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  1. brewfarm

    Coop Cleaning Safety

    I don't honestly know what I got. The doc said I can do a test that will be back in 2 days or I can put you on a broad spectrum antibiotic now. So I took the antibiotics, got a box of plastic gloves and a bottle of hand sanitizer. After that I always wash my hands before and after.
  2. brewfarm

    Coop Cleaning Safety

    I have asthma and I never wear a mask. I have a coop with 43 laying hens. I use flake pine shavings in the nesting boxes and for bedding. Every week I empty out all the nesting boxes and put in fresh pine shavings. Twice a week I turn over all the pine shavings on the ground, new and old...
  3. brewfarm

    Are these brooder panels too short?

    I don't think I need a brooder at 10 weeks. But, I think I need some kind of pen. Something where I can let chicks run around in the yard, play with hens, but have their own spot. The panels in my OP looked okay. It seemed like they would work and could be expanded, to make more of pen, as...
  4. brewfarm

    Are these brooder panels too short?

    Thanks for all the info. I think the ex-pen might work for me. I haven't decided on heat lamps. Honestly, the guy I learned from is very old school. He told me lamps were cheap and easy and there wasn't anything better. I hadn't even heard of heat plates until I started to learn on my own.
  5. brewfarm

    Are these brooder panels too short?

    Yeah I kinda rambled. I have a ton of questions myself. I've posted a little about my experience and have asked questions before. I thought I had done my research, gotten enough info from people in person. But now I'm going through the chick forums again. What I was wondering, atm, was how...
  6. brewfarm

    Are these brooder panels too short?

    Okay- I just tried to proofread this and realized I'm writing a book. I hope I'm not rambling. I have made some horrible mistakes with the chicks I got in February. I've lost a good chunk of my chicks. They are all Rhode Island Reds and will be 10 weeks old Wednesday. I'm mad about losing...
  7. brewfarm

    Chicks piling on top of each other. Cold?

    I did see no touch for 2 weeks before I let them loose. I did try to acclimate them to weather gradually. I raised the heat lamps higher than they were originally and then shut them off. I don't think they're being terrorized by the adults because they all seem to get along when I'm watching...
  8. brewfarm

    Chicks piling on top of each other. Cold?

    My Rhode Island Red chicks are 8 1/2 weeks old. They are out of the brooder, no heat lamps, hanging out with my hens. Last week I lost 5 chicks in one night. It looked like the chicks huddled up with the hens, sleeping on the floor of the coop, and some of them got trampled. Today I went out...
  9. brewfarm

    When do you decide to integrate?

    Chickens do not like change. Yes they will warm up to each other. But, it may take a few days. I would have separated them for a couple of days, not hours, but it should work.
  10. brewfarm

    I forgot to close the coop

    The rest of the family went on vacation yesterday. After the circus of getting them out the door, and to the airport, I came back and did my morning chores. I grabbed the eggs in the afternoon and then made supper. Then I enjoyed a (very rare) quiet evening- and forgot to go back outside and...
  11. brewfarm

    My chicks got crushed in the coop

    I got 50 Rhode Island Red chicks to expand my flock. I haven't lost any in 8 weeks. I merged the flock, everybody is getting along. Everybody has food and water. The chicks have been keeping to themselves a lot. At night they have their own little corner in the coop. They still like to...
  12. brewfarm

    Leg band for chicks?

    I now have a multi-generation flock. 9 month old Rhode Island Red Hens and 8 week old chicks. I bought two boxes of 16mm plastic leg bands- blue and yellow. They fit perfectly on the 9 month old hens. But, since I'm chasing around all my hens, to get the leg bands on, I'm wondering if I...
  13. brewfarm

    When do you decide to integrate?

    I had 43 Rhode Island Red hens. They were 8 months old when I got 52 new chicks. I built the brooder in the coop. They were completely walled off for the first month. After that the chicks were in the brooder, but separated from the rest of the coop with chicken wire. After 6.5 weeks the...
  14. brewfarm

    Do chicks make laying hens nervous?

    They free range in a fenced yard. They're not getting out beyond that and there's no place to hide eggs. The chicks are now roaming the yard, but staying close to the coop. I'm guessing bobbi-j is right and it will come up in a few days. As it turns out it's not that drastic. I'm getting 5...
  15. brewfarm

    Do chicks make laying hens nervous?

    My chicks will be 7 weeks old Wednesday. I've had them in a brooder, in the coop. When they were 4 weeks old I shut off the heat lamp and opened up the brooder. They've been separated from the hens with chicken wire. Last Friday I took down the chicken wire and they started mingling. The...
  16. brewfarm

    New layers - where will they lay?

    All my hens have always been free range. We built nesting boxes when they were about 3 months old. We filled them full of bedding and just left them there. The hens had no trouble finding them and using them. Early on I did find an egg under the roosting bars. Then, after I built a brooder...
  17. brewfarm

    Loud Hens In The Morning - WHY?!?!

    I have one hen that will run- or fly- out into the yard, after she's laid an egg, flapping her wings still singing at the top of her lungs. Some of them seem to be cheering the others on. Sometimes it's as if their saying, "Hurry up, it's my turn in the box." Once a hen stood her ground in the...
  18. brewfarm

    Birds Per Box

    I started out with 12 nesting boxes for 49 hens. I was told - I can't quote a standard- that a traditional nesting box (12x12x12) will support 4, no more than 5, hens per box. That being said, tonight I found 7 eggs in one box and no eggs in 3 boxes. Apparently all my ladies have a favorite spot.
  19. brewfarm

    Is an 8 week old RIR tall enough?

    I've got a flock of Rhode Island Reds. Half of them are 8 months old. The other half are 5 weeks old. I want to get new feeders. The ones I'm looking at are 7.75 inches tall. The hens have met the chicks, but are separated by chicken wire. I was planning on integrating the flock at about 8...
  20. brewfarm

    big drop in egg production

    I thought I had lost egg production, but the little suckers just found a dark corner. I found eggs that had been piling up for about 3 days. Could they have found a new spot to lay? If they are getting the same feed, the same amount of daylight, and they seem healthy then something else is up...
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