We will be processing 35 Cornish X this fall and I’m trying to get my stuff together. Couple of questions. . .
1.) are the metal restraining cones necessary or do most ppl go the diy route for cones? Either way how many would I need? 2-3?
2.) also wondering what type of freezer space I’ll need...
Going out on a limb here...
Installed my chicken guard extreme this evening and when I pressed the menu button to get it all set up there are no messages to display. Not sure what to do or what’s wrong but wondered if anyone has had that issue. I’ve reached out to customer service but figured...
Hey all, we’ve got about an acre of pasture and right now our 20 hens have been sectioned off and are only using a couple hundred sq ft of it. Since they’ve beaten that area down they’re getting bored and jumping over quite a bit.
On that acre of pasture it’s set up with 4 rail vinyl fence...
We finally have fertilized eggs from our rooster. I'd love to start incubating but obviously heading into winter makes me nervous. Should I just remain patient and wait till spring or is it a good idea to start incubating them now?
We currently house our 10 chickens (soon to be 25) in one of our horse stalls in our barn. It's been very convenient with electricity and water right there. However, on the other side of our barn is my shop and the dust created by the chickens is quite a lot as you probably already know...
We're looking at adding some meat birds to our laying crew and wondered if anyone knew of poultry processing places near the Des Moines area in Iowa. I'm not opposed to doing this myself, but my wife has images of horror films in her head that I have found challenging to replace :) If you have...
I have access to a couple of smaller fish tanks and had a thought to put them to use. Has anyone bred fish (minnows or guppies, something that reproduces fairly quickly/easily) and used them as treats or to supplement food for their chickens?
Seems like it would work, but wondered if anyone...
About a month ago I went into our coop in the morning to feed our 14 hens and one was lying dead near the waterer. This happened after temps went from 60s to upper 20s overnight. I figured it was just a "one time thing". I looked the hen over, but didn't see anything unusual. She was a bit...
For the last two years we've allowed our 14 hens to free range over our 2.5 acre property. We love to garden, landscape and also have a border collie who is beginning to herd our chickens. Since we can't really keep the hens out of our garden and landscaped spaces and our dog is getting the...
I recently heard of a marigold variety to plant around gardens to keep chickens from bothering plants. I wondered if anyone else knows of such a variety or has experience with using marigolds to keep chickens out of their gardens.
We allow our 14 hens to free range, but we also supplement w/ a layer feed. They don't each much of it during the summer months, but obviously that's what they eat during the winter. We also feed kitchen scraps when possible too.
I had a guy that I sell eggs to scoff at the fact that I feed...
I know it's been discussed over and over. Gardens and Chickens can't really coexist without some accommodations.
I have six raised beds that are 4x8 each. And a 4 x25' raspberry bed and another 4x16 foot bed for corn. It takes up roughly 30x40' section. I don't want to HAVE to put a...
We just got our lambs Sunday and one of them has an eye that looks a little runny. It also looks to be slightly more closed than the other. Should I treat it with something or let it play out and see what happens? If I treat it, what would be something that might help? NFZ puffer?
We...
We have 3 lambs (2-3 months old) and an acre of pasture that has vinyl four rail fencing. They can scoot right under neath it and over the first rail. I don't need anything fancy and would most likely let them graze only when we are home, but wondered if I lined the inside of the 4-rail fence...
We just picked up 3 lambs that are between 2 and 3 months old. The tails are not docked and the one male is not castrated. We are debating on whether we need to dock the tails now or if it's too late to do it. We haven't decided if we want to keep the male intact or not. Any insight?
Anyone have any experience creating a windbreak or maybe you have one and could share some info? I need to plant some trees on the west side of my property, but only have about a 75 by 75 ft of space to work with. Im in Iowa, zone 5. Any suggestions?
Just completed the horse stall conversion to a coop and a separate run/tractor. I will be free-ranging them as often as possible, but wondered about how much run space I needed because of this. I know roughly 3 sq ft per bird in the coop and 10-15 in the run, however since my birds will be...
We just moved to a small acreage and have about 1.5 acres of pasture that is fenced in and set up for horses. It has very nice white vinyl 4 rail fence around it. We don't have horses yet, but as the pasture is growing we're considering other animals to keep it contained without mowing. Here...
I've got a new(er) horse barn with metal siding. I've converted one of the indoor stalls to a coop, but would like to use one of the exterior windows as an exit to a larger outdoor run. We are planning on free ranging our 16 chickens as much as possible, but wanted to provide a run when we...