Our break from winter just underway, some extra daylight and warmer (+ temps during days).
Feed and water consumption is way down. I know keeping warm requires consumption but 50-100% more?
For past 2-3 years I served feed in my covered run year round. Water also. Run floor is dirt & gravel with artificial mixture of mulch, deciduous leaves, pine shavings, droppings 8-12" deep on top. Six years, no maintenance.
I now have an accumulation of food debris on the ground.
Should I...
I removed 4 roosters from 25-30 hens more than a year ago. I housed them in separate cages; 2 died a short time ago.
I have 12 Chant hens, I moved a Chant roo from cage to coop&run a week ago. Zero issues with re-integration (Chanteclers are said/known to be docile birds).
My 2nd roo is a...
I separated my roos from the coop/run for almost a year, now want to integrate one of them back in with the hens.
I believe I can do this without any process to introduce but would be interested in thoughts from anyone who has been through a similar situation.
Thank you.
I ordered 7 ready to lay ISAs & 9 chicks for delivery March 31st. They will be integrated into a coup & run sized for 40, currently with 24 aging hens. Looking for advice, principally with the 7 ISAs in with 24.
I have done 4-5 hatches, use @ arrt's integration process, successful each time...
I built my run 5+ years ago using telephone poles & 1/2" 1/2" 19 gauge hardware cloth (HC). I used hog rings to attach a horizontal apron to the vertical walls. Worked great!
More than 5 years later I have ground hogs breaking in to get the feed. Breaking in by ripping the HC apart because the...
I built my run in 2020ish. I used 12-16" aprons all round joined to the HC wire walls only with hog rings; worked very well for 5 years.
These joins are now failing. The rings themselves can detach from the HC and/or the welds on the HC are failing. Does not really matter. Just an alert to...
Last fall I separated all roosters & cockerels from the females; moved to 3 cages. 4-6 weeks ago I found a egg in a cage that contained 3 birds; obviously a female. Or is it?
I have since moved the pullet to an isolation cage then into an integration brooder space inside the coop where my...
I have nine Chant males, mix of cockerels and 18-20 months. I will cull a number but open to keeping 3 for use in controlled breeding.
One I was recently given to provide a different gene pool, so will keep.
Of the others I have two that have 2-3" spurs. The rest hatched June 2024 and all are...
I removed all cocks & cockerels to separate cages last fall. My main motivation was/is to control breeding but my hens often looked bedraggled from damaged feathers. So far I am pleased with the results: i have 27 pullets & hens, they look better and behaviours are much calmer; multiple roosters...
I discovered (via ChatGPT) that "Prince Tannat Woods" has a second book titled "How to Raise Chicks". (first book is "Modern Fresh Air Poultry Houses")
Available on Amazon, have ordered.
I bought a bagged bale of large flake pine shavings and it is frozen. Now out of bag but several days latter still a large frozen brick.
Suggestions?
Subsequently bought a bag of pine pellets but one needs to wet it down some to cause it to expand. -20C here, not anxious to add water into my...
[Struggled to physically install timed light in coop. Finished install yesterday but timer on was 12 hours off; pondering... My wrong setting of timer resolved. The timer has a 24 hour dial with a fixed pointer inside; pointer can be installed in either of two ways; I had it backwards so...
@paintedChix linked this video, kudos! If it works it is brilliant!!
I would appreciate any comments, links, etc. re actual use of this concept & design.
Thanks in advance.
After a delayed start to winter yesterday we got ~10" dumped on us; 6am today.
I clear snow for myself and neighbours so went out early to feed/water to find most of my flock inside the coop, normally they would be in the run. I checked the run to find that snow had blown in and covered the...
I got 2 of 12 hatch, now 4 weeks, lost one chick overnight. I have an enclosure in my coop; main flock of 25+ & 8 in their 5th month.
I assume best to proceed with planned integration to coop & run? Anything to ease the single chicks existence?
Some months ago I was given 3 large trusses - each 14' wide and 9' high.
Given experiences with excess roosters causing havoc, multiple breeds and no way to separate for controlled breeding I have wanted a 2nd pole shed to house cages to accommodate these and other uses. It has taken too...