Recent content by PoppasGrill

  1. PoppasGrill

    Best place/way to buy chicks

    Are you buying specialty birds or just laying hens for production? We’ve gotten a few special breeds from RK ( white faced Spanish ) and some cross production breeds ( Red Star) but usually get straight production breeds ( Leghorns, RIR, Brahma, Americauna). We’ve had a few batches we purchased...
  2. PoppasGrill

    Best place/way to buy chicks

    We get quite a few from RK. Our lady does a good job at getting pullets for us, 85%<>, I think of the last 40 we got 2 cockerel, a couple more before that. We incubated and hatched 15 of our own and got 5 cockerels out of the clutch. We’ve never gotten directly from a hatchery.
  3. PoppasGrill

    Snakes in the hen house…

    Yea, that’s the biggest one. The other was about 4 feet long.
  4. PoppasGrill

    Snakes in the hen house…

    With all the rain we’ve been getting lately, have killed 2 water moccasins in our coop. One killed a hen in nesting box. Worried about SO sticking her hand in nesting box to get eggs. These were both large snakes and had to come up the side of coop to get in, as we have smaller wire lower to...
  5. PoppasGrill

    Moving Grown Hens to New Coop

    We’ve moved our Ladies to new coops, on the property. We free range daily, but kept them locked in for a 7-10 days just as a precaution. A few of them went to the old coop site the first time we let them out, but we herded them towards where the coop Roo was waiting outside the new coop. He...
  6. PoppasGrill

    Dirty beddjng

    I would do a deep clean as soon as you can. If there are maggots there already then that area has probably been soaked for a while. As Rosemarythyme stated, try to stay away from chemicals as much as possible if you are keeping the chicks in the brooder.
  7. PoppasGrill

    Do all coops struggle with heat in the summer?

    We have several large coops, 2 enclosed ( Half of our Barn, and an addition lean to enclosed) And 3 open air coops. One is converted from a line of dog kennels. We are in North Florida, so the heat and humidity can be exhausting. We have baby pools set up in shady areas for the girls to cool...
  8. PoppasGrill

    Guineas- What the hell!!

    We’ve got 2 Guineas that were raised with 14 pullets. For some reason the Guineas have started rushing into the middle of their clutch mates , and the other hens, and chasing them aggressively. Tried separating them in their own coop, but as soon as we let them out to free range they go back...
  9. PoppasGrill

    Poll: How often do you check on your chickens in the heat?

    My wife is out in the coops several times a day, cleaning out water bowls and adding fresh, collecting eggs and generally making sure they are well taken care of. We free range our main flock 4-5 days a week
  10. PoppasGrill

    6 day old chick with internally rotated leg

    We were able to use a rubber band, not tight, from one leg to the other , to gently and slowly pull the outward leg in. It took time ( a few weeks) and a close watch on the chick, but she is running around with the big girls now. On another note, it worked on one, but not the other 2. Different...
  11. PoppasGrill

    Will copper in their watered hurt my hens?

    We’ve had coils of copper wire in our hens water containers for better than a year. Only time we “have” to clean out the container is when their dirty little beaks put a lot of dirt in the water, or them scratching around dusts the water. So, almost every day..😁
  12. PoppasGrill

    Why does my hen sit on the nesting box without laying any eggs??

    Can only go from our own experience, we got heavy rains for a few days last week and our Ladies egg count dropped by half. After the rains it got hot/humid and the count stayed low for two days, then picked up again. We have several different breeds and know part of the count is due to low...
  13. PoppasGrill

    Why does my hen sit on the nesting box without laying any eggs??

    You can try putting a fake egg in the nest for incentive. Remember that not all breeds lay everyday. She might just be in a slump. Your idea of just giving her some time might be the best option for now. At her age she might be wanting to but just can’t at this time. Changes in weather and...
  14. PoppasGrill

    Chickens on hiatus??? Please help.

    We’ve noticed that changes in the weather effect our ladies egg production. It usually lasts a few days before picking back up. Also, different breeds don’t all lay the same amount of eggs annually. It’s not timed out and we believe the lower production hens will lay for consecutive days then...
  15. PoppasGrill

    Nesting Box Question

    You can try both, most of our hens won’t lay on wire bottom nesting boxes, some like straw in the box, some like sand. None of ours will lay in a roll away set up, where the eggs roll down out of the nesting area to be collected.
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