Recent content by thisoldcoop

  1. thisoldcoop

    Red heat bulb - am I messing with their sleep?

    I have 12 hens in a nice little coop and live in Ontario where the temps get well below freezing. I use a single heat bulb in a receptacle from the ceiling as their heat source in cold months and leave it on all the time. Is this soft red glow messing with their "circadian rhythm?" They need the...
  2. thisoldcoop

    Nesting boxes made from removable dish bins?

  3. thisoldcoop

    Nesting boxes made from removable dish bins?

    Based the whole new design of my chicken coop on using $2.00 plastic bins. Husband designed the wooden structure to hold them. It will hold six bins but I currently just have four in them (the chickens are only using three!). They are fabulous! I use wood shavings, so if the chickens make a mess...
  4. thisoldcoop

    New pullets being bullied, will it work itself out?

    As a follow up, I've had the new pullets for about three weeks now and they are mixing with the older three, coming out of the coop, into the outdoor run. There is still the occasional feather pulling and reminders that they are low on the pecking order, but generally it isn't too bad. One has...
  5. thisoldcoop

    Advice adding two new pullets to flock of 5

    I just posted about introducing new birds, too. I have three red sex-links that are over a year old and just brought in four of the same that are about 18 weeks (one just started to lay). I only had two days of keeping them separate but visible. Currently, after about a week, the three older...
  6. thisoldcoop

    New pullets being bullied, will it work itself out?

    Their run is about 50 x 30 feet with a variety of what we call "playground equipment" - an old wooden bench with the seat gone that they can perch on, stumps with more wood suspended between them, and some pieces of sheets of wood that are upright that birds could be on either side of without...
  7. thisoldcoop

    New pullets being bullied, will it work itself out?

    I'm not sure what I would define as the difference between bullying and attacking. They do go after the younger ones if they see them, but then the younger ones just jump up onto a low roosting perch and everyone is o.k. again. There is plenty of space out in the run, which is where the older...
  8. thisoldcoop

    New pullets being bullied, will it work itself out?

    I've kept a small flock of chickens over the years, but haven't really had the kind of bullying that I've experienced with the last couple groups before. I have three red sexlink hens that are probably about a year an a half. They've been together since I got them at nine months. I recently got...
  9. thisoldcoop

    What breeds did I buy??

    I will wait to see which one is the "nicest" rooster to decide who to keep. Won't be eating the losers, though. Just can't eat something I've named (Buffy, Bruce, Nugget). They will be given away to someone who would like them.
  10. thisoldcoop

    What breeds did I buy??

    Thought I would write an update. The buff bird is now crowing, but honestly doesn't look like a rooster to me! The little black one died. The other two are also roosters, I believe. Will have to get rid of some. Can't have that many roosters. Still don't know what breed they are. Chime in if you...
  11. thisoldcoop

    respiratory issues... any hope?

    I did not see this with the little three month old, she just hunched up and died (was being picked on horribly by the bigger birds in a short amount of time before I could isolate her). The laying hen (an adult bird of about 7 or 8 months) was exhibiting the pump handle neck thing and open mouth...
  12. thisoldcoop

    respiratory issues... any hope?

    Should also say that their coop was completely rebuilt by husband and basically "brand new" with great ventilation and wood shavings as bedding. Birds are out in a run during the daytime, closed up in the coop at night.
  13. thisoldcoop

    respiratory issues... any hope?

    Thanks, I actually found that link when I was reading other posts and my best guess would be either infectious bronchitis, or infectious laryngotracheitis (especially the one that already died, due to the gaping motions she was going through). I've not even dealt with a vet because I suspect the...
  14. thisoldcoop

    respiratory issues... any hope?

    I've lost one laying hen to this so far. She gasped horribly at the end. I am from Ontario and have access to powdered antibiotics which are added to water from the local Co-op (oxytetracycline HCI). The whole flock has been treated twice. The hen who died was the worst, but two others are also...
  15. thisoldcoop

    What breeds did I buy??

    Oh crud. I did NOT want a rooster this time. Been there, done that. (Once bought four little buff brahma banties and ended up with three roosters and one hen!) You'd think I'd learn.
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