Recent content by Lori S

  1. Lori S

    I think I want to cover my entire yard with poultry netting!

    We have hawks and a few eagles here, plus the usual climbing predators. My three (I rotate the girls through them) runs are no more than 20' wide each, about 30' long. The perimeters are chain link. I cover the runs with bird netting, the kind used to protect fruit. Beneath the netting I run...
  2. Lori S

    Chickens Sleeping Outside at Night

    The light on a timer is an interesting idea. Earlier I l posted my girls had started roosting outside. Now three are still outside and two have moved in. I do have an LED on for 15 minutes just before dusk. But I confused the whole issue by building a new "Taj Mahen" coop. It has a higher roost...
  3. Lori S

    Horizontal Nipple Waterers... in your opinion, yes or no?

    Oh, the heated version was from Rural King. The other I made from parts. Both are two gallons, as I too don't want to lift anything heavier.
  4. Lori S

    Horizontal Nipple Waterers... in your opinion, yes or no?

    I love mine. I use them year-round, with a heated version in winter. The water stays clean, as much as two weeks between fillings in cool weather. No bedding or poop in the water, and wild birds don't contaminate it. To start my girls, I tapped each nipple to let a little water pool under them...
  5. Lori S

    Chickens Sleeping Outside at Night

    My girls started that last summer. Nothing had changed as far as I can tell. I thought maybe it was the heat. They went inside during really cold weather. But rain (or snow) or no, they are out. I guess there IS something madder than a wet hen. But mine are in an enclosed run, so they are safe...
  6. Lori S

    Chickens Sleeping Outside at Night

  7. Lori S

    Winter water

    I have a heated waterer from Rural King, using it for the second winter. It has 3 side-mount nipples, a snug-fitting lid with a slight cone (discourages roosting), and a hanger that centers well. IT IS THE BEST waterer I've used in the 9 years I've kept chickens. No dust or poop in the water...
  8. Lori S

    Searching for the perfect waterer

    A bit off topic, but on apple cider vinegar: my girls drink the waterer with vinegar empty before drinking the one with tap water only. So I guess they think it tastes good
  9. Lori S

    Why do my Chickens Roost on the Nesting Box?

    The roost is four feet long, higher than the nests. I have only four birds now.
  10. Lori S

    OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

    Looks like lots of Buckeyes here. I have had chickens for seven years in the Xenia area. O. H. I. O.!
  11. Lori S

    Why do my Chickens Roost on the Nesting Box?

    When checking for eggs after dark I often find 2-3 of my 4 nesting boxes occupied by sleeping hens. And I have only four birds. My roost has room for eight and is very low- less than a foot off the floor. The coop is a former tractor, about three feet high and four by eight. My chickens did not...
  12. Lori S

    Ground cover for run

    Oh yes. I vividly remember the winter i moved the girls into the shelter of the barn, only to discover the whole area had standing water after a rain or snow-melt! Wet is not healthy.
  13. Lori S

    Ground cover for run

  14. Lori S

    Ground cover for run

    I have three runs that are (mostly) grass that attach to a formerly mobile coop. I rotate the girls to prevent over grazing. I recently reseeded a run and kept them off it for a month. Before I put them back in, I stretched out garden fencing and pinned it over the new grass to minimize...
  15. Lori S

    Egg bound calcium dosage

    This thread has been very helpful with my first egg-bound hen on Sunday night. She was droopy and listless, tail down, hardly moved at all. Inserting a vaselined finger, I felt an egg not just inside but on the other side of a membrane??. I "lubed" her vent that night. The next morning she...
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