Search results for query: *

  • Users: Renthorin
  • Content: Threads
  • Order by date
  1. Renthorin

    strange eggs....then dead chicken....and now strange eggs again....

    About 4 weeks ago I started finding one egg every day or so that looked like a deflated basket ball. Usually in the nest but sometimes on the coop floor. There were also eggs that looked like an egg and a half. Think of an egg then graft another half egg on top of that. So..one day I let...
  2. Renthorin

    How to tell Buff Orpington from Isa brown?

    The breeder last July sold me 6 "Isa Brown" hens. My neighbor who also has chickens said "nice Orpingtons" Is there an easy way to tell them apart? Here are some picts:
  3. Renthorin

    worms in trash can???

    So I clean the coop weekly and dump the poo covered paper into a trash can outside. Can is lined with a plastic bag. For the first time since July I opened the lid and there were several hundred small 'grubs' or maybe 'worms' on the inside of the lid and on the plastic bag up by the lid...
  4. Renthorin

    how to sanitize eggs?

    My ladies began laying a few weeks ago. When I gather the eggs, they are clean to me, but my wife is concerned about bacteria. I read that you want to use water that is warmer than the eggs to make them expand, or else they can shrink and draw microbes into the egg. I added enough bleach to...
  5. Renthorin

    They have begun to lay, or at least one has :)

    We have been averaging one egg a day from the 12 hens. I put my game camera in the coop and it's the same hen or at least one of the browns. Looking at her coopmate's combs and waddles I would think more would be laying by now. Some still have to develop combs but at least half have them. My...
  6. Renthorin

    how best to feed cut grass and alfalfa?

    I have a lot of long grass and alfalfa around the house. I cut some up and tossed it into the run. They seemed to really enjoy it but some of the blades of grass are 8 inches long. They eat those like spaghetti and I wonder if that's good? I would think it might ball up in their crop and...
  7. Renthorin

    Are oats good good or a snack?

    I picked up a ten pound bag for two bucks. They seem to enjoy eating them but I won't feed a lot if they are not very nutritional.
  8. Renthorin

    Said goodbye to my old dog. :(

    His name is Storm. A little over 14 years old and raised him from a pup. He competed in Breed (US and Canadian Champion) and Agility (has titles in AKC and CPE). Lived a great life, never sick one day. Love to eat the neighbor's cats, racoons, possums, and anything else that looked him in...
  9. Renthorin

    Does the color of their legs mean anything?

    I ask as between my 6 browns, 3 have yellowish legs and the other 3 have lighter (not quite gray/white) legs. All are just starting to grow their combs and they are red. All run around happily together and eat/drink fine. Just wondering why their legs would be different colors and if it means...
  10. Renthorin

    Should I be cleaning up discarded feathers?

    There are a few here and there in the coop and many more in the run. Should I be cleaning them up? I've seen a feather get eaten here and there but not regularly. I don't mind them but let me know if they are any kind of health hazard please Will
  11. Renthorin

    Will I need to wait until their combs grow?

    To get eggs? They are 15 weeks old today and just barely growing their combs. Do they need fully developed combs before they begin to lay?
  12. Renthorin

    Ok to feed wild grass?

    I was over in my neighbor's alfalfa field last night (with permission) cutting a few hand fulls for the ladies. On the walk home I noticed a LOT of tall grass on the side of the road. The blades were about a foot long. It looks like crab grass, only longer. I cut a few hand fulls of that too...
  13. Renthorin

    How to shoot a trapped animal?

    I know this sounds silly but I have 65 bucks invested in my live trap and I don't want to shoot at it with a 12 gauge. so...if the coon/possum/whatever is inside the trap...how do you dispose of it? I can let it out and then shoot at it while it runs away but that is asking for crazy shots...
  14. Renthorin

    Relocating trapped critters. How far away???

    I have several live traps, hoping to catch anything that might be prowling the area around the chickens. I've caught two chipmonks, one ground squirrel, and one possum to date. I take them about 2 miles down the road and dump them in a huge nature preserve area. My friend told me they would...
  15. Renthorin

    how close can the poo be to the roost?

    Kind of an odd question perhaps. My original design had the roost bars (two 2x4 at the same height) about 30" off the ground. Below that, on the coop floor, I had two Rubbermaid containers to catch the poo. What missed those I caught on a strip of pond liner which ran the length of the roost...
  16. Renthorin

    Found the perfect sign for the door of my coop :-)

    I wanted something to spice up the joint. Found this on EBAY:
  17. Renthorin

    Ok to put nest box(s) under the roost?

    I have twin 2x4's about 30 inches off the ground along one wall of the coop. I had planned to have the nest boxes on the other side but the ladies seem to like stomping around in that area. My food bucket is hanging in the middle of the room and they can all gather around it, unless I put the...
  18. Renthorin

    My ladies got to free range yesterday for the first time :-)

    Someone gave me 100-150 feet of ugly orange snow fence. I accepted it and thought I would just transfer it to the dumpster when they weren't looking but yesterday I got to thinking about how to make a larger run for the ladies. I want to free range my chickens but am worried about the coyotes...
  19. Renthorin

    My hens don't seem to like/use the coop waterer

    I bought a 5-gallon water container an in the 4.5 days I've had the hens the water level hasn't dropped very much. This morning, I let them into the run where there is a large rubber bowl and they all flocked to it like a dying man in a desert. Is that a sign that they don't like the one in...
  20. Renthorin

    Picking up my first hens tomorrow :-)

    I am getting 12 hens tomorrow after work. Lady a few miles away is selling them at 12 weeks old. Here is the pending flock: 6 - Isa browns 4 - Barred Rocks 2 - Black Australorp Hope they enjoy their new home. Coop is finished and stocked with food and water. Just finished the 10x30 run...
Back
Top Bottom