Recent content by mdbtalon

Since you have power in your coop it sounds like a large water container out there with a heater is all you really need. Still would need to keep the hose warm inside and use it to fill it, but with a large container out there this would be very infrequently needed. I understand not wanting...

To make it an valid experiment.... at some point you need to switch which box has shavings/straw and see if they switch which nest they lay in.. I have 12 nesting boxes all with straw. 8 of the boxes have not once been laid in, but have found up to 9 eggs each in the other boxes. The boxes...

Just wanted to "second" what you have said since I see this come up a lot on this site. If temps are below freezing and you want to prevent the water from freezing you should add hot water not cold or cool water. As you point out the hot water may cool at a faster rate, but that is irrelevant...

Oh and I am just so glad I got to use that saying when it actually was not an analogy ! Who would have thought!

So your suggestion is to let the Fox guard the Henhouse?

Have to admit I really laughed when you said the only time you still had issues with frozen water is when temp goes below freezing. When else would you have that issue Anyway I am sure these actually do work great, but does not work for those of us without power.

I will try to get some pictures this weekend of what it looks like in the coop (no electricity in the barn yet and not home during the daylight hours.... I hate winter!!!). The general idea though is the middle of a moderate sized compost pile 3-5 feet wide/high the center of the pile can...

Personally I have created a wooden box about 3x3 full of compost. The largest vent hole is in the middle which in cold weather I put the watering can on top of. My coop floor is about 2 foot off the ground anyway so this box really only sticks up about 1 ft above the floor. Since doing this I...

Opps forgot to add. This is what I do alternating runs (they free range weekends and summer evenings when I am home, but predators are too bad otherwise). It works fine and as long as I switch runs before one has turned to dirt the other run recovers quickly (will depend on the load of birds...

As the other poster indicated you will not be able to get grass to grow in there with chickens since they eat seed as well. If it is possible for you I suggest letting them out of the run to roam in the yard during the day. Obviously in many locations I realize this is not possible. I would...

I think that is a great article. The only thing I take exception to is saying the ideal temperature of a brooder is 91.4 the first day and then stressing how important that is. I think for someone brand new to chickens this sounds very intimidating... ie "How in the world can I keep it at 91.4...

Lot of people giving great advice. My #1 tip is just that there is just "too much" to learn so keep going to sites like this, read books, etc.... but realize nothing replaces the real experience of doing it and no matter how much research you do there will be mistakes and do not let it...

Sounds like you may have it figured out. I would just add a couple things to keep in mind. One is keep in mind that assuming it is a relatively small run you are going to end up with bare ground sooner rather than later. If the run is on a slope like the ground shown in the last picture...

If you stop feeding them there is no doubt you will likely see them scratching in the dirt for longer periods of time and more voraciously. I am not sure I would consider that "progress" though. If your only hope is to see them more active then at least in the short term that is progress. If...

In my opinion it is all irrelevant as our "money" is backed by nothing anyway. Whether they get around Congress raising the debt ceiling by creating a "trillion dollar coin" or whether Congress caves and extends the debt ceiling in exchange for future spending cuts that will never actually...