Recent content by redblack10

I just watched 2 brief You Tube videos that show you exactly what to do. Here is one.

Hi - I am sorry you lost your young hen. I have "lost" just a few hens, over the years, and each has been found, brooding eggs. One was gone for two weeks, was really thin and stinky, and the eggs were cracked and rotten. I found her under a pallet, when I smelled her! After a bath, food...

I use several Vittles Vaults. They have large, threaded lids, and one on my deck - for birdseed - even frustrated a squirrel.

I hate to jinx myself by saying that I have not yet had a rat problem, but I have lost 4 of my sweeties to predators this year, so I empathize with the endless task of securing coops. My neighbor used to raise dogs with pens inside her barn and access to outdoor runs. All along the interior...

I am so happy to hear that she is a fighter! Please post updates for a couple of days - I need to hear about triumphs, because I just lost 2 to a predator.

Thank you for the tips. I am looking into the electric fence asap - just lost 2 of my babies to a head-eater.

The idea of putting poison in a closed live trap is genius - thank you!

I am so sorry you lost a hen, but I'm glad you caught the culprit. I found two of my 2-month-olds just tonight - white marans and salmon faverolles - dead with heads missing. One was at the far end of the run and one was in the coop. Both were cold, so it happened before dark. I am so sad.

Try adding several Nite Guard Solar Predator Control lights. Amazon and Northern Tool have them. My coops are secure at night, but I still have several facing different directions. Coyotes are just outside my pastures, but the lights and my donkeys keep them away. I let my dogs "mark" all...

Thank you, Mrs. K -- These birds will not be with my layers and roosters, unless I let them range for a short while at bedtime. Their run area, including coop, covers about 3000 sq ft of chicken-wire-covered cattle panels with poultry netting elevated above the whole thing. It's not very...

Does anyone raise CX with a roost - even just inches off the ground? I am going to raise about 50, starting in a couple of weeks, and I want to give them the best "chicken life" I can. This thread is amazing and I am ready to combine the ideas that sound good to me. My 26 layers and 2...

Thank you for your great explanation. My girls (and 2 guys) free range all day, so I don't have a "run". I use sand inside, under their roosts and on the ground. With daily scooping -- no odor, no flies, and it does not get wet. I started with sand, after interning at a zoo, and seeing how...

Thank you - after more research, I think you are correct.

Has anyone used "Black Diamond Sand" in your coop? I am having a hard time locating a river sand or natural sand that is not based with silica. The online bag says "Low Free Silica". Actually, I have used play sand with no problems whatsoever, but I have read that the silica content is not good.

This is such good news! You have made me smile.