watch them grow up (but not too soon!) This site is...

I had trouble getting the temp right with a heat lamp for some reason. Now that I've switched to a 100 watt bulb, I can keep it pretty even at 90-95 degrees for our chicks. They are currently in the garage, with a back up heater going to keep it nice and toasty. Here are a couple of pics of our...

Thanks everyone. This is great information for all us first time small flock honks. We also plan on having 4-5 layers at this point. I'm in the process of converting the back part of our shed for the roost (about 4' x 10') with access out the back for the run (also about 4' x 10') covered, and...

Hi everyone! We've been interested in getting into raising chickens, mainly for eggs. I was searching and found BYC! Been on the site for hours now, reading all I can. We want to start small, so I would appreciate words of wisdom from all you "grizzled veterans" out there. Thanks all. I look...