Recent content by MNchickaroo

Thanks everyone! Except for when it drops below 25 degrees (I have discovered that some of them won't go in until the sun goes down, no matter the temperature and then frostbite occurs, we're located in central MN) these are very much free-range birds. Now that it's spring, and the hens have...

Will your chickens be free ranging or have a run at all? I have 12 birds in a similar sized coop, and I wish we had made it a bit larger (you mentioned you may get up to 15 birds)...we have hard winters here (MN) and it gets a little tight, especially if you have some bossy birds! However...

April 4th of last year was when they arrived as 72 hour-old chicks...so they're almost a year old. At what age does a cockerel become a rooster? And yes, they do have favorites...or anyway, hens that don't seem to care what happens, and then there's others who avoid/watch for the roosters. I...

We have 10 industrious hens...mixed breeds of SLW, Buff Orps, Buckeyes and an Ameraucauna. We also have two gorgeous, and giant, roosters, who are not aggressive to humans or the ladies, but they are very, very amorous. I have 5 of the hens in chicken jackets (saddles) which I made using the...

Yeah, I'd go with cricket. And I'd only be alarmed if several show up at once. Usually they get stuck inside and can't get back out. Hopefully this is a one time deal, and the wildlife stays outside! You can always stick it in a jar and go to the ag extension office and see what they say!

Ours love it outside, pure chicken joy...and it seems to help them feather-up a bit too! It's neat to see them "puff up" to insulate themselves, little guys can be quite hardy:)

Pic is a little blurry...but I'd go with a cricket, anyway looks like crickets we have in MN. How big is it? It doesn't look like a cockroach to me, but there's so many varieties, I could be wrong!

Ours went into an outdoor coop at Week 5. (We live in MN and have had very similar temps to what you're experiencing). Our birds did just fine, but they had a few more feathers than those pictured. You can put them in and watch their behavior, if they're huddling or acting stressed, it may be...

I'm glad I asked, I thought it was sort of ominous...like the eggs had little skulls, but now it makes them sound like work-horses! Neat! I'm going to look those up. We did that too...had two beautiful brooders my husband built and were used for about 4 short weeks before everyone outgrew...

Our run wasn't finished at the same time as our coop (trust me, when they say make sure everything is ready for the chickens, make sure, as they grow way faster than you think they will!). But we wanted them to start acclimating to the outside, so we put up a little piece of 4' high fencing in...

What is a Deathlayer? I've never heard of that breed! Welcome, this is a great place to get good information!

I see you've gotten tons of responses...but here's one more! My folks have a blueberry farm (several acres), and they use aviary netting on a system of cable wires. (Robins LOVE blueberries and will clear a field in two days). You just need to make sure there are posts in between the outside...

What breed is that rooster? He's gorgeous, looks like a painting! I noticed in the past 2 days of this experiment, my rooster appears to have calmed down a bit. (I used to be the object of all his aggression, now he gives me a firm, single peck and that's only when I've picked up a chick!)...

I just learned this...pullets will have "regular" lacing, meaning it's clear that they have a white feather tipped in black, and you can usually see a pattern in the feathers, they look "neat". Cockerels will have random white and black patterns on their feathers, will usually be a little...

I can do that, I think since I've gotten chicks, hours of my life has passed by "checking on them" then realizing a half hour has gone by!