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  1. gophert

    Escape artist chicken

    A friend of mine who does not keep chickens asked us to take in a free-roaming neighborhood chciken who had adopted their family. They asked around first and no one claimed it. This chicken is very tame and sweet but has been out on its own for a while now. I know it was not ideal to bring it...
  2. gophert

    Established hens not letting new hens eat

    I have two elderly Barred Rocks (5+ years) and recently brought home 2 Ameracauna/Buff Orp hens who are about 4 months old. We introduced them at night by putting them up to roost together. During the day I let them out to range in my yard and don't see any problems...in fact, the new girls...
  3. gophert

    What is eating my eggs?

    Okay, I realize my hens may just have stopped laying--but. I have 3 hens that live in a chicken ark (like this: http://catawbacoops.com/) but also free range my apprx 1/3 acre fenced yard much of the day. I usually get 1-3 eggs a day with an occasional (once every two weeks?) skipped day. This...
  4. gophert

    Older hen keeps laying fart eggs

    I have gotten 3 "fart eggs" (teeny tiny) from one of my 3yo Barred Rocks in the past month. Otherwise I think she may not be laying much. Is this something to be concerned about or just an issue of age?
  5. gophert

    Molt complete--how long before egglaying starts again?

    One of my Barred Rocks starting molting around 11/16. Her molt now appears complete and she looks great--except that she has a pale comb and is not laying. We were away for a couple of weeks so I don't know exactly how long she has looked "done"--I know she still looked a bit molty when we left...
  6. gophert

    Winter rye seed + straw + deer netting = success!!

    My chickens had torn up my raggedy old St. Augustine lawn pretty well, till a large area was mostly dirt/sand. I live in FL, where people use winter rye to overseed and make a nice pretty green lawn in winter, so we though we'd give it a try. To stop the chickens from eating all the seed, we...
  7. gophert

    Temporarily excluding chickens from certain areas of yard?

    I have 3 hens on about 1/3 acre of back yard. They free range about 6 h/day. Their wear and tear is not TOO bad, but they have some "favorite" areas that they are tearing up too much for my preference. Mostly they are making dusting areas. They have one good big area I am happy to give them for...
  8. gophert

    Can a coon get though field fence?

    Second coon question of the day. I have a Catwaba chicken ark, like these: http://catawbacoops.com/the-catawba-converticoop-chicken-coop-image-gallery.html It has a ramp which gets pulled up at night, sealing the chickens in very well. We of course do this every night and open it up every...
  9. gophert

    How often do raccoons attack during the day?

    I KNOW we have a resident coon. We see him/her at night occasionally and it can sometimes be spotted sleeping in a tree in the woods behind our house. I don't have concerns about my chickens' security at night, but I do let them freerange during the day between the hours of 9 and 5, or...
  10. gophert

    What to look for if I want humanely raised chicken to eat?

    I actually have been a vegetarian for 20-some years. However, I have been rethinking my position for a while now. I became a veg because I was opposed to factory farms and their cruelty and environmental degradation, not because I do not believe in eating animals. I would like to start...
  11. gophert

    If you feed organic, how much do your eggs cost you per dozen?

    Just counting feed, I mean. Now, don't get me wrong....I LOVE my chickens and will keep them no matter what. However, part of the reason we got them was that free-range pastured local eggs are going for FIVE DOLLARS per dozen at our local grocery. I have since found another local source that...
  12. gophert

    What affects yolk size?

    I have now compared my chickens' eggs to storebought eggs and to free-range backyard eggs from other people and notice that our eggs have consistently larger yolks despite the eggs themselves being in some cases smaller than those I am comparing to. Why would this be? Is it a breed thing...
  13. gophert

    Light for chicken ark when I have no electricity?

    This is probably a nutty idea, but I thought I'd ask. I have a Catwaba-style chicken ark (http://catawbacoops.com/). I cannot run power to it. Has anyone thought of a way to put a light (for winter eggs) into one of these? LED light on a timer???
  14. gophert

    An egg a day--do any chickens do this all the time?

    Just curious about this as I am still new to chickens. I have 3 hens--one is 1yo and the other two are pushing 3. The 1yo lays about 5 or 6 days out of 7 (other two lay every other day or a bit more often). Is that pretty much peak production, or do some hens literally lay every day? ETA: the...
  15. gophert

    Making chicken ark more predator-proof...need ideas

    I have a homemade chicken ark (not made by me) that seems to have been made following the Catawba Coop design pretty much exactly: http://catawbacoops.com/the-catawba-converticoop-chicken-coop-image-gallery.html My chickens are sometimes kept inside it and sometimes free-range. We are running...
  16. gophert

    If you have a chicken ark, and ONLY a chicken ark....

    What is your system for how you use it, clean it, and move or don't move it? I have a chicken ark that looks pretty much just like this (it did not cost me EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS, though!!!): http://www.amazon.com/Large-Chicken-Coop-Portable-Hens/dp/B0037QUNJ2 We have 3 chickens, new to me...
  17. gophert

    Newly free-ranging chickens don't want my treats

    My 3 girls used to eagerly chow down on all our veggie and kitchen scraps when we had them penned up in their chicken ark. Now that we are letting them out, they are turning up at their beaks at just about everything I offer except for fruit oranything grain- or protein-based. They are still...
  18. gophert

    Are my chickens going to escape?

    I have 3 chickens thatwe got from someone who is moving--two Barred Rocks and one RIR. They haven't been out of their chicken ark yet because we hadn't fenced the garden in, but it is just about finished now so I am ready to let them free range my small back yard (probably about 1/3 of an acre)...
  19. gophert

    Is it okay to steal eggs from under a hen?

    I am new to chickens so sorry if this a dumb question. I have three hens. My RIR seems to like to "hang out" with her egg after she lays it. I hear her up there rummaging around or...something. Yesterday she managed to crack the egg. Maybe she is broody? I don't know. Anyway, I didn't want...
  20. gophert

    How much and how often to feed?

    Sorry about the very basic question. We just acquired 3 hens-- 1 RIR, 2 Barred Rocks. The RIR is about 1 and the BRs are 3. I am feeding them organic feed (their former owner gave it to me so I don't know the brand, but it is full of brown rice and split peas), greens from the garden, bugs...
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