Minnesota!

[holm25]

I love Tanagers I dont see them often. About the time I get the camera they r gone!!!

 

[coldupnorth]

Ummm - no. I spent much of my childhood outside looking at everything nature and trying to figure it out.

 

[Cearbhael]

I like to allow the weeds to grow and be higher than my veggies. By doing this I am protecting my veggies from the hot afternoon sun and shading the ground to conserve water... Not everyone here ( my home) is in favor of my gardening method. And look what visited me today. I do not think I have ever seen this bird before, or if I did I never realized how beautiful it is. ( I have only been feeding birds a few years now.)

Well, I always keep track of every bird I have seen with my own eyes. It's a hobby. I have seen only one Indigo Bunting, (Sooo Blue!) one Scarlet Tanagar, and one Blue Bird. I also saw one Black Backed Three Toed Woodpecker. I caught that rare one when flagging for my father, while they were laying new asphalt up at Square Lake. I also managed to see two Timber Wolves (separately not at the same time) they are so quiet you don't hear them. They came out and stopped to check me out!! I suppose a lady standing all alone on a rural road with a sign was an oddity to them. (it was so remote I could stand in silence for an hour without seeng a car) anyway, they were just curious and would take a long time trying to figure me out.

 

[FoxyChicken]

THEY'RE HATCHING!!!

 

[coldupnorth]

FoxyChicken - I just love how the chick is peeking out into the world under the comfort and safety of mama!

 

[Cluckies]

@Bogtown Chic, when you say to drill holes at the tallest point in the coop, wouldn't that let out the warm air in the winter? Also, is it better to have all of the vents on one side?

Yes, it will let some warm air out, but that is ok as long as the chickens aren't in the draft (opposite side). Yes, holes/vents on one side, or two opposite sides if they are high up and the birds are down low out of the draft. put the chickens on the opposite side of the high wall in the winter, the moist air will go up and follow the roofline out.

Quote: When mine molted, her broken blood feathers stopped bleeding on their own. once they stopped bleeding, I gave her a bath to clean off the blood, then I left the blood feathers alone and put blu-kote on them.

I just treated mine for cocci starting Saturday, she was puffed up and sleeping, limp. I treated her with corid powder from the tractor supply, 3/4 tsp per gallon of water, changed twice a day. I had to use a syringe without a needle and put the medicated water in her mouth the first day about every hour and a half, as she was to weak to drink on her own. she is back out with the girls now as she seemed about 90 percent yesterday. Hopefully she continues to get stronger.

Minnie, very sorry to hear about your birds with the weasel, that is terrible, they are nasty buggers! My pen is covered in 1/2 inch hardware cloth, it is like fort knox just because of the horror stories i've heard about weasels

Here are some posts that helped me with my coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/621363/poop-board-convert-warning-graphic-gross-poop-pictures (Love my poop trays with sweet PDZ) dry, no smell at all, takes up moisture.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop (good article on ventilation)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-very-easy-heated-waterer-for-under-20-bucks (I use horizontal nipples on a 2 gallon pail, with a bird bath deicer and a pond pump)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/631861/diy-thread-lets-see-your-inventions (just fun to kill time, bunch of good ideas)

 

[gofeedthegirls]

Hey guys quick question...when figuring how many chickens your coop can "support." Can you factor in vertical sq feet as well? say an 8x8 shed should support 16 chickens or so. What of I had 16 feet of roost space, does that stack onto total sq footage. Or is that something you dont factor in?

 

[duluthralphie]

Hey guys quick question...when figuring how many chickens your coop can "support." Can you factor in vertical sq feet as well? say an 8x8 shed should support 16 chickens or so. What of I had 16 feet of roost space, does that stack onto total sq footage. Or is that something you dont factor in?

Mike, I am an evil person, according to many on BYC because I have a coop with a 8x8 chicken area and a 4x8 feed storage area. I have 30 hens and 3 roosters in it. I do have an attached covered run that I never close so some can go outside. I know it is more crowded than the "rules" say. With the run I figure they have enough room. My coop is a 8' 6" tall with a peak on that. I have 5 roosts 8 ft up, I have 3 lower so there is lots of roosting area. All the birds roost on the top roosts during the winter squished together. This time of the year they spread out on all of the roosts.


To make a long story short, 8x8 should work for 16 birds. I did have some frostbitten combs on the roosters. I hope to do things different next year. but they never seemed over crowded to me. I think a run so they can get outside when they want is important. They go out in almost all weather, except heavy snow.

Just adding up my roost space, I think I have 56 ft of roosts.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Ah yes, broken feathers. We have a golden polish who is bottom of the pecking order and we discovered her outside a few days ago bleeding from her tail area. The others have managed to break off many of her pin feathers which were bleeding. The bleeding stopped with flour so I didn't need to pull any. She was separated for a few days to get her strength back. Why do they always have to pick on someone to the point of blood! Super frustrating. What am I supposed to do with those broken pin feathers that bleed anyway. Should I be pulling them out or leave them alone if they stop bleeding?

As far as cocci goes I have no experience so I can't help with that one.

This tail pecking stuff drives me crazy! But here is what I am sure is the cause of it. Some of the bigger feathers are actually "blood feathers", which means that blood actually goes up into the shaft of the feather. These are some of the primaries and some of the tail feathers. So, when the birds are getting all stupid and crazy, especially in the juvie stage when they act like bringing them feed is a sure sign I am the boogy man will eat them whole all at once. A blood feather gets broken or enough so that the blood shows and the frenzy begins. I have lost more juvies to this than I even want to think about! And I have two Buckeye pullets (of course, pullets) that are in a dog kennel on the mend as I type. It also seems to happen more to some breeds than to others, like my Buckeyes and Cochins.
Sometimes it is the oil gland that attracts attention though and one will peck at it and if bleeding starts, they are also like ravenous wolves at the kill.

With any little scratch or break that shows a little bleeding, it is best to just spray some BluKote on it so the others won't peck at it, they will tear apart wings in the same manner as the tail.

I am sure that the censorship you applied was the same as what I had to do when typing about the weasel, Ralphie. I have quickly developed a hate for those creatures that is unparalleled in my mind! I didn't catch one last night, but I did catch a mouse. Stupid mouse. It is actually mice and rats that attract them to a place, in case folks didn't know that. Considering all the holes around the pasture where they tunnel under tractors and coops, it is no wonder the )(&%%^&* weasel came around. My momma cat just had a litter though and they should help cut down the population a bit once they are up to size. My tom cat who is supposed to go for his vet visit on Tuesday has disappeared in the last couple of days. He usually comes back after two days, but I think he heard me make the appointment and thought he better disappear for a while. There are at least three neighbors that have way too many cats around that he has gone off to sleaze around at. Hopefully, he will come back and I will get that little deal taken care of. I am not a cat person, but these two have kind of grown on me. Her name is Callie (what to guess her color?) and he is Jerome. Both leave my birds alone and catch mice, so I am good with that. I feed them a little each day so they don't think they can get lazy about their jobs, but enough to keep them around doing their jobs for me.

Time to run out into the rain again. I have to reset the trap the mouse got into, but needed a drill to open it.

 

[lalaland]

geesh, really, folks? that many posts? I forgot what I came to post about !. wonderful to hear and see everyone's posts.

Welcome to everyone new!
Ralphie, a scarlet tanager -oooh thats beautiful

Mike, as long as you have plenty of outdoor space....or indoor run space not including the coop. In the winter during those weeks when it is so bitter cold and the windchill and wind is so bad that the chickens won't venture out for anything.....thats when you find out whether you have packed too many chickens in. You start to see stress, picking, pecking...chickens start to get a little run down....too many droppings, too much amonia ( I know I am spelling that wrong, too tired to fix it).

Vertical space can alleviate it to some extent especially if you manage to build floor space, not just roosts. Chickens don't roost all day, although they will roost during the day, but they need adequate floor space to scratch, move...for the water and feed if you have to bring it in. Chickens can survive lack of space, of course, but whether its best for the flock is another question. I think the breeds matter too, and whether you are mixing temperments with various ages and various breeds.

Personally, I would get some experience with your flock before busting out at the seams. If I remember your earlier posts, you are new to chickens? Get through a winter. Then if you are so inclined, add incrementally. You do not want to find yourself in January with an untenable situation because of overcrowding and no way to deal with it.

Ralphie is lucky enough to have a farm wtih various outbuildings, so he has options in case he gets overextended or overrun with chickens/turkeys/guineas/ and whatall. I think that gives him a good cushion.

Anyway, thats just MHO