Recent content by MrDeMaistre

  1. M

    Window Prop

    The camera on my tablet is defunct, but I'll try to be more specific in words: 1) Get a stick of wood, maybe 1"x2" or so, the length you want to hold the window open. Mine is about 18". (I made one once out of a piece of broomhandle, for what it's worth: I don't throw anything away, to my...
  2. M

    Does anyone know where to find this hardware?

    Buy a three-foot piece of 5/16" cold rolled steel rod (any hardware store) and bend your own. 5/16" is bendable cold but stiff enough to last. You might get away with 1/4" if your bending skills are not what they might be, or once were. You could also use all-thread, which would make it easier...
  3. M

    Window Prop

    I put an eyebolt on the window frame and an eyebolt on the sill. I attach an ordinary snap to each end of the prop, then snap each end to an eyebolt. To close the window, unsnap one end or the other and close it. I usually unsnap the window frame end, leave the prop hanging off the sill, outside...
  4. M

    Need advice...too many roos!!!

    We have 40-50 hens and usually four or five roosters. Our birds are free range, and it works out fine. My advice, then, as a chicken-loving lunatic, would be to get an additional 50 hens, throw open the henhouse door, and send a preemptive note of apology along with a dozen eggs to any...
  5. M

    Chick doesn't like his family anymore?

    Has he been reading Hamlet? I had that problem once with a Buff Orpington.
  6. M

    Where to place food and water?

    The first imperative for food is that it be kept dry, so it doesn't get moldy. The first imperative for water, paradoxically, is that it stay wet. Life is indeed mysterious. We keep layer pellets in a old galvanized hanging cyclindrical gizmo in the henhouse. We throw scratch (and garbage, on...
  7. M

    These tiny bugs are everywhere! What are they?

    Bugs, eh? Just want to say this does not mean you are a bad person. OK? I've had bugs myself, and I am a prince of a guy.
  8. M

    Chickens killed with only heads eat

    Bit the chicken's heads off, eh? It's some heavy metal geek, I bet. Look for a shifty-eyed pencil-neck kid in a black t-shirt. There's yer man.
  9. M

    Neighbor's dog killed hen - how to stay on good terms?

    They're responsible for their dog, period. What to do is their problem. When this sort of thing happens, I point these facts out directly and unequivocally. That usually takes care of it. I only had to escalate one time. When the dog showed up, a nice friendly dog, by the way, aside from the...
  10. M

    SEVIN DUST YOUR CHICKENS

    Sevin works really well: we used to use it, but now we're all organic and natural and so forth. Now we use diatomaceous eath: dust 'em with it and strew it around the hen house. It's not as effective and has to be reapplied, but it is assuredly safe, so that's what we use now. Our chickens are...
  11. M

    Dog keeps killing hens

    The issue with a pen top cover is snow weight. Eventually, no matter how vigilant you are, snow is gonna accumulate there and drag the whole thing down, unless you attach your covering material to a good strong framework. The size of framing material is determined by the span you're trying to...
  12. M

    Advice on pecking order! Separate the chicks or normal behaviour?

    Chicks from very early on will peck at one another a little (not very convincing as tough guys, but they do their best). I don't remember any significant injuries resulting at the chick stage. I've had pullets get injured a little. If there's any blood, the bird has to be separated until it...
  13. M

    Mom with Chicks

    Usually it goes fine, particularly very early on when the chicks are no threat to anybody's place in the pecking order. Often several hens will go broody together and they sort of share responsibility for the well-being and protection of the chicks. I see this particularly with banties. When the...
  14. M

    My pullet is crowing

    I have come to the following conclusion: your pullet is crowing. You might try giving her dolls to play with, maybe get her a frilly sun dress or put up pics of Zac Efron in the henhouse. Maybe change her name to Pinkbell. Worth a try.
  15. M

    Hatchery Chicks dying - 2 - 3 per day

    Sounds awful. I've had great luck with McMurray, have been using them for decades. I have 28 four-day-olds under the heat lamp right now: 100% survival, 100% peeping, eating, drinking. The x-factor is the post office, something over which McMurray has no control. When I'm getting chicks, I...
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