Recent content by mfh

Thanks for the input! I read alllllll last night and seems like that nose height is best, and since it is a small area, I will likely do a second layer on top. Removed a second fox permanently again this morning. I have seem at least one other cruise the yard so the chicks are staying in...

We are now full up backyard chicken keepers and loving it. We have a great mix of barred rock, RIR, New Hampshires, and golden comets - they start laying this fall. They are all getting along, healthy and so much fun to watch. The dogs are comfortable with them, and have not made a move...

We are new to the group…with 24 straight run growing under our eye, we are hoping we will end up with 6-12 hens going into the fall. Time will tell what we have! We are outfitting the coop. We are most interested in keeping things simple, and building the coop and run large enough to...

Thank you all for your replies which pretty much validates what I was thinking with respect to it really depends. We have family dogs that could help as a deterrent which we have been socializing with the chickens. They are labs and we will test to ensure they don't cause harm. We would never...

I have been reading and reading and we are very torn on if we should free range in our area. After years of talking and not doing..we are going to have a flock of ~15-20 RIR and Barred Rocks this year. Primarily RIRs. If we free range we will keep a roster for flock protection (or two if...

We are in Northern Virginia, in a area that is more country then city. I really want to get a small flock (6-12) chickens for eggs and for hobby. We have twin seven year old girls that adore every animal they encounter and I figure raising and caring for chickens will be a fun family activity...

Anyone in Fairfax Station that wants to help cut my learning curve? We are about to step off and need to build a coop and are looking for someone in the area with experience that we can use and then play off for taking care of each others birds while on vacation. We only go away for a couple...