Recent content by michaelbell317

  1. michaelbell317

    What are your opinions on free ranging?

    We do a combo. They free range the yard during the daylight hours, but we lock them up securely in the coop at night. We don’t have much for predators in town, but there are cats, raccoons and I’ve seen one fox in the yard. Our dog helps to keep others away and doesn’t bother the chickens at all.
  2. michaelbell317

    Lethargic hen

    She died this morning. We had to leave the house for a couple of hours and was dead when we returned. Her crop was empty, she didn't feel bloated and we didn't see any signs yesterday. We clean out the poop from under the roosts every morning. There were some piles that were pretty loose and...
  3. michaelbell317

    Any idea whats wring with my poor girl?

    I started a new thread. Thanks
  4. michaelbell317

    Lethargic hen

    I think she's been having digestion problems. There has been some messy poop in the coop and now I wonder if it's been hers. Now that she's isolated, I'll be able to tell for sure. She's a Black Australorp and up until this morning, seems to have been acting normally. At least normal enough...
  5. michaelbell317

    Lethargic hen

    I have a lethargic hen. I went out at sunrise to open their door from the coop to the run where the food and water are. she stayed in the coop just laying down. She let me pick her up with no complaint or trying to get away, nothing. She doesn't seem to be injured, but I guess that's still a...
  6. michaelbell317

    Any idea whats wring with my poor girl?

    I also have a lethargic hen. I went out at sunrise to open their door from the coop to the run where the food and water are. she stayed in the coop just laying down. She let me pick her up with no complaint or trying to get away, nothing. She doesn't seem to be injured, but I guess that's...
  7. michaelbell317

    New to chickens

    I, too, used the plans for the Chicken Palace, but I did modify a couple of things. That's a nice looking coop so far. Pictures of mine are posted in here somewhere. We have six hens. They all seem to be pretty happy and have plenty of space. I have two roosts inside the coop for them at...
  8. michaelbell317

    Summertime heat inside the nesting boxes.

    My chickens come out of the coop at some point after they lay their egg. But while they're in the nesting box, it gets really hot there and there's no room for frozen water bottles.
  9. michaelbell317

    Summertime heat inside the nesting boxes.

    My nesting boxes are incorporated into the raised coop. The coop has an open window on each side, plus the door the chickens use to get into and out of the coop/nesting boxes is open. The roof of the nesting boxes is hinged for easy egg retrieval and I leave it cracked about three inches. It...
  10. michaelbell317

    No one told me...

    Their nesting boxes are inside the coop. The box’s access was blocked off until they got closer to laying age. Even after I opened the boxes up, they didn’t go inside them until they started laying. A couple of weeks after I opened them, we put one decoy egg in each box. It’s funny now. If I...
  11. michaelbell317

    No one told me...

    I’m not exactly sure how old our chickens are. We brought them all home on the same day 5 months ago, but we could tell as they grew that there was as much as two weeks, maybe even more between some of them.
  12. michaelbell317

    No one told me...

    One of us, the wife and I, are out in the backyard almost constantly for one. Plus, our chickens are not super quiet when it’s their time to lay. So far it’s been pretty easy to tell, but I won’t be surprised when the day comes that we’re not sure who laid what.
  13. michaelbell317

    No one told me...

    Each chicken has a color in the six columns on the right side of the spreadsheet. Those colors are mimicked on the graph showing who is laying the most. The first couple of weeks was pretty boring when only one chicken was laying. Now, with just two more chickens yet to join the game, the first...
  14. michaelbell317

    No one told me...

    No, not weighing the eggs. The first few were pretty small, but they’re bigger, normal sized, now.
  15. michaelbell317

    No one told me...

    We brought six chicks home on March 17. On July 17 we got our first egg and she’s given one per day ever since. We’re up to four laying now, and averaging 2.6 eggs per day. Yes, I have a spreadsheet complete with a graph, tracking my producers. There are still two chickens who aren’t quite...
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