Search results for query: *

I hate it when they lie like that too....really irks me because there are a lot of folks out there buying overpriced and tiny coops thinking they can put a small flock of chickens in there...it's just impossible. Makes me want to go kick someone really hard in the shins and slap them upside the...

It's normal and any given evening I can hear my flock going through the same sounds...flapping, squawking, thumping and bumping as the young birds forget their place on the roosts and the older gals remind them. It's no big deal and no one will wind up dead. Just as long as you have plenty...

Yep, that's a dude!

I can't say that any of my chickens are family....I have a real family available....but nor are they a commercial flock. They are just a healthy, free ranging, productive group of birds that live a great life and earn a good death here.

It's all difficult, as one has to have the fortitude to cull when necessary, without letting sentimentality to get in the way. You can do this in a small flock as well, as the addition of chicks will have to come, be they from the hatchery or from your own flock eventually if you intend to have...

Not knowing the size of the tract of land nor the nature of the available forage there of which you speak nor the size of your coop and run I'd not be able to make an educated guess as to your stocking rates, but you can improve the nature of the run by incorporating a cultured deep litter of...

Oh, please don't say that....Darwin was a great fool! My methods just use observation of natural life since the fall of man and God was the Creator of everything, so it is His model I follow. Low stocking rates means keeping flock numbers low enough that they do not over impact the soil with...

Picked up 4 young black Maran cockerels today from a sister who lives in town and doesn't want roosters. Integration went something like this....I greased up their legs, dusted them for possible carryons and tossed them to the grass. They stayed to themselves in a group all day in the stretch...

CO is Castor Oil and I use it on legs and feet to treat or prevent scale mite. I dust with pyrethrin powder, which you can order online....you'll not find it too often in many garden centers, though you can find permethrin powder and many old timers use that as well. Building strong immune...

I so very much agree! So many diseases out there for poultry, many of which are transmitted in different ways~via mosquitoes even, some of which a bird can merely be a carrier but do not show signs or symptoms, etc., are a consideration. Proximity to the flock~distance, soil sharing...

That's one way to handle it. Another is to build such strong immune systems in your flock that you don't have to worry about disease being introduced...and that's not luck, it takes work and fortitude and it is successful, even more so than quarantines. I take the latter approach as it's more...

That depends on your flock management methods. I never quarantine so I never gear advice towards that eventuality.

I agree! Another thing that has always served me well is culling for temperament. No amount of eggs or pretty plumage is worth the rest of the flock living in constant wariness of a cranky bird that can't get along with the rest of the flock without constantly bullying another bird. Nasty...

That's why I said to not go to the coop at roost time. No, it's not a free for all and I've never seen the pecking order produce blood on any bird of mine, no matter the age difference. The pecking is done to produce a desired response and when the response is given, the pecking stops...

My advise is to stay out of the coop at roosting time and let them sort it out. It's been that way since the beginning of time and no amount of our worrying or shuffling of birds will sway the pecking order procedure that must take place. Just make sure you have enough space on your roosts for...

Lot's of things out there to read, so I'll give you another. In the end it doesn't really matter what you feed....I've been feeding layer to all birds for years upon years.

You hear a lot of things. Now you'll hear that it just doesn't matter all that much....been feeding all birds layer ration for a long time now.

A lawn chair is a permanent fixture in my coop as well....I can sit and observe what's happening at feeding time, roosting time, etc. and especially like to do so in the winter when they are confined by deep snows....gives me an idea how well they occupy the space, where improvements or...

I find the best age to integrate is 2-3 wks....they aren't so small they can't escape the big birds and they aren't so big the big birds see them as food competition. Especially if you have a free range setup, as the young chicks hang near the coop and the older birds are outdoors most of the...