Does anyone have 2-4' high solid sides in their run? We can get some pretty good wind and deep snow so I'm wondering about doing it in our run. Wondering if anyone on here has good/bad experiences with this setup. Thanks!
Does anyone have separate pens for their roosters? I like to hatch a few batches of eggs each year but having my roosters in with my hens year round just leaves me with rough looking and harassed chickens missing their back feathers.
If you have pictures handy of your breeding pens or rooster...
My turkey managed to hatch one poult but a couple of the chicken hens got in and gave it a decent peck to the leg. I pulled it out and have it in my incubator with my eggs going into lockdown tomorrow. Gave it a drop of nutri-drench. It's quit shaking but seems to be a flipper. Going to try to...
Picked up a salvaged trailer to turn into a coop. Ended up having WAY more rot/water damage than I thought but we're making it work.
First thing we did was strip off all of the old sealant on the roof and use RV roof tape in place. Took several days to peal, scrape, ass grind all the layers...
Does anyone use the grandpa's feeders for their Turkeys? The wild birds are eating all the feed and pooping everywhere! I'm more worried about lice and diseases than the food I'm losing but getting a feeder the wild birds can't get into is necessary.
My turkeys live with a handful of chickens...
I have to admit that I've neglected my chickens. A surprise (but very welcome) pregnancy kinda overwhelmed me. So my chickens got lice... Got rid of them and they started eating their eggs... Broke that habit and they have worms... In the worming process and ready to give up. Now I find we have...
I have the opportunity to get a Sebastopol gander and an Emden goose from a neighboring homesteader. I have owned chickens and ducks but never geese. Right now I have a large run (16'x24') with a very mild mannered rooster, one runner duck, and one hen. I am hoping that the new geese can move...
So my one Indian Runner duck, Norm, has been living with my chickens since he was a duckling. He is 9 years old this year and we're running into a few problems. The biggest one is that, now that he's older, he doesn't seem to be able to navigate the narrow ramp up into the coop. He's always gone...
Here's a quick reminder about the dangers of heat lamps in chicken coops. I woke up at 2AM this morning to my husbands fire pager going off. He was dispatched to a chicken coop that had caught fire and then caught an apartment complex on fire. The cause? A heat lamp. Having a heat lamp in your...
So I was using the trusty "google" to see why Valbazen is harmful to humans. Mostly because I was annoyed that I have to not eat the eggs from my hens for 2 weeks after worming. Well since you do it again 10 days after the first dose that's almost a month of wasted eggs. Anyway... wanna know...
I use pine shavings in my hen house and was wondering about putting a layer of wood ash under the shavings next time I clean it. I haven't had a lot of problems with mites and lice in the past but I figure better to prevent then wait for an infestation. Any reason I shouldn't put down wood ash...
So I'd like to raise some meat birds but I don't have the stomach to kill them. I know it sounds lame but it's true. We've raised cows and pigs but always hire out for slaughter. Are there any options for someone who wants to raise their own but not process them? I'm in Northern Utah.
So my rooster is pretty rough on a couple of my hens. One hen's back is totally bald now (her head is in bad shape too). I'm usually more of the "old school" frame of mind when it comes to chickens. I've had this problem with a hen or two in the past and just let it run it's course. However, I'm...
Two day ago I noticed my rooster just sittingout in the snow gasping. Stretching his neck out and opening his beak wide. His comb was grayish purple. I picked him up and brought him inside. I noticed first that he had mites so I sprayed him for those. Then I got on BYC and searched previous...
Does anyone have a dugout root cellar? I really want one. I have a dugout basement under my 50's home so I know that I can prob did a cellar on my property without running into water problems. Just wondering if anyone has done this. I need a place to store garden goods and I've always wanted an...
We have a raccoon problem suddenly. 7 years owning chickens and no problem until now. Tonight the dogs wake me up barking like crazy. Great, another raccoon. Hubby goes out, i hear a gunshot. He forgot to load shorts in the .22 so it was a little loud. Regardless, problem solved right? Bag it...
My run is currently dirt. Which is fine in the summer. But in the spring it is a muddy mucky mess when the snow thaws. Not to mention it smells like a chicken coop when muddy as well. I was thinking of putting road base in to cut down on the mud. It's a sandy base with large gravel in it. It...
Last night we installed our new Pullet Shut Automatic Chicken Door. Super easy to install. I got the solar panel since we don't have power out to the coop. How cool do my chickens feel using solar power?!
Here's Hubby and our little helper
Today the chickens got a new deluxe ramp and...
Okay before everyone says you put them in the freezer, I just can't bring myself to do it. We've eaten young roosters when we've had too many but I just can't bring myself to kill or eat my old hens. They look at me with their wise old hen eyes and I cave. So... how long do the dang things live...