Understanding Roosters
The above web page has been one of the best resources I've ever had on how to manage a rooster. The problem I found with most of the online forms whether it be backyard chickens or another one is that so often the advice on dealing with the natural aggression of a rooster...
I was looking at my security cameras when I came home in the early evening. And on one of the cameras I saw one of my youngest hens that is one of the four sapphire gyms laying on her side and apparently dead.
So I went outside with a flood light in hand as well as a head flashlight to see what...
An idea I've been bouncing around in my head for a long while. I have a regular water bowl for my cat and one for my dog as well as one of those cat/dog water fountains (cat and dog have their own). One of the best things I did because they drink far more often even though I change their...
I have one EE hen that I've been keeping an eye on for at *least* several weeks - btw she's at the top of the pecking order so she rules the roost so-to-speak.
She's not as active as the others, noticeably so.. Her plumage looks fine, her nostrils and eyes are clear and nothing unusual in...
So, I have multiple cameras which capture activity in and around the coop and the run. Anyway, about a night ago I was running through the stored video from the wee hours of the morning looking for something else and noticed a possum (seemed small (?)) walking around the run and the coop...
So the way my current nesting boxes work is that they are attached to the exterior of their coop with two passageway doors that lead from the inside of the coop to the exterior nesting box. Once they enter the exterior and nesting box there is effectively a narrow hallway so to speak that has...
I normally use the all metal doors from chickendoors.com - their doors have always worked flawlessly for my coop and the light sensor function is many many light years better than the rather poor light sensor feature of the Omelet doors
Unfortunately though, I needed to use a door that had a...
Well so far so good (I think) . The Sapphire Gems will be 12 weeks old on this coming Wednesday. As I've observed in the past the immature pullets remain more of a subflock. So far the regular flock (with their rooster) are in the main coop and my Sapphire Gems go to their temporary (I hope)...
So, just like the subject header says, I started wondering if I should have my Sapphire Gems on layer feed starting a couple of weeks before they turn 16 weeks. Most of what I read indicates that they start laying around 16 weeks (my Golden Comets did just that as well). So, wouldn't it be...
So I've read through the postings regarding thin eggs calcium importance of vitamin D3 etc. Even still I'm not quite sure what sort of situation I'm looking at right now.
So I'm only seeing this in my golden comets they're laying thin shelled eggs not super thin but not as hard as they usually...
...coop (assuming that they haven't already wandered into it on their own - don't laugh, had that happen in the past) when they are 14 weeks old. I *think* (guess?) at that age they should be large enough (BTW they are Sapphire gems that I am adding to my EEs and Golden Comets). I figure that...
I've never had much luck with the chick waterers because most of them even if you mount them slightly higher and they don't get turned over they just get fouled rather quickly with sand, or wood shavings or worse.
I found this sort of homemade solution has worked well for me. Basically it's a...
So, other than the look-no touch approach which I've always done in the daytime when gradually merging chicks to the flock, in the past, I've always put them in their own temporary coop until they are much older and then dismantling the temp coop so they can stay in the main coop. Probably...
The four Production Pullets still have a ways to go - they'll turn 3 weeks old tomorrow, but I know that another 3 or 4 weeks after that will come sooner than I think. I was planning on beginning integration to my regular flock using the see-but-don't-touch approach, as I always have done...
Has anyone ever tried mounting The Omelette chicken door on its side so it goes up and down vertically? I know it's set up to move horizontally but looking at the way it's constructed I don't see any reason it couldn't work as a vertical up and down door. I use the omelet doors for my nesting...
I like the suggested method of using some size container inside the coop at night to get the chicks as well as the adult chicken population used to one another. Something like a dog crate. Anyway it would be an enclosure just for use just at night when I would put the six or seven week old...
Don't know why the question hadn't occurred to me before but I started wondering what happens to male chicks at hatcheries? I wanted to ask here because internet searches are suggesting some fairly awful scenarios for chicks deemed to be male - and thought if I asked here I'd get the...
Don't know why the question hadn't occurred to me before but I started wondering what happens to male chicks at hatcheries? I wanted to ask here because internet searches are suggesting some fairly awful scenarios for chicks deemed to be male - and thought if I asked here I'd get the...
Pet enclosure
Looking for alternate ways of containing new chicks while you're raising them in a brooder.
Came across this on Amazon and ordered it. Arrived yesterday and I must say that it looks pretty impressive and looks like it would be workable for managing small chicks I especially...
I've seen variations of this question and variety of responses, but I thought my situation unique enough so I thought I'd put it out there to you all.
Some time ago I had built a 'large' coop at the end of their large run area - which was really intended to handle both my 4 Golden comets (the...