Recent content by TalkALittle

You know what? Give it a try. Then come back and tell us how it went. I will say that pee pads are great for liquid (urine) waste but I just don't see them having any great advantage over other substrates when it comes to dealing with chicken poop. If you want to bother trying to reuse your...

Wonder if you can just get a shed and have the chickens live in that? There's probably a completely different set of rules and restrictions for sheds. My guess though is that the size restrictions on chicken coops are there to prevent chicken owners from erecting sheds but calling them coops.

Let me just say that these are the stupidest restrictions I have ever heard of. I get restricting the number of birds, but what if I want to house 3 birds in a palace of a coop?

I don't think you have enough room for elevated poop boards under those rooster. How will the chickens get up to the roost? It seems like their access would be blocked by elevated poop boards.

Using pee pads doesn't seem very cost effective to me, nor very environmentally friendly.

Wait, so let me get this clear. The only casualty was the rooster and he was buried but his carcass only had wounds, nothing was eaten? This seems strange to me. Why would an animal cache its only kill without eating it? If it had cached the first and gone back to try for a second, why would it...

Wait, so let me get this clear. The only casualty was the rooster and he was buried but his carcass only had wounds, nothing was eaten? This seems strange to me. Why would an animal cache its only kill without eating it? If it had cached the first and gone back to try for a second, why would it...

A couple of things about mold. Not all black-colored mold is "black mold" (the one you hear scary stories about). The reason Stachybotrys black mold (the bad one) is so bad is that it can produce mycotoxins in large quantities that cause allergies and respiratory inflammation. But other molds...

Just make the intake vents adjustable and you'll be fine. The birds will appreciate extra air flow in summer and you can close the vents if you find they are allowing too much flow during winter.

Fisher cats, foxes, and screech owls all have a scream.

@Hickorychickens any info on the humidity levels in the two coops, specifically during winter nights? I'd be curious to see how the 6-8° difference at night affected humidity levels. Also, do the coops have equal exposure to sun/shade in both summer and winter?

Sounds like the overgrown nails on your first bird was a secondary condition. Scaly leg mites will make it painful to walk. Reduced walking/scratching allows nails to overgrow.

You can remove the moss without causing damage to the shingles by gently scraping off most of the growth. Spray the roof with a dilute bleach solution or algecide, let it sit a bit and use a brush to scrub off any remaining then rinse well. Don't pressure wash as it may lift or damage the...

Lymphoma? http://ocw.tufts.edu/Content/72/imagegallery/1362317/1368962/1376211

They will gravitate to the highest housing option and all end up in the top coop. Depending on your coop's construction you might be able to modify it some other way. Post a pic and you will might get some creative ideas you hadn't considered.