I have found that having a 10 week old German Shepherd is like having a 10 month old baby again. You are constantly monitoring what they are putting in their mouth, and teaching them that certain things don't belong there. Ironically, except for accidents he is potty trained. It is funny to...
Oh, the land slopes fine. Some of the lower elevation coops, kept getting built up with gravel and sand, but with the torrents lately, it hasn't helped. Some places we took the precaution of putting up sand bags.
I built a brooder box that is big enough for my wife to lay down in. This has allowed me to use it as a grow out as well, so they are fairly large when introduced to the flock.
It is. My wife was helping measuring while I was planning, cutting, and barn siding was a pain to cut with a circular saw. It felt like my back was being ripped in half.
My understanding it is a blood test similar to P/T testing. The interesting thing about P/T is virtually eliminated as a disease. Things like cocci, Mereks, and predation are far more common. Honestly, I think they have it bassackwards, and they should be testing more A/I as that is what...
Maybe. Chickens have been known to eat certain snakes too. But, where there are rats they tend to attract snakes. You might want to bury barbed wire around the coop, that tends to mess of burying animals. Also, to deter the rodent population, we only feed once a day.
My NPIP is still good until next summer. The T/P test was done as normal by TAMU. We weren't even at home, and he did all the birds. He just taped the cleared results to the fence. I wanted A/I testing done by a Vet. But, the rural vet, said they knew how to do it, they just weren't...
True. It is quite normal for people to be attached to their animals. I am getting my German Shepherd Puppy this Sunday, and I definitely plan on getting him pet insurance, for that reason. Should something catastrophic happen to him and he could be saved, pet insurance would bear the brunt...
As long as you are practicing biosecurity, you shouldn't have a problem. Because the neighbor and his ducks are distanced from your chickens I don't think it would be an issue. However, if you are trekking over in your muck boots over there, and using your same muck boots with your birds...
http://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/Humidity.aspx
This should help regarding humidity levels during development and the incubation cycle. A bit technical, but thorough. It is the system we use when hatching.
Chickens don't have teeth. So that is where their food they injest goes first. That is where the grit they used to grind up their feed. Everything goes there first before digestion can begin.
Silkies are often purchased because of their need to be broody to act as an incubator for other eggs. So, they tend to be more broody than other breeds. As long as they have feed and water, you can use them as little incubators.
They need less humidity until you get the point of hatching then it should go up. I use a Brinsea with a humidity pump, it takes out all the guess work, because the programming regulates the humidity for you as long as you fill the water resovoir.
The closest neighbor I have used to be a chicken farmer and a house builder for 30 plus years. He likes chickens, so it isn't an issue. I am not part of an HOA, but I suspect the HOA is irritated by the fact I can have chickens. I suspect, like I said before, when there was legislature that...