Recent content by maryellenks

And once you kill the raccoons you have, what about the ones that come next? and the ones after that? Killing predators never works because there are always more. As long as you are laying out the chicken dinner buffet, they will keep coming. Secure your flock. It's the only reasonable way to...

oh gosh I'm so sorry!! I can't imagine how horrible that must feel. That's one of the reasons I worry about getting started with chickens, it just seems so many things can go wrong. I have dogs, and there are predators around, but I've got a fenced off area for the chickens to be in during the...

We had rain, lightning, thunder, and *hail* here in Altadena! I now know that my coop plans are going to have to include a heater, which I had thought I didn't need. Better to learn that now, before I have chickens or a coop! (makes mental note) (has nowhere to put it)

I'm sorry about your chicks, Barb. (hi everyone! I was here for about two seconds, in the spring, and then left because I was supposed to go to the meetup at Norco and at the last minute didn't go and then I felt so guilty and embarrassed that it has taken me this long to come back) I work with...

oh, wow, ocseramas, I was just looking at your website! I am very excited you will be there, I was going to email you but will talk to you there instead.

I'm still planning to come, I don't know if I am in the 'official' count or not, since I don't have any chickens yet so I don't have anything to bring... I hope you'all will be patient with me and all my questions...

I'm sure this is a really stupid question but... are there special boxes for chickens?

I think I will be ready by then. I injured my hands really badly a few weeks ago and am still not able to do any construction-type work (the good news: I still have all my fingers. The bad news: only eight of them still work), and next week I am out of town, but in between I should be able to...

I'm going to try like heck to be there. I don't have any chickens yet and seem to having a hard time finding what I want! Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, and you'all can help me out? I want a mix of breeds, if possible, but all small (and cute!) - silkies, D'Uccles, Serama, Japanese...

They are in California and deliver birds regularly to my area. They seem to have a lot of birds of different breeds, different ages, their website looks nice, but I'd feel better if anyone had had dealings with them? also on their site they claim that you can't keep silkies with any other...

That's an adorable little coop. Could it be made predator-proof by screening in the bottom? Or do you think that the coop construction itself is just too fragile?

great website! You know, if we hadn't already determined it to be Fluffy, both the ringtail and the spotted skunk are found in NorCal and they both carry their tails low enough to often obscure their tracks. And they are very small, not much bigger than fluffy, so they could hide in that same...

But would the four feet be enough 'head space' for something like a silkie bantam? Another thought I just had is, I could keep it upright, put a shelf directly across from the door, to put the nest boxes on (for easy access for me) - cut a little chicken door in the bottom below the regular...

okay, so this is what I have to work with: It's approximately 4 feet on each side and six feet tall, hardware cloth on all six sides, heavily reinforced with steel supports, wooden doors. I have a couple of ideas/questions about converting this to a coop. It would only be used at night, the...

I know this is a question that is hard to answer because it depends so much on the individual birds, etc., but I am looking to begin keeping chickens for the first time and am deciding what breeds to start with. I am allowed to keep chickens in my area, but I want to be considerate of my...