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  1. bldmtnrider

    dogs and chickens

    Introduce them to your dogs as soon as you get your chicks. I cupped my hands around the chicks and let the dogs sniff. When they tried to bite the chicks they got smacked. After a while they accept that the chicks are part of the family. My lab (also my bird dog) just ignores them and the...
  2. bldmtnrider

    Egg laying drops when birds allowed to free range

    Mine do the same thing, but at 1/3 acre it is pretty easy to determine that there is not a hidden nest. The work around I have found is let them out for a few hours in the morning and then put them back in the coop. Seems to be a mad run for egg box as soon as the door closes on them. An hour...
  3. bldmtnrider

    EE egg laying issue

    I have 6 hens, 4 BRs and 2 EEs. About 6 weeks ago I got my first thin/broken shelled egg from one of my EE. Over the next 2 weeks She laid maybe another 3 times, all with thin shells. Since then she has laid maybe once a week with either a membrane only shell or no membrane at all. I know...
  4. bldmtnrider

    How high of fence can a Fox jump?

    I watched a pair go through my yard and over a 6 foot privacy fence like it wasn't there. After watching that, I wouldn't put it past them to clear at least 8 feet.
  5. bldmtnrider

    Need tips for keeping a clean run

    I put sand in my run. It is 5 x 10 and to fill it with 4" of sand it will take about 1/2 to 3/4 tons. I put down hardware cloth underneath to keep digging predators from coming up. If I had it to do over I would have put landscape fabric down to keep the sand and soil from mixing, but it...
  6. bldmtnrider

    Feather picking and lack of salt

    This is related to an earlier post, but has anyone ever heard of a salt difficency causing birds to pick at other birds? I have heard that a lack of protien can possibly cause that, but never salt.
  7. bldmtnrider

    Pecking order question

    I'm not too worried about illness in this case. It is pretty clear that it is a pecking order in both cases. I have had this problem with my birds for a few months now. She has had this going on for almost a month. The hard part in my case is 3 of my 4 BRs have been picking on the Araucanas...
  8. bldmtnrider

    Pecking order question

    I have a friend who has 2 BRs. One of them is getting picked on and it is bad enough that one hen has what looks to be a very infected foot. I have 4 BRs and 2 araucanas. My araucanas get picked on by one or more of my more agressive BRs. So the question is, can we swap our most agressive...
  9. bldmtnrider

    Prairie Dogs

    Double Bubble - that nasty gum kids get when trick-or-treating. A friend had prarie dogs on his horse property. Shooting them with a 22 never got them all. He finally put Double Bubble down the holes and no more prarie dogs. Apparently it cloggs up their digestive tracks. Use a few pieces...
  10. bldmtnrider

    Could they really be that dumb?

    So here is the update: Looks like they really were that dumb. Added food and water to the run and consumption of both have more than doubled. 6 birds went through about a gallon of water in the first 2 days. Egg production went up to a steady 1 egg per day from each Barred Rock (about 1/2 of...
  11. bldmtnrider

    Could they really be that dumb?

    The hens are hatchery birds, nothing special, and have been laying for a few weeks now. The more I think about it the more it looks like they were dehydrated and not eating during the day since as soon as I let them out they go looking for water and food, in a big hurry. I went ahead and added...
  12. bldmtnrider

    Could they really be that dumb?

    I think the answer is an obvious YES, but I figured I would ask here. I've got 6 birds and 4 of them (Barred Rocks) just started laying about a week ago. So far I have gotten an egg from each of them, but only one lays consistenly every day. The others are every 2-3 days. I suspect this is...
  13. bldmtnrider

    Rooster?

    They are in the coop right now, but the coop is 25 sqft with a 50sqft attached run so I don't think they are getting cooped up. Since I have already seen a fox in my back yard eyeing the chickens they are in the coop while I am at work. I am also dog sitting right now so they get much less...
  14. bldmtnrider

    Rooster?

    Thanks for the feedback. I was hoping it was a just an agressive hen but wanted to be sure. I wonder if she is the one responsible for plucking all the feathers out her coop mates? Shortly after taking the photos she decided to chase my dog around the back yard. So funny watching a hunting...
  15. bldmtnrider

    Rooster?

    This bird is just over 3 months old and I suspect it may be a rooster. I've noticed it getting more agressive over the last few weeks and today started in with what sounded like a crow after a dog barked. Agressive and loud hen or a rooster? Thoughts...
  16. bldmtnrider

    Hen getting picked on

    After some digging around on here there are some sugestions that increasing their protien may help. I did start giving them some scratch about a week ago and wondering if that has supplemented there diet in the wrong way. Has anyone else had luck with additional protien or is this just part of...
  17. bldmtnrider

    Hen getting picked on

    I have a single Easter Egger that looks like she has been getting picked on. All but one of her tail feathers is missing and her back feathers are missing about 3" up from her tail. I've got her in isolation right now until she heals but have a few questions. How long does it take them to...
  18. bldmtnrider

    My Yellow Lab & Chickens?

    Not all dogs are chicken killers and some that could be chicken killers just need a little extra training. Unfortuantely, some dogs have a higher predator drive due to breading or past life experiences. Personally I think the hunting dogs are easier to train to deal with chickens than the...
  19. bldmtnrider

    Building a coop - what flooring

    I will be raising the whole coop on a platform and laying hardware cloth under the entiree thing and the loading sand on top of the hardware cloth, then loading large rocks around the side (to reduce the number of holes I need to fill in). Not too worried about predators although I have seen...
  20. bldmtnrider

    Building a coop - what flooring

    So I decided to get some chickens before the coop and have a little more time before they out grow the brooder. I have the coop designed on a CAD program and everything looks like it should work. The plan is to have a mobile coop/run that can lift onto 2 wheels (at the balance point) and be...
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