Recent content by ssteiner

  1. ssteiner

    how high should a roost be?

    Yes
  2. ssteiner

    Sickly, listless, sad

    Update - - - My 20 month old Partridge Rock (the subject of the post above) died today. I found her in the run - just looked asleep. Rigor still present so within the last several hours. Followed the advice in the original reply, added electrolytes and OTC antibiotic to their water, but...
  3. ssteiner

    Sickly, listless, sad

    I have a 1 1/2 year old Partridge Rock who in the last week has not been herself. I've noticed that she has watery droppings (really just pure liquid) and her comb is a dull red. She's still walking around and taking dust baths, but she seems slower than usual. At night, she goes under the...
  4. ssteiner

    I had to buy store bought eggs AHHHH!!!!

    Of my four hens, three molted in October and didn't lay for a good 10 weeks. We were going crazy, but thankfully our trusty partridge Rock gave us three eggs a week through the dead of winter, just enough to keep the family from having to buy the cursed store bought garbage. Now, all four...
  5. ssteiner

    Hot weather chicken coops?

    Hi Tikichicken, I live in Orange, just a few miles from you. My approach to dealing with the summer heat was to ensure that the hen-house was connected directly to my run, which is an enclosed 7x3x3 frame covered in hardware cloth. I cover the top and side with canvas (the kind gardeners use...
  6. ssteiner

    Winter or Molting or Both?

    I have three Wyandottes and one Partridge Rock. All four of my girls started laying in April/May of 2009. The three Wyandottes abruptly stopped in October. Feathers everywhere, shorter days, I assume it was molting. But it's been about 10 weeks and NO EGGS. Thankfully, I'm still getting 4 a...
  7. ssteiner

    Molting chickens, missing eggs

    Three of my four girls are molting and we're down to three eggs a week from the only hen who is still on-duty. It's been close to a month now. The three look rather ragged, there are feathers everywhere, and I was just wondering how much longer I should expect to be longing for eggs. Any...
  8. ssteiner

    A reminder that chickens are birds!

    Each night, I go outside after sundown and lock the door to the henhouse. My girls free range for an hour or so before sunset and until now, it's never been an issue - they always went to bed on their own. Well the last few days, I would lock up the henhouse as usual (not looking inside) and...
  9. ssteiner

    Hawk problem.....anyone know how long they will hang around?

    Is your run too big to cover? My run is covered and it really allows me to relax when the girls are out during the day. Even bird netting, which is not secure against climbing predators, will keep out hawks. The other day, I heard the girls talking up a storm, not at all pleased, and when I...
  10. ssteiner

    Help! My Wyandottes have stopped laying!

    I have four chickens, all about 9-10 months old. One Partridge Rock and three Wyandottes. About 2+ weeks ago, we here in Southern California were hit with a brutal heat wave. Day after day of temps between 95-105 degrees. This lasted for about 10 days and then broke and gave us 2 or 3 days...
  11. ssteiner

    Soft shell eggs from new layer help please?

    Don't get too wound up over soft shells (and even shell-less) eggs in the first months of laying. They're still juveniles and their bodies are still getting used to this whole "egg laying" business. They even out as they mature and you'll see fewer and fewer such incidents. Of course I agree...
  12. ssteiner

    shelless egg???

    Yes every once in a while, especially when the girls were just getting started laying, we'd see a soft shell or shell-less egg. It's likely just something she'll grow out of, but do verify sufficient calcium in her diet, mainly by way of providing crushed oyster shells.
  13. ssteiner

    Nesting box question...

    I hear all sorts of answers to this question. Everything from a foot or two to four or five. My girls seem happy with their's, which is only a foot. I have one nesting box for four hens which seems fine.
  14. ssteiner

    I know, I know, I am hard headed.....Chicken wire question

    No raccoons but I had my 12 pound doxie charge right through chicken wire like it was paper and kill one of my girls before I stopped it. I switched to hardware cloth and find it much sturdier.
  15. ssteiner

    Dust bath

    Actually, the chickens are specialists at "making" a dust bath. Ingredients required: 1) Dirt 2) Chicken The chicken will take care of the rest.
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