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DLM, for two deeply different reasons. 1) I'm lazy and interested in doing infrequent, heavy work in order to be able to do the work at my convenience. Doing weekly turning of the litter and annual raking out with removal of 80% biomass works for me. 2) The idea of promoting and working with...

Thanks - yes we will probably form some sort of rigid insulation over the boxes, depending on how we can do so without preventing lifting the lid. We are accustomed to the use of seedling mats, both for their intended purpose and for giving a little boost to ferments (continuous brew kombucha)...

I can't honestly commit to any schedule - I work a rotating shift and it's anyone's guess when I will be around and awake. Since you made your own you probably could make a lock pretty easily, I wonder how I will retrofit the galvanized steel to be held closed? Seems as though most that use...

That's very helpful because that's very close to what I'm thinking of. My husband uses those seedling mats for germination in the spring over the past many years, and I have also used them to help with continuous-brew kombucha inside. They supposedly only raise the temp 10 degrees in...

Hi all, I'm considering purchasing a readymade roll away nest box, such as bestnestbox or similar. Does anyone who has more experience than I do want to share their wisdom? I live in MA, we do get very cold and have some issues with frozen eggs even with the traditional, inside the coop...

My Woods-style coop is 6' wide by 10' deep, and has a small window on one side in addition to the top windows and the front windows. I'm in Massachusetts. Over the past 4 years we eventually block the top and side windows with only after the winter storms begin. We do not ever block the...

Her neck feathers are so frizzy! Open up that first picture to look at her closeup! She just doesn't look like the others did when they were younger. I will get more pictures during daylight tomorrow.

Last time my flock was spending hours each day out and about: 1) Birds: mixed flock including Leghorns, Sex Links, Barred Rocks, an Andalusion, a Light Brahma. 2) Feed: a feeder in the coop was always full of pellet layer feed at all times. Flock trained to come in for kitchen scraps...

Sorry, guys, I got the attachment up there but when I click the link it gives an error message - trying to fix it now!

Hi! Any thoughts much appreciated! These birds were bought from McMurrays 3.5 months ago. There were 4 Barred Rock females ordered. One of them is turning out quite a bit smaller than the other three, and has frizzly pointy hackle feathers with a much finer color pattern. Her comb appears...

In followup - thank you, my friends - all is well and integrated, the flock is whole and seems happy.

I imagine the right answer will be very heavily location dependent, and my local ecosystem is very different from yours but for what it's worth: We just couldn't find anything that worked until we setup a flexible electric fence around the outside of the run. We lost birds to bobcats, hawks...

Production depends on so many different factors - breed, age, season, light supplementation. The average number of eggs per year laid by a hen in her prime is supposedly 260 for a RIR, 200 for a Wyandotte, and 150 for a Brahma. If I straight up do the math that would give you 3.4 eggs per day...

I'm in a very similar social situation - I have 7 mature hens, 5 eight week old Marans chicks (three pullets two cockerels) and 16 four week olds of various heritage. Integration has been dicey! Key points for success gleaned from many more experienced posters here: 1) Bullying is often...

Thanks everyone! We are happy, we had formerly had a sweet Light Brahma that was much loved before the bobcat took her, and it seems likely this Cochin will have a similar disposition. Is it possible to learn early on if she's a bantam? Or is a slower rate of growth normal for all Cochins?

That Rhodie will be in for a rude surprise in another month or two - 2 of the Marans are cockerels, and one is starting to crow! Here's hoping he doesn't perpetuate the cycle of abuse once he's the bigger one!

Suburban homestead with 26 chickens that provide eggs and entertain my kids. Open air coop, deep litter bedding, occasional free range.