I am starting a garden that is pure clay soil, as is all soil here in AZ. I am tilling horse poop into it so it has organic matter, then I wont till again because I believe in no-till gardens. The only issue is that the clay soil is rock hard after half an inch and the garden is 1 and a half...
Hello everybody. I am considering changing my chicken feed to goat pellets. The reason I am doing this is many of my friends have said that their chickens have stopped laying eggs and they tried changing the food but nothing worked. They said goat pellets made their girls happy and they started...
It was 8PM last night when the thought struck me. I was thinking of all the frostbite that can affect chickens, then I thought of it.
I call it the thermal roost.
Take a roosting stick, like a 1x1 inch plywood rod, but cover it in thermal heating then in cover/lining to prevent overheating...
I was watching a youtube video recently about a farmer losing a peacock to worms. The vet said the fecal sample/report came back and they found 2 species of worms, both are fatal to poultry. Are worms fatal? I thought they could be treated at home with DE or something of the sort. I mean fatal...
Hello, I am starting a new batch of compost, my last one was beautiful and am growing bee feed (flower mixes good for wild bees) in it. Can I use cardboard as browns? I will try and use some sticks, but I am weirded out how the first time I ever did composting the cardboard didn't really break...
Hello everyone, I am wanting to plant a grass type in my chicken run. They are happy with what they have, but the bare ground seems kind of depressing. I have centipede grass seeds but the girls never seem to do anything with the centipede grass.
I have thought about a plant called clover and...
The girls have been very quiet this week and for some reason one started screaming for no reason. I go out to check and everything is fine other than 3 or 4 bees flying around. They soon leave and the girls are fine. Was sone of them stung? If so Ill need to check and remove the bees stinger
Today I went to check on the chickens and found my broody silkie dead. I always heard broodies can die on the nest, but never saw it before. Its sad, but I never thought it could actually happen. It was either heat stress or dehydration, i'm thinking both.
Now I have up fresh water and misters...
I know that roosters have an instinct to be aggressive, but why are some aggressive and others not? I gave away my rooster Koa and am rooster-less, but his son Hitler was always an ass and aggressive. I treated Hitler with the same love and care as I did with koa when he was a baby and he grew...
My HOA neighborhood grows rosemary everywhere at our park for ornamental purpose, they highly encourage you to take cuttings to use them and grow your own rosemary. I have always noticed the cats hated going to the park, because of the rosemary.
Can I use rosemary cuttings and lay them on the...
In the last week I spotted 2 different feral cats eye-ing my chickens. There are 9, or possibly more feral cats in my neighborhood.
Just 4 days ago one of the feral cats was about a foot away from the chicken run holding a dead dove in this mouth, then ran off once it saw me. The next day I saw...
I slaughtered 2 naked necks, and both experiences were horrible. All this happened within last week.
The first, I did the neck cutting method, where you cut deep and cut the arteries and veins. That bird lived for 2 minutes before finally dying.
The second, I did the same neck cutting method but...
I am going to be processing some chickens in about a week, and last time decapitation was super gory for me, I want to try something new. I hear that slitting the throat horizontally just above the bottom beak while holding their heads down vertically in a cone works very well. I'm alright with...
Yes, you heard the title correct. An aggressive silkie hen. Nobody seems to believe me, but its true. About half a month ago I posted about it, but since I am thinking about slaughtering her to get rid of her and how few people gave me any tips last time, I am going to ask again.
She has only...
I just need to clean the coop and run, I will be using a 20/80 ratio of dawn dish soap and water, I will likely be spraying and cleaning as the chickens go to bed and roost, so the soap and washing stuff will have dried. Will it be safe for them? Thanks
I dont know how old she is, but I know any month now she will be laying eggs. Randomly one dad about a couple of weeks ago I go outside to feed them and she suddenly attacks my shoes and sandals, and my hands. I dont know why. Any tips to getting her being nice to me again?
I have raised chickens for about 2 years now, and have loved every step of it. Now I want to consider expanding my flock, by adding ducks. preferably bantams! There are some things I already know about ducks like they need water to be in, but that's about it. Any info on duck care and how their...
I live in Gilbert, AZ and have lots of friends who are birders and they are a great help to me. I try to prevent illness as much as possible by not letting birds in my backyard besides my chickens, I do this by trimming the plants, making the yard unattractive, clearing fallen debris, covering...