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I don’t really count them, just walk about to see if there are any stragglers. Occasionally I’ll find a wild one in the morning that didn’t make it back in the coop.

I started with four - and good intentions, but…

I have had several Silkie Roos that were “unpleasant” so they became soup. I’m not tolerant of intolerant roosters. I’ve got two “good” Silkie roosters now. I’ve got a dozen or so gals that are laying green or blue eggs and have them segregated with same breed roosters (plan to move some...

What are you teaching your hens??? 😉. I’d suggest making one of the openings smaller so the hens 1) take interest in something new, and 2) possibly feel more secure/comfy. Once one chick checks it out the other gals won’t be far behind. I have 22 hens in one of my coops and they all gravitate...

The first run I built was 6’ tall. I’m 6’2” so I can relate to the hunching!

I have 20 accidental chicks in the outdoor brooder (they kinda migrated to my shopping cart at TSC as they were on sale for $2) along with three ducklings I incubated. 42 - I think - meat birds remaining out of 120. 15 Pekin ducks. And around 100 various breeds with an uncertain number of...

I use ramps too cuz, in my setup, I let the chickens do chicken things and end up with little chicks. This way they can follow mama to food and water without me putting it in the roosting areas.

You’re on the home stretch now and doing a really great job 👏. It’s pretty cool that you and your dad are doing this together - my 3-1/2 year old granddaughter visits me in the shop but not much gets done after that! Keep up the amazing work and I’ll hafta hire you…

Great score on the shed! Looks like you’re doing a nice job. I see a piano hinge on the storage side of the nesting boxes, presumably to get eggs without going inside the coop area. Not sure what type of bedding you’re gonna use in the nest boxes, but I add a “lip” on all of mine to help...

I mostly let broody hens take care of that and only incubate about 100 eggs a year. My experience has been with humidity levels in the upper 90s. Not sure what the benefit is for dry conditions, but my belief is that one should mimic what nature does. My guess, based on the info you provided...

I have a mostly Frankenstein Flock. They started segregated but now share the nine different coop/runs. I let them roam together and they don’t always return to where they started. The exception is I have a group of blue and green egg layers that I keep separate. And a couple ducks, bantam...

Southeast Michigan here. TSC seems to have a good supply of chicks and ducks - towards the end of summer I’ll keep an eye out for ducks as they go on sale. Bought 11 last year for 50 cents each as they were the last batch and TSC was ready to change their display area! The freezer is my first...

Nice catch! I lost 26 4-6 week old chicks from two brooding areas in the last few days. I hope my traps will be as effective as yours. Sorry for your losses.

Regarding the “door side of the coop”, if I’m reading this right then it faces west. Perhaps one of the windows you mentioned could be used there. Four of the coops I built have windows, two have sliding doors over hardware cloth (open for ventilation in summer) and three have no windows. I...

I have mounding similar to the divider between you and your neighbor and my chickens love to explore it. Sometimes they just like being higher, kinda like roosting. Many chickens are just curious and others like to roam. Mine have open pasture and woods yet still end up on the porch where...

I use the green plastic roll fencing and T posts.

And, lastly, looking at the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog, they have about a dozen different bantam breeds for $6.15 each.

Oh, I have about 150 standard chickens, 8 bantams (from TSC) and 30 Silkie chickens….

The nipple waterers are a great time saver and eliminates the possibility of spillage (with the exception of a few drops that may drip out). You’ll also find they don’t need filling or cleaning as often because they don’t get contaminated by bedding or poop. I’d recommend building the coop and...

Soup