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I got mine off Amazon--$11 for 5 nipples and they're eligible for free shipping.

Quote: Yeah, you would. Not a lot, but something to keep the wind off and protect them from the ice storms. Feed bags would be just about perfect.

I made a waterer out of a five-gallon bucket and a pack of nipples, and it's awesome. There's never, ever any poop in it, the cover keeps the water fresh for a couple days, and it hangs up out of the way and doesn't take up floor space. And it cost a lot less than the galvanized gallon ones at...

My chickens just started laying (that we know of) a little over a week ago. Yield has been fairly low and sporadic, but that's normal for new layers so I didn't think anything of it. This morning, though, I found one of them in a tiny hole one of the dogs had dug back into the bank near a...

I went out to tuck my girls in and one of them has decided instead to roost in the apple tree next to the coop--about 20 feet off the ground. We have a ladder that tall, but it's not really safe to try and use it on a 60 degree slope in the pitch black dark. Much as I hate to do it, I have to...

Quote: Hardware cloth is wire mesh, so no it won't keep rain and snow out. That's why you don't make the whole coop out of it. The issue with keeping rain and snow out is that anything that will hold precipitation out will hold moisture and ammonia from breathing and droppings in and...

Yes, you definitely need a door. And some ventilation. Chickens can live without roosts, though they prefer them. They cannot, however, live without protection from predators and fresh air and sunlight. It looks like your door opening is pretty tall, so one easy way to add ventilation is to...

#1 looks just like my Golden Comets.

Thanks guys! That makes me feel a lot better. It's hard enough to get the exposed bits painted when it pours rain every day I have off and the chickens are occupying the garage, so I really wasn't looking forward to trying to paint both sides of the siding and interior walls.

If I'm doing a double-walled coop, do both sides of each wall need to be painted? I know the sides that will be exposed to weather and chicken poop and any exposed edges need to have a couple-three coats, but what about the sides that will be inside the walls and covered by the framing?

My understanding is they grow new, bigger feathers every month or so. I guess they outgrow their feather suits just like human kids outgrow clothes.

I have 6 that are almost 4 weeks with the same situation. Five started out a pale buff with red chipmunk stripes down the back (one had a red head, too), and one was solid red. When they started feathering out, the red ones wings were copper with black bars, while the others were that pale...

Thanks! Even if it wasn't dust, it appears to be resolving on its own.

One of my 3-week old chicks was sneezing a little this afternoon. No discharge, she's bright and perky, no coughing, no sneezes from anyone else. Is this something to just keep an eye on, or does it require immediate action?

No, you don't need to change clothes or wash blankets. Assuming, of course, that you aren't licking your clothing or bedding. The things we can catch from chickens, like coccidia or salmonella, are generally spread by the fecal/oral route. If something may be contaminated with poo (like the...

I would wait till the ones you have get bigger and you have a better idea of what's involved before getting anything like that many chicks. Right now they're really easy--change the water a few times a day, fill the feeder, scoop the tiny little poops. Three weeks from now, it's going to be...

If they were out in the barnyard with mom, they'd have worms available, so I'd think it would be fine. Mine won't touch a worm on a bet, though.

That's normal, and the ragginess will move to different parts of their bodies as they feather out in different places. As the feathers come in, the down comes off in patches. Right now mine have sleek little wings, rumps, and chests, but their heads look like a stuffed animal the dog's been...

I don't know that you'd even have to buy more netting--if you start more sprouts now, they should be established enough to not really need the netting by the time your main garden is coming up.

You could try putting some chicken wire or even just some cheap nylon netting or tulle on a frame over your sprouts till they get established. A lot of people do that with berry plants and fruit trees to keep the birds from stripping them, so I don't know why it wouldn't work with what you're...