Recent content by RosieinKS

  1. RosieinKS

    Funny Chicken Commercial

    Has everyone seen the new GEICO commercial where the Buff Orpington takes a cross country trip on a train and sends back selfies to its owner? The first time I saw it I laughed out loud. They talk about her being a "free range" chicken. Look for and enjoy. RosieinKS
  2. RosieinKS

    Just got 2 hens, need advice.

    I had read up on raising ducks before we had them and I told my husband not to bring them home before the coop was built for them. He didn't listenusing so we had 4 ducklings in a huge plastic tote box in my daughter's bedroom. They grew so fast their heads we popping out the top of the box...
  3. RosieinKS

    Just got 2 hens, need advice.

    There is a minimum recommendation for space in a pen for each hen you have. I don't know what the measurement is, but you might want to check under the "coop" icon on this website to see of you have enough space for your birds. If you see signs of one pecking another, you might want to...
  4. RosieinKS

    Just got 2 hens, need advice.

    Are your chickens going to free range or will they be kept in the triangle-shaped pen? I'm biased in my opinion about free ranging chickens if at all possible. It eliminates so many problems if you can let them out during the day. They take care of ticks and bugs in your yard, are happier and...
  5. RosieinKS

    Freezing temps - should I keep chickens in coop?

    I'm glad to hear that you have not lost any additional birds. I'm not sure you can contribute the ones that passed away to a big temperature swing. There must have been something going on with them before this. Days in KS are like that all the time. 0 to below zero temperatures in the...
  6. RosieinKS

    Freezing temps - should I keep chickens in coop?

    Sounds like you have something spreading around from bird to bird. (obviously) You need to isolate the sick ones far from the healthy ones before the rest of them all catch it too. I looked on the internet for the definition of a "bank barn" and I think you have a stall inside a bigger...
  7. RosieinKS

    Freezing temps - should I keep chickens in coop?

    How hilarious! I laughed out loud when I read your post. Hope your tumbling chickens have all recovered and have found their bearings. RosieinKS
  8. RosieinKS

    Freezing temps - should I keep chickens in coop?

    How sad...I'm sorry you lost one. Last evening I wrote this big long windy post about the expense of keeping chickens (Sorry to all who tried to mettle through it). After giving my teenaged daughter the big responsibility lecture when it comes to taking care of her chickens, I looked out the...
  9. RosieinKS

    Comment by 'RosieinKS' in article 'How much does it cost to raise backyard chickens?'

    Do not under estimate the expense of raising chickens. Treated lumber, hail screening, hardware, screws that won't rust, roofing material, insulation, windows, and TIME to build your own coop if you can't afford a pre-made one. Pre-made coops don't come insulated from what I've seen in our...
  10. RosieinKS

    Freezing temps - should I keep chickens in coop?

    We've had some very cold wind chills here in KS. Tonight it is 3 degrees. During the day today it didn't get above 20 and the wind chill was bitter cold. Our chickens always come out unless there is several inches of snow on the ground and the wind is blowing pretty strong. Even then if you...
  11. RosieinKS

    Comment by 'RosieinKS' in article 'How much does it cost to raise backyard chickens?'

    Don't go into the chicken business to make money on eggs, because unless you have lots of free material around in which to build your coop, decent materials to build a secure coop are really expensive. The walls need insulation, windows, ventilation and reinforcement with hail screening to keep...
  12. RosieinKS

    winterizing and coop humidity

    Last spring, we added 4 ducks to our 12 chickens, so we built a new chicken coop and moved the ducks into the old chicken coop. After building glass windows for the first coop that fit snuggly into the space where the screened windows opens up in the warmer weather, to save time and effort, my...
  13. RosieinKS

    Keeping the Duck pool clean

    Does a stock tank heater sit directly on the bottom of the tank? If so, I'd be concerned about it melting my plastic wadding pool. I know they don't have to having swimming water all the time. Friends of ours who are both 75+ don't put out water for swimming in the winter time because they...
  14. RosieinKS

    Keeping the Duck pool clean

    Sometimes the simplest things work best. I found my 2 pink clam shell-shaped pools on clearance at Wally World for $13. They needed to be small enough to move and dump easily when full without using so much water to fill them up. We have well water, and in dry years we have to ration water...
  15. RosieinKS

    Keeping the Duck pool clean

    I bought a couple of small plastic pools for our 4 ducks this summer. They love them, but keeping the green stuff from growing on the walls is difficult, even if I change the water every day or every other day. The pools are big enough for 2 ducks in about 8" of water. I was thinking I could...
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