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    Extension cord out to coop, pros and cons

    Please add your location in the box. I'm in Michigan's thumb and I don't add heat. If you do decide to run an electric cord, make sure it is for outdoor use. Don't lay it on the ground, have it raised, as Stinky Acres has done. You could run it along that wooden fence. The chickens won't need...
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    Baby chicks are 1 week old, when can I feed them bugs?

    Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. TSC and other stores have them. They may be packaged as wild bird seed.
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    Profitability

    As Big Blue Hen wrote, take a couple of classes on business. Your local community college probably has practical classes for you. Basic Bookkeeping, Accounting for the small Business, Small Animal agriculture. Be sure to compare the prices of commercial chicken feed with that which you can...
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    Profitability

    I went to the poultry show at Cheboygan, Michigan. I asked somebody if there was anyone present who sold Brahmas. She pointed out the Brahma judge and said that he was "Mr. Brahma". Mr. Brahma called his wife. I drove a couple of miles to their little homestead and bought two chickens. One...
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    Profitability

    If you are going to raise your own chickens spend the extra money on a pair (or more) of excellent birds. You will get the size, personality, etc. that you expect. Hatchery chicks are unlikely to come up to the quality of well bred chicks.
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    Egg Cartn - Winter in NJ

    They can free range in the winter. Most will tredge through the snow. I don't know what they find, maybe they just get cabin fever.
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    Winterizing coop

    Once you put in the new windows you can block off the original window, or block off enough of it so the air is coming in above their heads.
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    anyone else have one of these really old giant coops

    I don't think the building was originally meant for chickens. Very little ventilation. It probably had equipment in it. When you dress it out for chickens, cut some windows out. The windows should be above the chickens' heads when they are roosting.
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    Michigan winter

    When we had chickens years ago DH made a small coop (looked like an old outhouse). We put a bale of straw, picky side up, with the roost above the straw bale. The poop dropped down into the bale. No clumping and freezing. In the spring he lifted off the coop and the intact bale was tossed...
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    Michigan winter

    I don't use hay because when it gets wet/damp the mold that is already on the hay will grow. This is poisonous. This is why livestock won't touch hay once water has dripped on it. Straw will not support mold. Straw is also cheaper, though if you are buying only one small bale you won't really...
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    Backyard Chickens - Free Range Troubleshooting

    About hens getting away from roosters. My two buff orpington hens every night would fly up to the beam in the greenhouse. Eight feet. The boys were too big to get that high. Until one of them realized he could hop up to the perch, two feet above ground, then make it to the hens.
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    Care free coop

    The BSF larvae eat. It's the adults that don't. The chickens will eat either
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    Care free coop

    BSF do not hang around. They grow up, grow wings, and look for a mate. They do not have mouth parts so they don't eat. They mate and die. It is possible that your chickens are eating the flies during that short period when they fly around.
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    Anatolian shepherd killed one of my hens

    Train your dogs to a "leave it" command. You can find how on the internet. Once they are reliable on 'leave it', you can work on them with the chickens. Using clicker will probably be the quickest way to get them to understand, but they will need practice before they can be reliable enough to...
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    Solar system for winter

    There is quite a difference in climate between Raisin River and Iron Mountain. You should at least add "Michigan" to your name. And, in your thread you can mention where in Michigan.
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    Skinning vs plucking

    When you pluck the bird the feathers should just glide off. If not, it needs more time in the hot water.
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    Anyone trained their dog to stay away from chickens like this?

    I taught my border collie "leave it" when he was a puppy. With leave it, he must turn away from whatever the item is. I used it when we got chickens and he learned right away. But, he was a border collie.
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    Anyone trained their dog to stay away from chickens like this?

    I have been a dog trainer. I have taught people how to use the clicker and stay with them until they understand it. I used clicker to train my donkeys. I have not used a clicker in a few years, but I think it is a marvelous tool for people who have no experience training an animal. I haven't...
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    newly arrived runner ducks won't eat!

    When I had both chickens and ducks they got along well. I have a pond and one group practically lived on the pond and the other foraged about the yard and woods. Can't remember which group did which. For a while I had Moscovites and they bit the chickens the backs if they got too close. The...
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    A question about roost height

    Can you make a little ramp for her? If there is enough room for all the chickens I don't think the bigger hens would shove the small one off.
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