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  1. naturababe

    Keeping a rooster vs. being a nice neighbor

    Two of our neighbors have complained about our rooster. one is way down the street and lets his dog roam loose so I don't really care about what he thinks but the other is our next door neighbor. honestly, we never see them and have no "neighborly" relationship but what is the moral thing to...
  2. naturababe

    anyone have pictures of frost bite on a comb?

    i think one of my girls might have some frost bite but i have no idea what it really looks like. her comb isn't as red as the other two are (but it could have been like this all along and i just didn't notice). she seems fine and happy so i am just leaving her alone, is that ok?
  3. naturababe

    i just ordered 18 chicks

    so i ordered the chicks and then i had a conversation with my husband about building a new coop because we will need someplace for the chicks to live until they are big enough to go live with the hens we have. he said "well it takes two months for them to be big enough to even go outside so...
  4. naturababe

    Pictures of frost bitten combs?

    Two of my hens have normal bright red combs. The third's comb looks like it got a little dusty. Is that frost bite? Last night and this morning are the coldest it's been here. They were outside fluffed up after I let them out this morning but I stuck them back in because the wind chill is...
  5. naturababe

    buying "dirt" in the winter

    my husband pointed out that every time i shovel the coop i'm digging down further and further (it's getting below fence line at this point) so i thought that every time i shoveled i would put down a layer of dirt to keep the run the same. if it were spring i would just go out to the back of our...
  6. naturababe

    Coldest night yet - heat lamp for one night?

    It's going to be colder then it's been, about -10, tonight. Does anyone who doesn't heat regularly heat occasionally? Will it mess up their acclimatization? Reasons I'm considering it: There are only three of them in a big coop so there isn't a ton of body heat The coop is not warmer then...
  7. naturababe

    bantams can live with regular chickens right?

    my daughter is getting bantam chicks for her birthday. i just want to double check that at some point they can live with the rest of our chickens. i've read that you should wait until the younger chickens are about the size of the older chickens and then put them together but the bantams will...
  8. naturababe

    Disgusting chicken run

    We live in MA and we had two feet of snow (we shoveled the pen a little) and then it rained all last night. This morning the run is a slushy, muddy, so stinky mess. What should I do? It really smells bad which is why I'm concerned I guess - it seems unsanitary for them. I was thinking my two...
  9. naturababe

    Is there an ideal time for chicks?

    Is there an ideal time for chicks to hatch in order to maximize egg laying or meat yumminess? I know if chicks hatch too late in the fall they can have problems maturing fast enough and can be hurt when they first start to lay but i was wondering if there is an ideal time on the other end.
  10. naturababe

    winter dust bathing

    in the summer and fall the chickens made their own dust baths because they are outside free ranging all day. now the ground is frozen solid so what do you guys use for dust baths? i was thinking something like playground sand in a container in coop. will that cure the poopy butts we are...
  11. naturababe

    at what temp would you close ventilation

    I have a lot of ventilation in our coop but it's up high, 6 ft (the roosts are at 3 feet). The ventilation is open hardware cloth on three sides of the coop (coop is 8x8). At what temp do i need to cover the open hardware cloth?
  12. naturababe

    At what temp do you shut windows?

    It's cold and rainy here in MA and the chickens are out in the rain (their choice, they could go into the coop) but i wonder should i shut the coop windows so that it's warmer tonight? Will they get sick after being wet? The coop has lot's of ventilation at the top so the coop wouldn't be...
  13. naturababe

    Am I the only one?

    Who feels like we have been slogging along at coop building forever? It's been about two months and we are still not done with the actual coop, much less a run. How does everyone else get their coops ready so fast? I wonder is it because my kids are not old enough to really help (5 and 1.5)...
  14. naturababe

    telling chicks apart

    maybe i should have order 5 different breeds but i have 5 of the same breed. one i can tell no problem because he (we hope) has no feathers but the others all look exactly the same. tell me the tricks to tell them apart...
  15. naturababe

    pine shavings for chicks

    i just read in a chicken book that you shouldn't put young chicks (mine are 2.5 weeks) on pine shavings because they will eat the shavings and get blocked up. well i just transfered them to pine last night because i was tired of changing paper towels 50000 times a day. of course this book also...
  16. naturababe

    sexing buff orpington chicks

    does anyone know if roosters and hens feather out at different rates? i have 5 chicks - 4 are super feathered already at just 2.5 weeks old and the 5th just has a few wing feathers. anyone know if i have 4 boys and a girl or 4 girls and a boy?
  17. naturababe

    my house is a mess

    because all i do is sit and watch my chicks all day. how long does this last? will i be able to get back to work when they stop being so darn cute?
  18. naturababe

    chick age question

    should my a bit over one week old chicks be getting tails feathers? i saw a picture of a 3 week old buff orpington and it looked less featherd then my supposedly one weekers? also, do i need to trim their beaks already? there is translucent growth curving down over the bottom part of the...
  19. naturababe

    chicks and kids - hand washing question

    do i need to be strict about hand washing after handling the chicks? all our hands are getting super dry because we love playing with the chicks but hey, they step in poop and then they step into our hands. so, do i need to worry?
  20. naturababe

    lost a chick today

    we got six chicks on tuesday, they all seemed fine, eating drinking. they've been on paper towels since they are only four days old but my five year old is obsessed with keeping the box clean so it is almost always spotless. then today one just seemed to stop doing anything and died about an...
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