Recent content by Mass Mike

  1. Mass Mike

    Advice needed re: egg production after 2nd molt

    thank you so much....lots of great info here. I appreciate this!
  2. Mass Mike

    Advice needed re: egg production after 2nd molt

    First of all, Happy day after Thanksgiving. Hope you are cozy and warm. I could use a bit of advice regarding a dramatic drop in egg production and anything I can do to jump start it again. This is my first flock. Situation: We live in chilly New England with a 2 1/2 y/o old mixed laying...
  3. Mass Mike

    Triple yolk... but at a cost

    I pulled a huge egg from the nesting box earlier this week. Turned out to be a triple yolk. The next morning one of my 2 year old RIR's was dead in the run. No external injuries or anything. The chicken appeared to be in good health. What is the likelihood that this was the chicken that...
  4. Mass Mike

    Complaints with Sand

    we use coarse sand in our (covered) run with a light layer of hay over it. The sand has done well with draining water and the hay, once it gets a bit nasty, is put on the compost pile for next years garden. That system has worked well for us for a number of years. The nice part about using the...
  5. Mass Mike

    Have a lot of Newbie questions!!!

    Just chiming in about my experience with crowing. In our last batch of freedom rangers we had several roos. The largest 2 started crowing at about 8 weeks. I'm not sure if it is that same for all breeds but the ranger roos kind of worked themselves into their crow....meaning that for the...
  6. Mass Mike

    Question about nighttime behaviour and Heat Lamps

    We use a heat lamp (250w red bulb) in our coop on the very cold winter nights (15 degrees or colder). I did not observe their sleep patterns but I also didn't experience any big changes In their behavior. Egg production seemed to be consistent as well. You are right, though...the red glow...
  7. Mass Mike

    Insulation

    Drafts and wind are a much bigger problem than the cold itself. Your aim ought to be a draft free coop with appropriate ventilation. Winter nights in MA are routinely in the single digits, and it is not uncommon to have sub-zero temps. If you have cold-tolerant birds appropriate for your...
  8. Mass Mike

    I'd love some advice re: switching off of commercial feeds:

    Hi all, I currently use the Purina "all in one" commercial feed which contains calcium and then supplement with produce/kitchen scraps. I have access to lots of "day old" produce. I'm thinking of stopping the commercial feed altogether and just using the produce (lots of fruits, green veggies)...
  9. Mass Mike

    dirty beaks/combs on RIR hens...advice please

    followup.... o.k. so, I more or less made myself sick this afternoon reading up on every poultry disease that could make the hens have black spots on their crops (not to mention grossing myself out with google images of the stuff). I ended up doing an Extreme Makeover Poultry Edition. I went...
  10. Mass Mike

    dirty beaks/combs on RIR hens...advice please

    hey all. so, I've noticed that on many of my RIR hens, their beaks are always dirty...and their combs have what i'll describe as a very dark brown crust on areas of them. I'm not sure if it's just caked on dirt or what. I tried to scratch it off one of them but she wasn't too happy about the...
  11. Mass Mike

    How Many Eggs Did You Get Today?

    got 7 eggs from our 7 hens yesterday. Our third "full pull"!!
  12. Mass Mike

    Should I be concerned?

    It sounds like you are doing everything correct in regards to diet. The advice that was given in the other responses are from folks much more experienced than I, and it is all spot on. weather and light (length of day) can certainly cause drops in production. The rubbery/abnormal...
  13. Mass Mike

    Wichita Style Chicken Coop - In Progress Now! Design Ideas Welcome!

    very nicely done. We used a Wichita-style design when we built ours. My one suggestion would be with the run roosts....we built diagonal roosts along with the one high width-wide roost to make it easier for us to get in the run to clean/feed/water without maneuvering an obstacle course in...
  14. Mass Mike

    The long road to chickenhood... starting with the coop

    very nicely done....excellent work. Congrats!!
  15. Mass Mike

    Chickens ate their own eggs this morning, need some insight:

    Thanks, Judy..this sets me at ease a bit....this is my first flock...I was a bit taken back by how vigorously they went at those eggs.
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