Recent content by MaryOos

  1. MaryOos

    Outdoor Brooders

    I got a huge produce box from Costco free. The ones they have onions and potatoes in. I laid cardboard over the 2 ends and a piece of welded wire over the center top to help keep mice out and to keep them in when they began flying (which doesn't take long). The heat lamp hung from the garage...
  2. MaryOos

    Treating your Chickens?

    My 5 MI girls are confined to their coop and enclosed pen in the winter months. I grow jars of sprouts and run the sprouts through a food processor with fresh kale, oats, fresh garlic and dried herbs for them. I usually mix up enough for 3 days. I deliver this treat daily in a pie plate. I also...
  3. MaryOos

    Roost Questions

    my nest boxes use to be up off the floor and the roost / poop table was above that.I found the chickens preferred to lay their eggs on the floor below the nest boxes. I also had problems with bumble foot and injured tendons. One bird actually got knocked off the roost while she was sleeping with...
  4. MaryOos

    Extra Light

    "As a side note I noticed my infrared lights on my camera was waking the hens up way too early so I now turn them off at night and they sleep right up to lights on time." The infrared on my camera is but a tiny red dot. It's visible to the girls but it doesn't actually cast any light. My girls...
  5. MaryOos

    Lifespan of hens

    In my first flock of 7, 2 polish and a silkie turned out to be roosters (which I am not allowed to keep in the burbs). They had to be rehomed. Another silkie was put down at 1 yr when I could not clear a blocked crop (early spring grasses) and she had gotten too weak and was suffering too much...
  6. MaryOos

    Lifespan of hens

    It is better to keep your roost to just 18" - 24" off the floor. Hard landings from the roost can cause ligament injuries in the legs and bumble when they land on the bedding and get a poke.
  7. MaryOos

    Ended Official BYC Coop Article Contest - 2017 - Win a Auto Coop Door Kit!

    Welcome to Le Chic Chalet De Poulet! Enjoy your tour. :frow https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/le-chic-chalet-de-poulet.71969/
  8. MaryOos

    Free Range in Snowy Weather: What do you do?

    I have a covered pen which gets polycarb panels screwed to the sides late fall for a fully enclosed pen. I also put straw down on the floor of the pen to make it extra cozy and to give them something to forage through. They have a peck-o-matic feeder and 2 dust baths in the pen - one concrete...
  9. MaryOos

    Topic of the Week - Feeding Chickens - What to feed and when?

    Lid on the bucket? Smell? When I was fermenting it was a big jar on the counter. No lid, no sour smell. Just a towel over the top to keep flies out.
  10. MaryOos

    Topic of the Week - Feeding Chickens - What to feed and when?

    I tried fermenting last fall - spring. I kept a dry feed bucket out at all times but brought a dish of fermented out to them every day as well. They cleaned up the fermented feed every day. A little tougher in the winter because if they didn't eat it quick enough it froze in the dish. The...
  11. MaryOos

    My First Little Flock

    Well first my Frizzy turned out to be a rooster. I thought Rudy would be the next to crow. But instead, Polly Peepers suddenly got stringers on her perfect head puff and started crowing. Last but not least, my darling Rudy could not keep his beak shut any longer. Poor little Freckles the only...
  12. MaryOos

    Chicken Breed Focus - Faverolles

    Food is a huge motivator for my faverolle. Grapes and mealworms are her favorites. My Fav does want to be close, between my feet (when she thinks mealworms will be delivered), on the garden swing snuggled to my hip, or even on my lap. I just can't touch her with my hands r she screams and flaps...
  13. MaryOos

    Chicken Breed Focus - Faverolles

    I am a newbie to keeping chickens and have a backyard flock of 7. I ordered 5 salmon faverolles this spring. As chicks they were the only breed I ordered that got pasty butt. I had to check and clean their little bottoms twice a day. And between 2 and 3 weeks they all turned into screaming...
  14. MaryOos

    Do chickens like parsley?

    My 11 week old chickens love parsley. I have not found a leafy green they won't eat - radish tops, carrot tops, parsley, cabbage, & spinach. Also my hosta leaves.
  15. MaryOos

    Building and working with Columbian Patterned Birds

    I am a first time chicken keeper. Due to minimum order rates I ordered 5 dominiques, 5 faverolles, and 5 Columbian Wyandottes. The dominiques were by far the most agile and quickest to develop. They were also all little nipping monsters. They all looked identical except for a white mark on each...
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