Recent content by TcherDawn

We used Kilz on the inside of our coop for the reason Pat said. Any exposed wood that got poo on it stained and stinks. I had to remove my unpainted roosts and pressure wash the yuck off them, but the walls wiped clean easily because of the paint on them. Also, if we ever had any...

Thank you! We unfortunately had to put deer netting over the other windows. They kept roosting in them. We also extended the droppings board all the way to the back wall and side wall, and installed a cage underneath for the chicks when we moved them to the coop. Now we can use it as an...

So glad to hear that it is nothing to worry about. That is my oldest son's favorite pet. Maybe the Red Star Ruby or Barred Rock Tiger will be next? And of course Snowball again. :-) Good girls. Woot Woot!!!

We got our first egg from our almost 20 week old White Leghorn Snowball. She is so sweet and not flighty at all. Our most scared/flighty chicks are the Partridge and White Cochins! Go figure. The small white egg had a small streak of blood on it. Is that normal? I looked at her behind and...

We take it down in the winter because this is only about 3/4 inch of snow (in NH)

The two feed stores here love Blue Seal and almost exclusively recommend it. I have had good results from it. Generally I feed Green Mountain Organic, but when they are out, they always recommend Blue Seal.

Quote: Why, were they laying? There is no good reason to feed layer to nonlaying pullets. As far as the grower is concerned--once your chickens start to lay give them some oyster shell in an separate feeder and feed out the grower or gradually mix it with layer. The biggest difference...

I agree with Ray, they do not have sharpness to their beak. Mine do not do well when it gets down to the bottom of the oyster shell, or bottom of the feeder. It has to have some thickness to it for mine to get a really good "grip" on whatever it is that they are eating. So just be careful...

Feed a commercial chicken feed designed for their age. My hens are commercial crosses, and any time I give too many treats or too much scratch(corn), they come up with soft shell eggs. One had an egg break inside her, and she got an infection. We had to put her down. Commercial feed has the...

I will have to put the chicks in at night for all the reasons you said. I will open them up at daybreak like I do most days, so they don't have to deal with each other in a confined space(I think my coop is 8x11). My husband gets up early to go to the gym, so we are up very early anyway...

I have a runty chick too. She is now 15 weeks and just starting to catch up with her fellow hatch mates. She did not feather and was half the size of all the others. But she ate, drank, and ran around like anybody's business. She is feisty and will steal a treat from anyone. I have...

My 8 almost 15week olds are doing well with the 4 adults hens. They are scared to death of them, but doing well. I have a small coop in the run for the chicks. The run is divided by chicken wire, and every afternoon we have been doing integration sesssions(monitored). So now I am leaving the...