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  1. eggspletive!

    Is this a normal amount of feather loss?

    I've got five 3-month old hens and am noticing a lot of feathers on the ground and in the henhouse. Maybe a couple dozen, maybe a little more. I spend a lot of time observing them every day and I never see them pecking at each other. I can tell from the feathers that they're from all the birds...
  2. eggspletive!

    What is normal shipping time for chicks?

    My chicks were mailed yesterday and were not on today's truck, so presumably they'll be here tomorrow. It's a shipment of 8 chicks from Meyer, so they'll have a heat pack, but will it still be working by then? Is it normal to take two days to get here? Should I be bracing myself for dead chicks?
  3. eggspletive!

    Can I leave the chicken door open if the run is totally secure?

    Our coop is inside a run that is totally secure on all six sides. Do I have to close the chicken door to the coop at night if it's not that cold out? Or must I close it to eliminate drafts? The coop is 3 x 5.
  4. eggspletive!

    Hen with broken toe

    I have a hen with a broken toe--the outside toe on her right foot. I have no idea how it happened. I've searched for prior posts both here and on the internet in general and there seem to be two schools of thought: 1) tape it up, and 2) leave it alone, because taping it will encourage pecking...
  5. eggspletive!

    New pullet seems sick but I can't figure out what's wrong--can you?

    1) What type of bird , age and weight. Welsummer pullet, about 3-1/2 months old, and seems too small for her age, but I don't know her weight. I just got her today. 2) What is the behavior, exactly. - Can stand and take a few steps, but is very reluctant to walk. - I've had her in a dog crate...
  6. eggspletive!

    Chickens will not use roost

    My chickens will not use their roost, and instead huddle together in the wood shavings in the corner of their coop right in front of the window, presumably the coldest, draftiest part of the coop. I cleaned out the coop today and discovered that that while the rest of the shavings were nice and...
  7. eggspletive!

    Chicken frozen to death--or not?

    I'm sitting here with my beautiful Welsummer hen on my lap. My husband just found her seemingly frozen to death this morning. It was 1 degree out last night, but the coop is insulated, ventilated, and has a heat lamp in it, and he found her halfway under the heat lamp, so maybe there was...
  8. eggspletive!

    Instructions for chicken sitter?

    We are going to be gone for ten days over Thanksgiving and have arranged for a friend who also has chickens to take care of ours. We are both new to the chicken game, though, so I've got some questions about what to tell her. I want to make it as easy on her as possible without harming the...
  9. eggspletive!

    Can I turn the heat lamp off now? I'm worried about fire!

    After reading about heat lamp fires here, I'm really getting anxious to turn mine off. I've got three chicks, 7 weeks old, in a 3 x 5 coop. It's getting into the low 30s at night now. Will they be okay if we stop using it?
  10. eggspletive!

    How to teach chicks to use the ramp/ladder?

    My three chicks are about 7 weeks old and are having trouble understanding the use of the ramp/ladder. Their door is about 4 feet up from the ground, so it is a longish ladder. Yesterday they just came out the door and then flew down to the ground, but today I left the door open all day long and...
  11. eggspletive!

    Super obnoxious--is it a roo?

    Could this obnoxious 5-week-old bird be a roo despite the lack of comb? (I'm sorry if this is a stupid question--this is my first time keeping chickens.) It is constantly chest bumping the other chicks, chasing them around the coop, and jumping on top of them. The last pic is an action shot I...
  12. eggspletive!

    I have absolutely no idea what breed this is, do you?

  13. eggspletive!

    Can I put 4-wk-old chicks out in coop? 35 degrees at night

    My three chicks are almost 4 weeks old. It's been getting down to 35 at night. Can I put them out in their coop with a red heat lamp? They do fine inside with the temp at about 70, but that's an awfully big jump in temperature. On the other hand, they're starting to go a little batty in their...
  14. eggspletive!

    Chicks seem to like it cooler than they "should"--is this harmful?

    I've got three chicks--two of them are about 1-1/2 weeks old and the other is 1 week old. I've got my red heat lamp at one end of my rectangular brooder. Every time the thermometer in there gets higher than 85, they all go to the end farthest away from the light. If it's 80, they will sleep in...
  15. eggspletive!

    Is this chick okay?

    I just got my first three chicks tonight from a local breeder--two Aurucaunas and a Welsummer, and I'm worried about one of the Aurucaunas. I've only had them for about an hour, and the other two seem perfectly perky, but this one keeps trying to stand up, then its wings will droop low, then its...
  16. eggspletive!

    Please look at these pics and help me figure out where to put what!

    First, thank you for your help! Here are the pictures. From the outside: And standing inside the run, looking at the hen box: Okay, the hen box in this coop was framed according to the original plan, which called for the egg door to be where the window is now, and big access door in the...
  17. eggspletive!

    Keeping litter in henhouse while chickens go in and out?

    Okay, I'm going to have a lot of questions over the next few days as we near the finish line on our coop, hope you can bear with me. If I am using the deep litter method in my raised henhouse, won't the chickens kick a lot of it out into the run as they are going in and out of their little...
  18. eggspletive!

    Confused about bedding in henhouse vs. covered run

    First of all, thanks again to everyone for answering all my newbie questions! I am clear that I'm going to be using pine shavings inside the henhouse, but I'm not sure what to do about the run in my particular situation. It's a covered run--the same roof covers both the henhouse and the run...
  19. eggspletive!

    Need advice on roost placement

    Well, we're making good progress on our coop and now I need to start thinking about the details, like where exactly to place the roost. I've got a raised henbox inside a covered run. The henbox is 3 feet tall inside. How high up in it should I place my roost? Thanks for your help! I've gotten...
  20. eggspletive!

    Can I use a galvanized (zinc-coated) steel tub for a brooder?

    I've got a big zinc-coated metal tub that I thought I might use for a brooder, but I'm wondering if perhaps the heat lamp might make the metal too hot. What do you think?
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