Recent content by middle TN Nancy

In looking at your pictures, is that the roost at the far end high up over the pop door? If so, why couldn’t you put a poop board under it? I realize there is a window on one side, but The board could be supported with something like shelf brackets that could attach to the end wall. If the...

I have hemp in the coop and I agree with TP2 - dry and fluffy, no smell, no dust. I use a poop board so there’s not much poop in the bedding, but what’s there is dry and simple to scoop out every few days.

I’m not going to be much help here. My Dominique chicks are ridiculously tame. They run up to me when I come into the run and WANT me to pick them up. But I’ve had them since they were 1 day old and I set the brooder up so I would never come to them from above. However they will scatter if I’m...

I use shredded hemp in the coop and a poop board with PDZ. I sift the board about every 3-4 days - tales 5 minutes - and the poops I fling onto my compost pile. The coop stays completely dry and smells fresh. My covered run is deep litter - leaves, pine needles, straw, hemp, grass clippings...

Just FYI my sister used pvc pipe to arch over her (large) run to support bird netting. She regrets this because over the years the pvc has sagged and kind of warped. Not too attractive, but sort of still does the job. Possibly if she had used a larger diameter it would have held up better. Just...

As I understand it, you can continue to feed them unmedicated chick starter/grower until they are ready for layer feed. All Flock or Flock Raiser is also suitable before they are laying. Not sure when you can start giving them scratch - I believe it’s just considered a treat.

I transitioned my chicks to the coop by putting the whole brooder in the coop with the brooder door fastened open. They were so young it was as if the brooder was a little coop and the coop was their run. I gradually moved food and water out from the brooder into the coop. Finally I took the...

I’m in a heavily wooded area in the south too. If you’re talking about how the metal ridges cause a small gap opening about every foot that cannot be closed with wood - I stuffed the ones that led into the coop itself with wadded-up hardware cloth scraps (to keep mice from chewing through) and...

LOL we really need to get a life.

I just did it too. Read all bazillion comments. GAW. I thought initially that this was an old thread and that I would soon find out how it all worked out, then partway through I realized that it is still ongoing. And now I’m going to have to wait like everybody else! Go Jelly Bean! He/she is...

I don’t put food or water in the coop anymore, just in the run. My chicks are 2 months old now and they blast out of the coop each morning when I open the pop door around 7:00 AM LOL. But when I first put them in the coop when they were very young I had food and water in there, as I kept the pop...

Actually she said they would be gone one day two nights, not 3 days.

Excellent video!

Thanks, RoosterML and GC-Raptor! That simplifies it a lot!

I don't think it's a question of lack of appropriate care for the birds. As I understand it, the issue is that in flocks with mixed ages and genders, not all the chickens should eat layer feed as the extra calcium it contains is bad for them, whereas all flock or flock raiser can be fed to all...