Hemp shavings. I am using them now and my smaller coop with 6 chickens in it does not get smelly. The hemp seems to absorb the smell. It is more expensive but well worth it I think.
I have a daughter in Sudbury. Thank you for your comment. I do really care about them and try to convince my family that they have their own personalities and are like tiny humans but they think I am crazy.
My story is a funny one as I did not start out in late fall of 2018 to have a flock of chickens. However, due to having inherited the flock and coop from adopted daughter I somehow became the owner (mama) of my first flock of chickens. Spent the winter worrying about keeping them alive and...
I am in Calgary Alberta and wish this forum would put the most recent entries on page 1 so when a person goes looking for recent entries they don't have to go through over 400 pages to get here. Or am I doing this wrong?
Hello..
Where are you in Calgary? I am on the west side of the city and its nice to see there are other Calgarians with chickens, Most seem to be up north.
I have a hen with that type of feather loss on her back. She now has a messy looking bottom but does not appear to be sick. She is active and eating fine. Any other ideas of what it could be.
When I go into the coop (which by the way is about 8' x 8' and well ventilated but was a bit drafty that is why we insulated and lines lower part with plywood) and find my chickens with frost on their faces and waddles and crops turning white I believe that is way too cold for them. Two heat...
We have been experiencing extreme cold weather the past two weeks. -25 C and colder with wind chill. Going to -33 tonight with wind chill. My chickens were freezing with two heat lamps and a coop radiant wall heater. The radiant heater did nothing so we now have two electric heaters which...
The top roost is just above the nest box height and lower one at about 20". They are beside the nest boxes. I kind of knew that chickens are not fans of change so hoping they will settle in after a few days. I will try blocking the nest boxes at night and see how that works to encourage them...
I am not sure about their breed. One is a Silkie like my picture. Two are black, one grey, one red and a speckled black and white one. The rooster is black like the two. I don't know breeds too well. I inherited these chickens from friends who moved from acreage to town and needed a place...
Their previous coop was only about 4-5' high and the roost was about half that height and they used it nightly. So I was afraid to go too high in the bigger coop which is high enough for me to stand up and then some. I am hoping it is just they are not used to the new coop and after today will...
I have just moved my chickens into a new coop and put in new perches. One is a tree limb without the bark on it. It measures about 2-1/2 to 3"around. Set it at 20". The second is a 2" square piece of rough wood and set at about 36". The chickens did not use it on their first night in coop...
At what height should a flat panel heater be hung? I have one I just put in and I have it just above my nest boxes which are about 2' from the bottom of the coop.