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  1. h c hennery

    3.5-year Red Star hen; no appetite and runny poop. Tube-feed?

    [Beware: poop photo below] Star has always been our most enthusiastic eater, but now she has no appetite. Star hasn’t laid eggs since last September, but otherwise seemed healthy until a couple weeks ago. The vet is stumped; her poop sample had no parasites. Our two other hens (different...
  2. h c hennery

    bloody comb & beak: injured, or sick?

    Do you think our hen looks sick, or do these look more like wounds from being picked on? Our 18-month old Barred Rock started molting in October. Her feathers seem mostly in now, but she's still acting sluggish, and isn't laying. Yesterday we noticed (black scabs?) on her comb, and today we...
  3. h c hennery

    Fan in run: chickens love it!

    My favorite purchase of the year: a livestock fan from Valley Vet. On hot days (all this week!) our chickens hang out directly under the fan. It's set on a timer from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  4. h c hennery

    Treat math: the 10% rule

    We have 3 year-old (almost) laying hens. We love giving them treats, but don’t want to make them unhealthy (too fat). I’ve read here that treats should make up 10% or less of a chicken’s diet. Our bag of feed states that each bird eats on average ¼ pound of feed per day. Assuming that’s about ¾...
  5. h c hennery

    60 MPH gusts toppled our 8 x 16 run

    My husband pushed the run back into place, and no lasting damage. Shew! Lessons learned: anchor/tie down the run. And polycarb roofing is amazingly resilient stuff! The run stood on its head for nearly 24 hours, and there’s no roof damage – all the dents popped out, and there’s just a little...
  6. h c hennery

    frozen eggs, but shells intact: why?

    This is our first year with chickens. Our 3 hens started laying in Nov/Dec. This past week we've collected at least half a dozen frozen eggs, but none of the shells have been cracked. (We've been putting them in the fridge and eating them first, anyway.) Does anyone know why some shells crack...
  7. h c hennery

    All 3 hens now laying!

    Golden Comet's first egg was at 22.5 weeks, Buff Orpington's first egg was at 27.5 weeks, and Barred Rock's first egg was at 30.5 weeks. The picture below is from yesterday -- Golden Comet's at left, Buff Orpington's in the middle, and Rocky's first egg at right.
  8. h c hennery

    New run with chunnel connector

    It seemed like our original 5’ x 10’ run was too small for our 3 hens, so we just added an 8’ x 16’ run to give them more room. We built the new run in panels in the garage, connected the panels on site, added a roof (Tuftex panels, cut with scissors), and then added hardware cloth to the walls...
  9. h c hennery

    Tuftex panels 50% off @ Lowes through 12/13/17

    Last week I researched roofing options for a larger run for our 3 chickens and ran across a half-price sale on Tuftex polycarb panels at Lowes (certain lengths/colors). A bargain! I like polycarb for its light weight and light transmission...
  10. h c hennery

    Poop tray width (update)

    Summary: 12 inches is too narrow; 14 inches works so far. Our first poop trays were 13” x 17” plastic trays from IKEA which provided a “catch” width of about 12 inches. (The trays are filled with Sweet PDZ granules and rest on two IKEA curtain rods.) Our chickens outgrew the 12 inch width by...
  11. h c hennery

    Useful building material: lattice cap

    In building our coop, my husband and I found plastic lattice cap to be a lightweight and versatile building material -- easy to cut and easy to drill. We used it for side rails for the chicken door, for window side rails, to hold the nest box divider, and to hold up the piece of wood that holds...
  12. h c hennery

    Wichita on Wheels

    Hi! I've been researching coop design here for a while and finally have info to share: our nearly completed coop/run! Made for 3 hens (1 Barred Rock, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Red Star). We based it on the Wichita Cabin Coop, but added wheels and made it lighter, so we could move it around the yard...
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