I've been lurking here for months and should have posted quite a while ago! I started my "all hen" flock several months ago (end of October) and now have three active layers out of a total of 6 chickens. Thanks to other board members I have confirmed that my "all hen" flock has an intruder! A Copper Maran rooster has snuck into the fold and is currently looking for a new home!
I built my coop out of 1" chicken wire. It's completely covered and has a dirt floor that I treat occasionally with hydrated lime and DE. There are four nesting boxes in the coop and three "roosts" made of oak limbs. The coop is 8' x 10' and we've limited the number of chickens to six, although there is a Red Bourbon Tom in there for a week before we let him out to free range.
So far we have two ISA browns, one Ameraucana (I think), one Aracauna (I think), and one unknown, the copper maran is a rooster and is going to need a new home. Their feed is a mix of 2 to 1 Layena / Rolled Oats as well as a weekly helping of greens (collared and spinich courtesy of my wife). We also have free choice oyster shell available.
We've gotten great joy out of our new family members and are excited everytime we collect our smattering of eggs (2-3 a day). I'd welcome any feedback or criticisms - we want to make sure we've got a good environment for our flock!
I built my coop out of 1" chicken wire. It's completely covered and has a dirt floor that I treat occasionally with hydrated lime and DE. There are four nesting boxes in the coop and three "roosts" made of oak limbs. The coop is 8' x 10' and we've limited the number of chickens to six, although there is a Red Bourbon Tom in there for a week before we let him out to free range.
So far we have two ISA browns, one Ameraucana (I think), one Aracauna (I think), and one unknown, the copper maran is a rooster and is going to need a new home. Their feed is a mix of 2 to 1 Layena / Rolled Oats as well as a weekly helping of greens (collared and spinich courtesy of my wife). We also have free choice oyster shell available.
We've gotten great joy out of our new family members and are excited everytime we collect our smattering of eggs (2-3 a day). I'd welcome any feedback or criticisms - we want to make sure we've got a good environment for our flock!
