Hi- I have a couple of hens that seem to have shell gland issues; thin shells and/or calcium deposits on (and occasionally IN) the egg. Some of these have foam or bubbles inside the white! Does anybody have any insight as to why this happens? I figure nothing can be done, I provide free...
I bought a batch of assorted pullets all between 2-3 months of age, at the end of April. All are laying well except for one EE. I estimate she is at least 36 weeks old. They are in a large run with no egg hiding places. We got our first frost last night; is it possible she will not lay until...
I used this plan but raised it off the ground 18" and made it half as tall: http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/shed-chicken-coop. The inside is still just empty with a temporary roost since they are too young to use nest boxes or a permanently high roost- they are sleeping in a pile on the...
YES! I just finished my coop today. All that trimwork was a pain! The girls will be 6 weeks old on Monday so I finished it in the nick of time! It's 4x8 and the egg door is on the other side. It's a little dark-- I'll try to post a better photo sometime.
Okay, I think I'm going to go with insulation. I'd budgeted for it anyway. After sweltering working in the sun on the coop in that location, keeping it cooler is definitely important, too.
Thanks, everyone, for your help and your opinions!
Thanks! I reread the article in your siggy and found a lot of information I missed the first time. Even though I've done this before, I feel like a newbie with all of this information! A lot of it is new since I kept chickens 10 years ago. Hmm... now I need to design a way to close off those...
Wow- great discussion here- thank you so much! Well, as I said, I *do* live in RI... on an island in Narragansett Bay. Thus, our temps only get down to the single digits while the rest of the state can get colder. However, this also means that the humidity is higher.
I worry about those...
Yes, it gets in the single digits.
If HE built it? The man couldn't build his way out of a paper bag. Heh heh...
Thanks for the article! It's the reason I added more ventilation to my plans.
Let's just say the last time I had chickens here, I babied them so much I would bring them in the...
I am building my 4x8 saltbox shaped coop- the tall side is the back and I have two 8x8 vent panels in there, a window on one end that will be screened and can be opened, and I am planning on putting some eave vents in the front of the coop. My husband thinks I shouldn't bother to insulate it...
Ah HA! Thanks... sounds a little messy, to be honest. LOL. I just now read in some article where the pullet-shut has a little-known 90 minute delay you can program into its photo cycle so I just emailed them to see if that was true. If it is, that would be perfect.
I have a question about this door- I'm wanting a door that I can have open at a set time in the morning (so they don't come out and wake us up at 6 a.m. in the summertime) and close when it gets dark at night. Or at the very least, a timer option as opposed to the light sensor option. Does...
Any idea what they will be? Should I post this in a different part of the forum, or is this the right place? Thanks so much if you can help us figure this out!
Okay just got photos :)
First one in question is the one in the middle: I think the barred rock head is in front, and the australorp is in back (distinctive facial markings, deep black, just a bit smaller than the orps)
This one off by herself is the other one in question. I think it's...
Okay just got photos :)
First one in question is the one in the middle: I think the barred rock head is in front, and the australorp is in back (distinctive facial markings, deep black, just a bit smaller than the orps)
This one off by herself is the other one in question. I think...
Hi! We just got our chicks from Mypetchicken.com and I have figured out who is the australorp, the buff orp, and the barred rock, but I have two blue/black/splash orp chicks that I don't know what they will turn out to be. One is slightly lighter in color than the australorp but still a dark...
Thanks everyone! I ordered 1 buff orpington, 2 blue/black/splash orps, a barred rock and an australorp. Love the orpingtons. Hoping to end up with 3-4 hens, so I got a couple extra just in case.
Last time I had 2 standard cochins (one is my avatar), a buff orp, a marans cross, a barred rock...