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  1. bobeena

    too late to raise broilers this fall?

    Like many others, I saw the recent Meyer hatchery broiler sale advertised. I want to know if it's too late to raise a batch for the year, if I do not have any heat source in the outdoor enclosure/coop after they feather out and leave the brooder. I talked to a local person with some experience...
  2. bobeena

    Just finished the "playhouse coop"

    Bought plans from Isthmus Handyman and finished the coop. We love it! Fits in great with the yard. We're going to trim it out and add the flower box yet. It's the top photo at www.backyardandbeyond.org
  3. bobeena

    Is This A Good Idea... Update: ~PIC~ PG 4# Post 31#

    One problem with a tarp-covered dog pen -- and I speak from sad experience -- is that raccoons can carve through it like a knife through butter. We started that way and, after animals cut through the tarp or got between it and the top of the pen, finally built a roof (wood frame, topped with...
  4. bobeena

    Cost per dual-purpose meat bird?

    IN my city backyard, along with 4 laying hens/pets, I have 10 dual-purpose birds in my first, and probably last, experiment at raising for meat. At first I kept track of the $ per chick, knowing I'd never beat grocery store factory chickens, but hoping to come in under the $20 per chicken an...
  5. bobeena

    How many is too many??

    I am going to show this post to my husband. I just asked him today "Do you think going from 4 laying hens to 6 would be a good idea?" and he said "Six chickens is too many."
  6. bobeena

    Broody Hen

    Our buff orpington goes broody two or three times a year. Once we let her hatch out some eggs. Otherwise I just keep the eggs picked up that she's trying to sit on (eggs from our other hens) and then slip a frozen water bottle into the nest. I read that on this forum somewhere. When I see her in...
  7. bobeena

    which quieter: RIR or wyandottes/barred rocks?

    I have two Rhode Island Red hens who are fine layers but pretty noisy every day around laying time. I live in the city so keep a low profile. Are wyandottes and barred rocks quiet (like my buff orp.-- she never makes a sound) when they lay or more clucky like these RIRs?
  8. bobeena

    cornish x eggs, is this good idea?

    I never raised for meat before. I have a broody buff orp., great mama, and thinking about giving her some cornish x to hatch. butchering help available 3rd wk of July. If they hatch out end of May, and I let her take care of them, can I successfully raise them til that time, just putting out...
  9. bobeena

    wyandottes, australorps?

    SORRY...i meant to put this in the meat category. I am not sure how to move the post. I apologize.
  10. bobeena

    wyandottes, australorps?

    We have four adult hens for eggs and today got 6 chicks from the hardware store to -- we think -- raise to eat. We just got what they had. Never done this before, and it's just a backyard operation. Question:Any reason NOT to butcher australorps, barred rocks, wyandottes (other than they are...
  11. bobeena

    Quietest, calmest, tamest breeds?

    this is a good thread.. I have had this same question -- looking for a very quiet chicken. I have two Rhode Island Reds and they are noisier than I thought chickens would be, esp. compared with the Buff Orp. and Ameraucana I had already. They squawk a lot during the day. I'd like to add one or...
  12. bobeena

    FLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I live in the South too and the flies from our four or five hens were terrible. I kept their run absolutely dry and raked out, lavishly covered with DE. They range the fenced backyard during the day so droppings are here and there in the English ivy, leaves. I hung fly strips. Hung fly traps...
  13. bobeena

    Cold nights & no coop

    Thanks all for the replies to this. Thought I'd say what I wound up doing. This is not a pretty option, but it was cheap and effective. We had two brown tarps already and we used bungee cords to attach them to the roof of the kennel and the base of the kennel walls on the two broad sides...
  14. bobeena

    Cold nights & no coop

    OK Well I just got up from the computer and dragged two tarps out to the backyard before I realized I'll never really secure them now, in the dark, without a ladder and help. So I dragged both doghouses in the garage and carried the chickens one by one into there. This is what you get when you...
  15. bobeena

    Cold nights & no coop

    We keep five backyard hens in a 10 by 10 dog kennel (roofed) at night. They sleep on perches. There is a doghouse inside filled with pinestraw and they lay eggs in there. During the day they roam the backyard. This has been the first fall/winter, though. that we've done it this way and I am...
  16. bobeena

    post your secrets for eliminating flies

    Some great ideas here! We use a covered 10 x 10 dog pen as the run and the chickens are only penned at night. I rake it out daily. No standing water except their water dish, which we hose out daily. The backyard they range in is rather wooded. Droppings scattered around under English ivy,etc...
  17. bobeena

    post your secrets for eliminating flies

    It's finally fall, so this issue is not as pressing as it was two months ago, but I am trying to prepare for next spring. I cannot live with the flies our chickens -- and I'm convinced it was them, as there aren't other outdoor pets in the block -- brought to our street. Here's what I used, to...
  18. bobeena

    So......what breed would you NOT have again----which ones didn't stick

    White leghorn. I only got one, and sort of by accident. She was an idiot and forever flying high into trees, even with her wing clipped. Raised by hand like her flockmates but the flightiest, pecking-est bird who would run the opposite direction when I appeared. I wouldn't wish ill on any...
  19. bobeena

    yard sprays: safe for chickens?

    Thank you for your feedback! It looks like rain today but I'll do it next dry day.
  20. bobeena

    yard sprays: safe for chickens?

    We're thinking of spraying the yard (city lot) with a pyrethrin-based over-the-counter spray for chiggers, mosquitos and flies. The kind you hook to your hose and have to do every few weeks. We've done all the low-bore things to eliminate these pests. My question is, if we put the few hens we...
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