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  1. JenNY99

    Deep litter method

    I am using DE and the shavings are at least 7-8" thick. The poop is completely frozen into a mass. Should I just add fresh on top? My chickens are free rangers until it gets really nasty out - they don't seem to scratch up the bedding very much.
  2. JenNY99

    Deep litter method

    This is my first year with chickens. I have a total of 16 chicks in a 8x10 coop. We used DLM all summer and it worked great. However, now that the cold has descended on us, the poop has frozen solid with the wood chips to the point I can't rake it. It is starting to smell. I thought that...
  3. JenNY99

    Do you have a dog that hangs out with your chickens?

    We have 2 Boxers - we got the chicks when our older Boxer was 1 1/2 years old and our younger was just 7 months. The younger liked the baby chicks, but quickly lost interest. However, our older boy has a very high prey drive. When they were babies we would take the dogs down to our basement...
  4. JenNY99

    Holy cow - babies galore!! Advice needed!

    Thanks everyone! They are Buff Orpingtons. Thanks for letting me know what mama can eat. Hopefully she'll continue to mother them as well as she has been doing! All chicks look healthy and lively except that 12th one that appears near death. Don't know that there's anything I can do to help...
  5. JenNY99

    Holy cow - babies galore!! Advice needed!

    Ok, bear with me here. New to chickens, having gotten my first chicks in March of this year. We ended up with 6 hens and a rooster. About 3 weeks ago one of our hens disappeared (they free range). We didn't find any remains, but assumed she had been gotten by a predator. Last week DH...
  6. JenNY99

    The case of the disappearing/appearing hen!

    2 weeks ago, one of our 6 month old BO's didn't return to the coop at night with the rest of the chickens. We looked all over for her and found no trace. Even though we have fox and coyotes around here, we have not yet had a problem with them - we assume that this is because of our 2 big male...
  7. JenNY99

    They don't want to leave the coop!

    We have 6 BO's that were born the first week of March of this year, and 5 Brahmas that were born the last week of March. In late May, we moved them all into the 8' x 10' coop we built for them and all was well. We open up the door in the morning and everyone leaves and roams freely on our...
  8. JenNY99

    I used to have the most AWESOME flower gardens!

    And then I decided to raise chickens.... Just saying...
  9. JenNY99

    My utter failure as a chicken mom

    I love all you chicken people!! Thank you so much! I now am thinking about some errors I have had with them and will try to correct. We have no run, as they free range, but like I said they have a couple of favorite places to hang. I have tried sitting next to them but the problem is when I...
  10. JenNY99

    My utter failure as a chicken mom

    I feel like such a failure! I am new to chicken owning and researched for a year before jumping in. My main criteria for chicken breeds was cold hardy and friendly. In March, we got 6 Buff Orpingtons (straight run) and 3 weeks later got 6 Brahmas that were supposed to all be pullets. Week 5...
  11. JenNY99

    "Kids" just moved into new coop - couple of questions

    We finished (structurally) the coop on Saturday. We still have to do the trim and other cosmetics and build the nest boxes, but since they are 10 weeks (BO's) and 7 weeks (Brahmas) we have some time. So we moved them in to their 8' x 10' (7' high) coop that we built. Of course, we got...
  12. JenNY99

    Almost done with coop - size of chicken door?

    Hi all! We ALMOST have our 8' x 10' coop done - yay! And hopefully I'm almost done shelling out the $$$$$, too! At any rate, we have larger chickens - Buff Orpingtons and Brahmas. What are the ideal dimensions for the chicken door? Thanks in advance! Jen
  13. JenNY99

    When to switch to adult food?

    Yes, stupid of me to ask the question without checking the bag, wasn't it? Sorry! For some reason I thought I had seen on here comments that they shouldn't have the starter feed after 8 weeks. Apparently I made that up in my head!!
  14. JenNY99

    When to switch to adult food?

    Thanks everyone! I checked the bag and this food is made for 18 weeks. So I can get another bag as they all have a lot more time to be on this food. I take it there is no HARM in giving medicated food way past 8 weeks? Thanks for the advice about putting everyone in the coop at the same...
  15. JenNY99

    When to switch to adult food?

    I have 6 Buff Orpingtons (7 + weeks) and 5 Brahmas (4 weeks tomorrow). I have enough medicated chick starter left for probably 5 days. I assume I can switch the Orpingtons to adult food, but how about the Brahmas? Do they need to stay on chick starter? Should it still be medicated? Also...
  16. JenNY99

    Just lost a chick - so upset!

    The chicks are in our basement. We put the new brooder light in with the 3 weeks old Orpingtons and the old light that we started the Orpingtons with with the new chicks. Since about 11AM Tuesday morning, under the light has been anywhere between 92 and 96 degrees. The cold part of the...
  17. JenNY99

    Just lost a chick - so upset!

    Yes, The brooder we have them in is 95 under the light, but the coolest part of the brooder is about 50 degrees and that's where the water is. So they have their choice from very warm to quite cool to everything in between. She died in my hands and died in a very similar way to my 12.5 year...
  18. JenNY99

    Just lost a chick - so upset!

    I am brand new to this whole chicken thing! 3 weeks ago we took the leap and got 3 Buff Orpingtons. I'm happy to report that they are all healthy and happy. But last Thursday we got 6 Brahmas. We got a new brooder light since the Orpingtons were using our first light and so the first night...
  19. JenNY99

    Just got the chicks home!

    Happy to report all babies made it though the night and are active this morning. We had a bit of an issue in the brooder - it is in our basement which is still really cold (around 46 degrees) so we, of course, have the heat lamp on. I got up around 3 AM and directly under the heat lamp is was...
  20. JenNY99

    Just got the chicks home!

    First timer here! Just brought home 6 Orpington chicks from TSC. The bad news is that they did not come sorted - hopefully I don't have 5 roosters! Within the first hour, 5 of the 6 were eating and 3 drank. They all stretched out and started snoozing near, but not directly under, the heat...
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