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Before I confined my free range flock to a large run (two really, so I can rotate them) I was losing them here and there to predators, mostly owls and and other birds of prey. I locked them up in a coop with a large roost at night, and even gave them some cover around the yard, but still... I’m...

Agreed. My flock LOVE the dust bath, and I use the deep litter method. I filled an old tire inside the coop to keep it dry as benefit from the scatter. I have refill with sand, ash and DE regularly.

I collect leaves in the fall from my friends and neighbors and store them to use throughout the winter as litter - no ill effects, except that they are less absorbent than straw and shavings, so I need to add it a bit more often. I like the DE idea - I use it as a dewormer for other livestock...

When I went to check the hogs this morning the Fugitive was in plain site and strutting around in the pig areas. She looks great!! Standing tall, feathers look good, no discernible injuries, scratching and pecking at the dirt. Still maintaining a safe distance from me, though, and remains on the...

I have a new question. My 4 month old mixed breed flock has been free ranging for a few weeks now. I have to confess to not counting them every single night on the roosts, but when I did I came up two short. One was under the coop so I dragged him out, but after another three days I wrote off...

Very good! Thanks again.

As a total newbie, thanks for one more thing to worry about/watch for. Seriously. My birds are only about 4 months old and while I spend some time watching for off behavior every day, I've never looked for this specifically. Thanks for the detailed treatment, too.

I should also add, and this came straight from this site, that the first 4 times I let them out it was only an hour or less till dark and stayed with them the whole time. Even then they had no problem putting themselves "to bed".

thats more-or-less what I did, that is, keep them penned up (I waited only about 8-9 weeks) and then let them roam. They always come back, with one exception; I've found her on the coop roof after dark, or under it, or nowhere to be found until I let them out in the morning, and she's just...

Thanks. Here too, which also explains the empty 2-gallon waterer by mid-afternoon and the chickens poaching water from the goats!

I have noticed similar behavior. I let the chickens free range during the day and placed a feeder (the same one they've had since they hatched) a 100 ft or so from the coop to encourage them to come THAT way (away from the nieghbors). At first they'd hover around it and it'd be empty by noon...

I'm actually impressed with how compliant the chickens are. They grew up from age 4-8 weeks in the coop, including being fed. They mostly ignored the roost until they were about 6 weeks, starting with the low rungs and working thier way up. The coop is surrounded by a fence designed to keep dogs...

No guinias, but a healthy variety of others. I've already noticed a drop in fireflies around the run, and I haven't picked up ticks recently, either. I'm thinking a dozen eggs now again, along with the pest control benefits might avoid any real concerns that the nieghbors might have. Great...

I was thinking about that. Short answer is no, not really, it is the closest "bathing area" for them. I started putting thier feeder away from the driveway but I don't want them to forget the coop as home - they do an awesome job of putting themselves in at night, and I don't want that to stop...

I started letting the gang free range about three weeks ago. They are 12 weeks old now and seem to be doing great. They nieghbors called a couple days ago and said they were in her (dirt) driveway about 200 feet from the coop. She was unconcerned and shoo'd them back our way. I'd like to teach...

The first four we lost were bantams, on day 1. Another one got stuck in feeder at about two weeks old, and the fifth, well, no idea, that was week three. The chicks were delivered two days later than planned - dehydration? The rest are doing great! They have a large coop and run that they share...

I've been following for a while but just officially joined. My daughter wanted to get into chickens, and my wife does nothing part way, so after some basic research and a few trips in my wayback machine I'm the proud owner of a mixed flock of 29 chickens (7 died as little chicks, including four...