Recent content by NC ChickenKate

I'd use the corrugated plastic roof over the yard and add a 4 to 6 inch overhang. If your rain comes with wind the yard will get wet some around the edges but an overhang will help. The plastic helps letting the sun in especially in the not-so-sunny North West. I used several panels in my first...

OH...yes the MY Pet Chicken chicks are more expensive than feed store chicks but you can ask for sexed chicks. Don't need roosters to have eggs and they can be a real pain in the patootie as they become sexually mature. Pay the extra up front for both vaccinated and sexed chicks and yeah, mix...

I ordered my 9 chicks from My Pet Chicken for an October delivery. Nine was the smallest number they would ship to North Carolina. They came to the cities main Post Office and they called me when they arrived. Lost one after about 2 months from failure to thrive. Spent the Summer building their...

My two bantam Silkies roost right along with the rest of the bantam flock (EEs and Welsummers) because, I believe, they were all raised together and since tiny chicks they all had small ramps, pint size roosts and other home built "jungle gym" toys to play with. As they grew the size of their...

Please op, consider that your time and efforts put into raising, feeding, watering, cleaning pens, etc. is part of your costs per egg. The more time you must spend caring for your chickens' needs the more expensive your eggs must be to recoup your costs. If your eggs are more expensive than...

Here in the South East any water barrel or tank exposed to the sun collects heat and grows algae. My 3 1/2 gallon waterer that is never in the sun grows algae and needs to be scrubbed weekly. I have found adding apple cider vinegar to the water slows the growth somewhat and is beneficial to the...

Yes...definitely granules for the less dust reason and it is easier to scoop clean with a kitty litter scoop. I MUCH prefer the Sweet PDZ in a poop tray under the roost than the deep litter method...no flies, no odor, easier cleaning and cheaper than bales of aspen shavings.

Your comment about not wanting to "let them down"...oh how I have been there. That is depression talking. Chickens' needs are very simple compared to many other pets/animals and I've had everything from the standard dogs and cats to llamas, horses, cattle, parrots, fish, reptiles...just about...

My 8 hens are living in their second coop and I agree with chickenmomma16 about the Sweet PDZ under the roost. My 8 ft. long 2 x 4 roost has a fixed 6" wide x 4 " deep tray filled with 3 1/2 inches of PDZ. Because the only windows of the roost are across the North side of the coop, the tray is...

One of my brothers-in-law, a very handyman with all the tools and know how built my first coop and enclosed/roofed yard. I worked along side him helping when he needed an extra set of hands. It was built mostly of found items/ used wood/ re-purposed stuff. When we knew we were moving to our new...

Oh...and something else...if your silkies are raised with other breeds they learn to do all the things a regular chicken does like go up and down a steep ramp (my coop is a two story affair and they have two steep ramps to get to their roost). Silkies can't fly like the others (no lift with...

I have a small flock of 8 banty hens...4 EEs, 2 Welsummers and 2 Silkies. Their first coop had four 12" x 12" x 12" nest boxes and they would quite often try to cram two or more hens into one nest box to lay at the same time. Interesting noise when a hen growls! And not all eggs were laid in the...

Thanks bwalden for the quick reply. At least I know I'm not alone out there and my little hen isn't such a total aberration. I purchased my chicks through the mail...did you too? I spent about two years traveling in and out and through Eureka Springs, AR 5 years ago...are you near there? Again...

Hi Welly owners...question. One month ago one of my two 1 1/2 year old hens (the bottom of the rung flock position) over night lost 90% of her neck feathers and her comb, earlobes and all around her eyes bleached out...just as our freezing night temps hit. I separated her from the flock and...

Scramble some eggs with the shels broken up included.