Hi from New Hampshire!

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NH Chicken Mama said:
haha good. Yes, I'm *hoping* that I don't have to do too much corralling. As it stands, they're only straying about 20 ft away from their coop. And they'll return to it, like they realized they had wandered out of their comfort zone. I'm sure that will extend in the future, but it's kind of funny... like the toddler who realizes that you've either gone out of their line of sight or maybe someone got in between them and mommy! :gig

I luckily have a husband who also wants all the animals - he is the dog person, I am a cat person. He wants pigs, I wanted chickens. We both want goats. The oldest child wants a horse, the youngest says that she does, but I tend to think that she is following her sister's lead. Although she does choose to play with our Schleich horses a lot...

Maybe someone would swap a husband for a mini horse? :yesss::lau
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Make sure when it comes to the kids it's something"you want too" cause we all know how that turns out lol.
Hmmmm that would be interesting, not sure he would go along though ugh!
 
DobieLover said:
It's one thing to have it in the yard. It's an entirely different matter when it's all over your steps, porch, deck, walkways and driveway.
Not to mention if anyone enjoys landscape plantings or vegetable gardening, they will be quickly decimated if not fenced off from the chickens.
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Funny, one of my ladies dug up some of my landscaping today :gig:rantI was like, 'Skipper, what do you think you're doing?' *just taking a dust bath* (top quality soil and previous owners just plopped some ground cover in and mulched around it. I'm digging it up next year anyways :lol:).

One of them also pooped on my patio. I've just been going around with the hose and breaking up the poo. It's better when it's on the lawn, though! Trying to improve that soil quality!
 
DobieLover said:
I wonder how they will feel about the chickens when they start pooping ALL OVER their property.
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Oh my goodness... poop everywhere now! I comb the yard with the hose in hand and disintegrate the chicken bombs. They follow along behind me, crapping the whole way! :lau:lau:lau I was like, thanks, ladies. Thanks.

The girls are quite settled in and I started reconfiguring the run today (we got a dog, so built a dog run and I have about 40 feet of fencing left to work with - yay!) I almost didn't start because I would never have time to finish by night, then I realized they'd go to their coop no matter what to sleep, so I just had at it.

Dusting them off was an exercise. I wish I had had a video camera going. I got in the tiny run before they went to sleep and locked us all in. Or so I thought. Apparently my reinforcement of the gap between the fence and the coop was not nearly as effective as I had thought it was. I snagged the first hen, and then when they all were in a panic trying to figure out how to get as far away from the scary chicken grabber, Sleeping Beauty squeezed behind me and then made her leap to freedom. (I swear it was less than a 2 inch gap!) Of course the others then quickly followed suit, and I couldn't stop them as I had my arms full of flappy chicken :rant:lau:gig. So I treated her with dust and neem oil (scaly leg mites on one of them so they're alllll getting treated). I deposited her in the coop, shut the door, and then got the rest of them back in to the run (after re-reinforcing the gap!)

Now I have to figure out all about molting because I have another one losing feathers like they're going out of style. Possibly depluming mites :barnie:th

Luckily, when I went to order the bug spray I have been bathing in post-chicken exposure, I also ordered 10% sulfer rub, mite b gone nesting herbs, ivermectin, and Sevin dust and spray. I just bought it alllllllllll. I also ordered cedar flea and tick spray for my dog, since the ladies took a dust bath in the piles that remained from us digging the post holes for the dog run, so that got spread in to the run where we had to dig out for the fence to run evenly between poles (we concrete set them).

I kept getting reinfested from my shoes, so I had that fun job, cleaning the chicken poop out and then soaking them in permethrin, then washing them in the washer and drier. I will never again wear my good sneakers down to the coop! Ever! I even pulled an old beat up pair of sneakers out of my donation bags. My rain boots, three pairs of sneakers. I had two pairs of dress shoes that also had them in them.

Infested doesn't even begin to describe how bad it was. I had a mite crawl UNDERNEATH MY EYELID. And they really, really, love the vent area... and the human equivalent. I was taking three showers a day, throwing my clothing in the wash directly off my body, using oil head to toe with every essential oil known to kill mites mixed in. With the floor covered in vinegar and borax so nothing can survive falling off, or crawl back on.

So that's where I've been. Living in chicken keeper hell.

Uh. Hi from New Hampshire!
 
rjohns39 said:
Hi and a belated welcome to BYC :frow We're so happy you've decided to join us :ya

You've had a rough go of it, here's hoping it get's better quickly :fl:fl
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Lol I think they are. I was relentless with the coop treatment (I took the whole thing apart and sprayed every single nook and cranny hard core!)

They're fun, either way! It's been a learning experience to say the least. I love checking out all the coop design information on here, so many great tips from experienced chicken keepers! I'm glad I waited to build my forever coop, I'll have alllll of the ideas incorporated! Now I want a chicken cam, too - the videos are awesome!

Definitely addicted!
 

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