Recent content by PaigeWells

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    Need help for a run on a sloped yard

    Western NC on the side of a mountain here… I have a yard that is very sloped, a tree fell nearby (thanks, Helene) and I rolled 2 large 10’ logs into place sideways and pounded stakes downhill from them to make free terracing (without digging). I throw any weeds from the garden, some of what I...
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    Looking to get help identifying gender

    I’m relatively new too, I agree all boys, for me it’s not just the size of comb and wattles (I have several hens with larger than one of my roosters) it’s the COLOR- boys turn red anywhere from 7-10 weeks but girls not until almost ready to lay (depends on the breed but generally 5-6 months)...
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    Winter Hatch.... maybe

    Hi- I was wondering how it was working out? I’m in WNC too, Waynesville. I have a mixed flock of 15 hens and 2 (unplanned) roosters. I recently found someone who humanely “processes” their birds and will take any young unwanted Cockerels so am finally planning to allow a broody to hatch- after...
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    North Carolina

    Thanks. I put him on Nextdoor; I’m not on Facebook but I will try to find someone who is. I also called the lady who sold him to me (she didn’t want him but offered me another pullet next year so that was nice of her) and another chicken keeper/seller I know who only knows people who would eat...
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    North Carolina

    I’m in Western NC - Waynesville/Haywood County. I have a free rooster I need to re-home (or as a last effort give to someone who wants to eat him). Casper is a Whitings True Blue, so he only carries the blue egg gene, making him perfect for a flock of Easter eggers wanting to up their blue and...
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    Crows are hanging around my coop. Is this a problem?

    My neighborhood crow Dante has a wife and 5 adult kids now, they don’t seem to land near my girls and they can’t get in the coop, and I don’t have babies so I encourage them. They LOVE peanuts (in the shell). I throw a handful on the driveway (200 feet from the chicken yard) and call them. They...
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    Comment by 'PaigeWells' in article 'Caring For Chickens in the Winter'

    I have a heated waterer for when it freezes (mountains of Western NC) but I also have 3 other waterers, every winter day when I visit the girls I take one of the 3 with warm water in it to them and carry another home to thaw and clean. The new warm water doesn’t freeze as fast, I’m cleaning them...
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    Attaching hardware cloth to run. Inside or outside?

    My hubby was ok but not thrilled with my wanting to convert a good looking shed into a chicken fort/palace. He specifically said he “didn’t want it to look like the Clampetts live there”. So I took the time to space out my washers (to hold the hardware cloth down) evenly and it looks pretty...
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    How to scare away hawks?

    I went with the “pay off the mafia” approach: I noticed that in my area we have several red tailed hawks AND a local flock of about 7 crows that harass the hawks en mass until they leave. I am in Western NC at 3700 feet on the side of a mountain, and we have everything that eats chickens. So I...
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    Too cold tonight for broody mom who adopted 3 3 day old chicks today?

    I know- they are so cute! Mine are still doing well, our nights get down to mid 30’s occasionally but when it’s cold mama has them hunkered down. I built a berm of bedding outside their cage to block any drafts just in case. (They are under the poop board counter in a pen). I let them out to...
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    Too cold tonight for broody mom who adopted 3 3 day old chicks today?

    Thanks for the reassurance. It will be 16 tonight (where is this cold coming from?) and 26 tomorrow night. since she’s already inside I’ll likely keep her there until Tuesday then pop them back into the quarantine cage, temps will be down to around freezing but not crazy after that into April...
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    Success rate giving first time broody live babies?

    Izzy is beautiful! Delta (my broody) did the puff and peck thing too, and would eat treats in between pecks. I got her as a 6 week old and she wasn’t as tame- I really didn’t want a rooster so I found a breeder who would sell 6 week olds with a much better chance of sorting sexes. I had never...
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    Success rate giving first time broody live babies?

    I just had a young broody aracauna about 10 months old adopt 3 3 day old babies (Just today). She went broody and I could not break her- she was stealing everyone’s eggs, hogging the favorite nest box, she held on for 60+ days despite all attempts to break her- and btw, I don’t even have a...
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    Too cold tonight for broody mom who adopted 3 3 day old chicks today?

    Thanks for all the advice! We watched her a lot today and saw how she acted when a chick left her- it took her a while to get them back, the longest a chick was out from under her was 16 minutes and she was very determined to get them back. Ultimately the thought of meeting a bear in my bathrobe...
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    Too cold tonight for broody mom who adopted 3 3 day old chicks today?

    Ahh- spoken like a mom! You are right, that and the frozen chick water decided me. They are inside now!
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