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  1. SamLockwood

    Roofed roosting bar at night and that's it...anyone with experience?

    I got them through Amazon, they're fairly generic make: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NQ4L1SB?ref=fed_asin_title&th=1 Plus if you use corrugated polycarbonate for the roofs they'll let enough light through you can put the lights under the roof and they'll still recharge. It's how I did the roofs...
  2. SamLockwood

    Roofed roosting bar at night and that's it...anyone with experience?

    The first potential problem I see is if you get severe weather any shelter light enough to move around is going to be light enough to get knocked down by the wind. So think about some way to secure the shelters in event of severe weather. The second problem is that anything in the weasel family...
  3. SamLockwood

    Olive Egger egg possibilities

    My understanding is if they're first generation olive eggers, you could get brown, blue, or green eggs depending on the exact genetics of the parents. If you want the really dark olive layers you've got to breed a second-generation olive egger. I think the combination is a green-laying hen with...
  4. SamLockwood

    How to train your chickens…

    When I give my flock bird seed, I always use the same containers (these white plastic mini-pitcher). If I old them up and shake them a little so they can here the bird-seed rattling around they go nuts and will follow me anywhere. Any time I need to gather them together in one place that's what...
  5. SamLockwood

    Can chickens be trained to stay in yard?

    It takes some time and patience but they're quite trainable. A good rooster actually takes over chick-rearing after their mothers are finished with them. I've seen mine do "predator drills" by making his alert sounds and then chasing them to hiding places. They also have places they prefer the...
  6. SamLockwood

    Precocious cockerel.

    I'm going through that right now. I've got two groups of new arrivals, one batch that hatched late May and another that hatched in June. The May chickens have two cockerels, and one of them has been acting very roosterly for the last three weeks: not only trying to mount hens but he's actively...
  7. SamLockwood

    Last Guinea

    Guineas period can be dangerous with chickens depending on the dynamics of your flock and how much space they have. In my free-range flock the male guineas are only really dangerous to each other and any bird of prey foolish enough to try to land in their yard. The guinea-hens tend to be the...
  8. SamLockwood

    OverEZ coop update: nesting boxes leaking--ugh

    I'm glad when I built my coops I put the nesting box doors on the sides instead of the top. My main worry was the birds freaking out from the sudden movement above them, but I can see where water leakage would be a problem with that design, too.
  9. SamLockwood

    Why can't brooder plate be used on floor?

    It seems an odd prohibition, but I'm betting there was some weird lawsuit that was the source of that instruction. That being said, I tend to like my brooders off the floor anyway. My current setup is on a cart, which allows me to easily access it from any angle and move it into storage when...
  10. SamLockwood

    Roosters

    It's possible, depending on the personalities of the roosters and how much space you have. The "sorting out" phase can get messy, depending on how stubborn one or both of your boys are.
  11. SamLockwood

    Rooster breaking up fight between hens?

    Good roosters are the peacemakers of the flock. If you introduce new birds to your flock, a good rooster will act like an ambassador to the newcomers. It sounds like your roo has good instincts.
  12. SamLockwood

    What does this chicken want?

    Some of them are just more vocal than others. Some are "drama queens" that will carry on at the slightest provocation. If you're worried about your neighbors, either move your set up as far as possible away from them or try bribing them with some fresh eggs.
  13. SamLockwood

    Normal teenage cockerel behavior or is he an ahole in the making?

    First, you really shouldn't be letting small children out with chickens. Second, when you're integrating new birds there are bound to be some conflicts that will include some fighting. I've even had hens raise hackles at each other and fight. Pecking on and of itself isn't necessarily a...
  14. SamLockwood

    Flying Chickens

    Younger chickens like to push the limits. Between 3 months and a year old they'll do some crazy acrobatics. It's like they want to test the limits is their little feathered bodies. If they survive, they'll outgrow it.
  15. SamLockwood

    Cream leg bar not laying?

    Blue eggs are a shell color. Brown eggs are actually a white shell with a brown pigment on them. To get a green egg it's a blue shell with the brown pigment on them, so depending on a variety of factors the egg color can range from green to blue depending on how much "ink" she has left. As far...
  16. SamLockwood

    Cannibal Mom & Baby

    I've had my broodies hatch multiple chicks and guinea keets over the last couple years, and there's a couple things I've noticed: Chickens naturally practice eugenics. If they sense that an egg or chick hasn't developed right, they'll kill and often eat it. The same holds true if an egg...
  17. SamLockwood

    Training Guinea Fowl to Kill Snakes

    I don't know about killing them beyond a garter snake I found pecked do death, but mine have definitely chased all of them off. I haven't seen any snakes inside the fence in years.
  18. SamLockwood

    Rooster Aggression in Mixed Flock

    Roosters are going to be at their worst behavior from about 6 months until 9 to 12 months, especially if there's no adult roosters to curb his behavior. If you raised them all from ducklings & chicks together his behavior is defintely aberrant and you may either have to separate the flock or...
  19. SamLockwood

    Free range chickens

    Some of them will get crazy ideas on where to lay their eggs. This year I had a young pullet that repeatedly tried to make nests in the eaves of the roof of the chicken coop (which she barely fit under). A couple years ago I thought I'd lost a hen and she'd made a nest deep under the front deck...
  20. SamLockwood

    Question about chicken behavior during a stalking incident

    Unless they've been attacked by a canine before, likely they were just anxious about this big strange, animal poking around their domain. They do have survival instincts, but they only go so far. They have to learn what's a threat and what isn't, and what works for a good hiding place and what...
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