....hey, guys. I used to be a very active lurker :D, and then we moved. My girls were adopted by a friend, and my coop went with them. It was a completely solid and wonderful and excellent and hand-built-by-me Garden Coop, and I am so sad every time I think of the fact that it couldn't come with...
I'm about to start breaking my broody buff. it's been a week, and i just now have my hands on the kind of cage needed (borrowing a rabbit hutch from a friend.).
question: do i let her out to free range with the other two ladies in the evenings/during the day when we're home? or is this like a...
x-posted in Emergencies/Diseases, but this doesn't feel like an emergency, so...
14 month old Buff Orpington, hiding out in the laying box for two days now (yesterday and today). Today I lifted her off, placed her outside run and she drank water and ate, wandered around a bit like normal, and...
14 month old Buff Orpington, hiding out in the laying box for two days now (yesterday and today). Today I lifted her off, placed her outside run and she drank water and ate, wandered around a bit like normal, and settled down in one of their favorite dust bath locations. Once the door to the run...
oh - also - I give them about 1/2 c of cracked corn around 4 pm, right before sunset, to help them stay warm. That, and constant access to water, is what I really rely on.
I'm in my first winter with birds as well (SW Montana - a fellow Narnia dweller ;) )....what's the run setup? Is it completely enclosed/covered? Do you have plastic to guard from the wind to prevent gusts?
I've learned that my run (5x9, covered, wrapped in doubled-up 6 mil plastic) is a...
I've 3 ladies, and today's high will be 4 degrees. Many degrees below zero at night. I've been using a 1 gallon standard waterer on top of the cinderblock-with-a-lightbulb trick, but many times a day the water is still frozen solid and for obvious reasons I need a working solution.
I purchased...
I hope this is the right place to post my questions - I've done quite a bit of reading on winter readiness, but have some specific questions I would like addressed to put my mind at ease. I appreciate any time you have - this week has been our first cold snap (other than the frost we had in...
1) good to know! I'll watch for it...
2) they are currently sleeping in one box, so i'll try it and see if they move
3). yes. sigh. snow. Apparently summer's the weekend we go to the lake.
Lots of various questions - I've looked through old posts but wasn't able to pinpoint exactly what I need, so I hope you can help me here. Background - 3 hens (Jersey Giant, Black Star, and Buff Orpington) not laying yet but due around the first week in August:
1) Squatting: I know this is a...
@Cirrus12, I spent $300ish, having recd free roofing and some 2x4s from a friend.
ETA I am a strong 40 yr old mom, grew up on a working farm so I don't get discouraged easily. The mesh fabric was the hardest part because it's awkward. I did get help on the roof but I pounded every nail, sawed...
The plans call for about 8" of front to back difference, so I think 1' will be fin for runoff. I'm in Montana (406Jen is a hat tip to that) so good snow. The plan website has quite a few testimonials of happy coop owners living i heavy snow areas, and they only have 8" slant, so I'm confident...
And they came down the ramp today!
The person i got them from said they were expected to begin laying early august. They were purchased from a feed store so they didn't have the exact hatch date. I'm guessing 14-16ish weeks?
There is literally NO ONE in my real world that will understand why I'm so excited about this, so I must share here.
Brought my 3 girls home to their new digs on Friday. I'd build the coop all by myself - pounded every nail, sawed every board. Friday night I put them up in their coop (raised)...
Just picked them up yesterday. They're about 16 weeks old. I went to buy feed for them, and the dude at the store pointed to a green bag for "poultry feed"
They're too young for this, right? I mean - I assume this is the layer feed everyone talks about? It's for adult chickens. These girls...
Thank you for the advice!
They don't....really.....like me. I mean, I'm sure they're grateful for the watermelon, but they're far from tame. At bedtime - it was a keystone cops episode up in here. I mean - I went into the run, caught the Jersey Giant (Elizabeth). She didn't like it but she was...