I have 22 hens about 22 weeks old, and 5 nest boxes in my coop. After reading several areas in this forum I have added a base (about 2") of shavings and put about 4" of hay over that and placed a golf ball or two in each nest box. Most of my eggs (I am getting about 9 a day) are in the nest...
I have 4 EE, 4 Ancona, 5 red star, 5 Single Comb Brown Leghorns and 4 buff orpingtons. about 5 days ago, found our first brown egg in one of the nest boxes(I belive it is from one of the red stars) that afternoon found another egg (soft shell) in the same box. next day no eggs, next day one...
I received my 25 chicks earlier this week , I have them in the coop/brooder with heat, water, and food. the floor is vinyl covered with paper towels. I plan on removing the paper towels tomorrow and replacing with shavings.
should I keep the paper towels underneath the shavings since the...
we are having 30 degree changes in the temp (45-78 one day and 54 to 81 the next) here and my coop/brooder is outside. I work all day and will not be able to constantly monitor the temp in the brooder. My two choices as I see it are, put a heat lamp at one end of the coop/brooder (6'x4') and...
My chicks come next week and I will be putting them in the Coop. I have some more work to do but, basically it is ready. my question is why not shavings and why paper towels and not newspaper?
Is the Ladder type roost better than having the roosts all at same height? I see advantages of both but I lean toward the ladder type to allow the chickens to choose the height and easier to get to. any thoughts?
I plan on free rangeing my chickens on about 3 acres. I have a coop, will have feed/water/oyster shell available in the coop at all times. my question is they will be sharing my pasture with two horses, I have read numerous posts about hay causing impacted crop. when I feed the horses hay and...
I plan on free ranging my chickens. I will close them up at night and let them out in the morning. I am wondering if I need a separate door for the chickens. I plan on having a "dutch door" where I can leave the bottom 1/2 open during the day and just open the top when I want to go in the...
My wife said she wants chickens, so I figure I will build her a coop. I am using my old wood fence for the outside. 4x4s for base and bolted 4x4s for the corner braces, it is 6'x8'x6.5'. The room is metal over OSB.
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t349/dustoff79/DSCN3340.jpg
I am wrapping...
I want to free range my chickens. I live in San Antonio, TX. I have about 4 acres, some open areas and lots of live oaks, most is fenced with 1"x2"x5' wire. some is 8' field wire. I am going around and filling in the low spaces with rocks. It won't keep out all predators (skunks, racoons...
I am trying to gather as mush information on raising new chicks before I get them. As I understand it the chicks are very heat sensitive until they get their feathers. 95 for first week and 5 degrees lower each week until they have their feathers. I plan on keeping the day olds in our laundry...