NY chicken lover!!!!

[jennianne]

So sorry for your loss

It's always hard to lose a favorite. If you do decide to hatch eggs, let me know. If my EEs are laying I would be happy to give you some eggs.

Thank you. I will keep that in mind, I appreciate it.

1. How much space do you have?
I have a 4X8 raised coop with an 8X10 run that connects through a 4X3 "porch" area. They can go under the coop and mainly use that section as a dirt bath area. In the run I have multiple level roosts, a nest box, creep feeder, heated bucket waterer, & feed pan shelf I made to keep their fermented feed up above the fray. I use deep litter in the run, mostly dry leaves and grass, but also some Koop Clean, Hi Hiber Gold, and Aspen shavings get thrown in now and then to keep the moisture level down when humidity is higher.

2. How early are they let out?
The coop door is controlled by an automatic timer. I also have a line of LED rope lights on a separate timer. The pop door opens at 5AM when the lights turn on. The lights go out at 4PM and the girls go to their roost with the natural dusk fall. The pop door closes after that. We bought the auto door prior to fully enclosing the 8X10 run. I dont know if they really even need it, the run is virtually predator proof, although small rodents could get in in a few places or a snake. I just sleep better knowing they are sleeping in fort knox.

I go out for the first time each day between 6 and 7 most days to bring them their fermented feed and check on everybody, grab the early morning eggs, and that sort of thing. I am out there every 2 to 3 hours all day, mostly because I am crazy, lol, but I also throw a handful of scratch, check for eggs, etc while I am there.

Ideally, I would like to have an uncovered outdoor area for them. They free ranged in my suburban backyard until late fall and although they have been fine up until this week, I really want them to be able to go out safely into my yard at least a few hours a day. With the tree cover gone and far too many potential surprise nest areas, I would have to restrict them to a run area to let them out of the covered run and with the holidays and weather that extra run just hasn't gotten built yet.

3. What breeds do you have?
1 Barred Rock, 1 Cochin, 1 EE, 1 Buckeye, and 4 Res Stars...the Australorp passed and my Orpington was rehomed.

Minky was missing feathers right at the top of her head. The roo would hold her by the feathers there with his beak when he mated her and he pulled some out right before he was rehomed. That was almost two months passed, and the area was grayish due to her skin being black. Maybe that spot was what started the whole episode? I never saw anyone bother it, but who knows maybe they never noticed it until that day.

4. How much space do they have outside? Even some type of shelter out of the coop is good.
They have the covered run for now. These pics & suggestions are good ideas. Structures like this would enable them to get out of the covered area and still have easy places to duck under should something startle them or they just want to get under cover. Thanks for posting these.

5. Do you use blue kote? Any sign of skin on my Dels and I spray them. So they're White/Barred and Blue.
Blue kote! No, but I will be soon as I can get some. Will run up to TS and get some tomorrow.

6. Do you have a feeder in the coop?
Creep feeder in the run. Scratch, mealworms, raw unshelled sunflower seeds, and sprouts fed sparingly but throughout the day. Also bread heels, tomato ends or other produce scraps, etc is saved for them.

Going to get a flock block at TS also. Havent tried the cabbage thing, will pick some up though.

7. Is there a reason you gave up your rooster?
Loved my roo!! I wish I could have kept him. The older he got, the more aggressive he got in mating and even pecked me a few times near the end. The girls were very nervous around him, but they definitely were calmer towards one another--never any fighting over feed pans or scratch zones until the roo was gone. I did say to my husband if the roo was still here probably he would have not let this go so far. You never know, of course, but thats my gut feeling. I think he was good for them. However, he was too loud for my little suburban neighborhood, and against zoning ordinances too. So off he went to live in a farm near here and be as loud as he wanted with is own little harem of 6 orp hens.

8. Some breeds tolerate other breeds better than others...
Rancher, thank you so much for all of this info. You covered a lot and gave me some ideas how to improve things. I just want to do the best I can for my birds, as I am sure we all do, so with these issues coming up all I can think is how to keep them safe and happy better than what I am doing. So thanks for the ideas.

wny egger Thank you for your kind words.


And thank you all of you for your thoughts and ideas.
No incidents today. Although my BR was SO LOUD. Bok bok bok baGAWK, bok bok ba GAWK! Egg song all day. Crazy chicken *sigh*
My husband's buddy at work keeps chickens and he said the crazy weather changes we had could have made them a little crazy. We have had one night, two nights before she passed I believe, where it was -7 with the wind chill down to -37. Now its back to normal for this time of year. Right before it was freezing it was warmer than normal. Our weather has really been all over the place. I think as long as no one else gets hurt that sounds like a reasonable explanation. I don;t know what you all think, can weather changes make them act up like that?

 

[jennianne]

Has anyone heard of the benefits of bone broth ?
It is supposed to be good for lots of things ..
Immune system , joints ,
Something to do with those bones instead of throwing them out ..
http://www.doctorauer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Bone-Broth.pdf

Oooh, yes, absolutely. Sally Fallon and Nourishing Traditions cook book. Really more than a cook book. She does a great job of explaining the benefits of it and the science behind it. Also, fermented foods and probiotics! I am a convert. I have an autoimmune disorder and a wheat allergy but have improved greatly since changing my diet to a more traditional whole foods approach---part of the reason I began keeping chickens in the first place was this book. I highly recommend the book and the bone broth.

 

[Gramma Chick]

My husband's buddy at work keeps chickens and he said the crazy weather changes we had could have made them a little crazy.. I don;t know what you all think, can weather changes make them act up like that?

Yes esp when they are cooped up ...Even people get cabin fever . ..boredom
Could you let them out for a bit & do something outside for a while ?

I think maybe they are trying to reestablish the pecking order ?
What is a Creep feeder ?

 

[rancher hicks]

My husband's buddy at work keeps chickens and he said the crazy weather changes we had could have made them a little crazy. We have had one night, two nights before she passed I believe, where it was -7 with the wind chill down to -37. Now its back to normal for this time of year. Right before it was freezing it was warmer than normal. Our weather has really been all over the place. I think as long as no one else gets hurt that sounds like a reasonable explanation. I don;t know what you all think, can weather changes make them act up like that?

Now it seems to me that if they are kept inside and there is little to do but stare at the walls it could make them crazy. Chickens need to peck and scratch and all that. My take is that most houses are two small for the average number of chickens kept by folks.




This is why I let mine out, no matter the temp. I also provide shelters around the yard with hay/straw floors for them to get away from each other if they choose. Cattle panel runs are easy enough since they're just bent and covered with poultry wire and plastic for day time excursions.

Of course if you add just the poultry wire and grow some hard wood vine over the top like grapes that should ensure the snow stays as a cover. Annual vines can work too if you can keep the birds from eating them before they have a chance to cover the poultry wire. Beans and the like come to mind. Yearly plantings and before you know it the whole thing will be completely covered. Something like this. When the vines die they'll leave a nice cover to hold the snow and ice.

I've taken a cattle panel and just tied it to hold it bent over and set it right on the ground.

​

​

​

 

[rancher hicks]

My husband's buddy at work keeps chickens and he said the crazy weather changes we had could have made them a little crazy. We have had one night, two nights before she passed I believe, where it was -7 with the wind chill down to -37. Now its back to normal for this time of year. Right before it was freezing it was warmer than normal. Our weather has really been all over the place. I think as long as no one else gets hurt that sounds like a reasonable explanation. I don;t know what you all think, can weather changes make them act up like that?

Now it seems to me that if they are kept inside and there is little to do but stare at the walls it could make them crazy. Chickens need to peck and scratch and all that. My take is that most houses are two small for the average number of chickens kept by folks.




This is why I let mine out, no matter the temp. I also provide shelters around the yard with hay/straw floors for them to get away from each other if they choose. Cattle panel runs are easy enough since they're just bent and covered with poultry wire and plastic for day time excursions.

Of course if you add just the poultry wire and grow some hard wood vine over the top like grapes that should ensure the snow stays as a cover. Annual vines can work too if you can keep the birds from eating them before they have a chance to cover the poultry wire. Beans and the like come to mind. Yearly plantings and before you know it the whole thing will be completely covered. Something like this. When the vines die they'll leave a nice cover to hold the snow and ice.

I've taken a cattle panel and just tied it to hold it bent over and set it right on the ground.

​

​

​

 

[rancher hicks]

What is wrong?

 

[rancher hicks]

Lets try this again.

My husband's buddy at work keeps chickens and he said the crazy weather changes we had could have made them a little crazy. We have had one night, two nights before she passed I believe, where it was -7 with the wind chill down to -37. Now its back to normal for this time of year. Right before it was freezing it was warmer than normal. Our weather has really been all over the place. I think as long as no one else gets hurt that sounds like a reasonable explanation. I don;t know what you all think, can weather changes make them act up like that?

Now it seems to me that if they are kept inside and there is little to do but stare at the walls it could make them crazy. Chickens need to peck and scratch and all that. My take is that most houses are two small for the average number of chickens kept by folks.




This is why I let mine out, no matter the temp. I also provide shelters around the yard with hay/straw floors for them to get away from each other if they choose. Cattle panel runs are easy enough since they're just bent and covered with poultry wire and plastic for day time excursions.

Of course if you add just the poultry wire and grow some hard wood vine over the top like grapes that should ensure the snow stays as a cover. Annual vines can work too if you can keep the birds from eating them before they have a chance to cover the poultry wire. Beans and the like come to mind. Yearly plantings and before you know it the whole thing will be completely covered. Something like this. When the vines die they'll leave a nice cover to hold the snow and ice.

I've taken a cattle panel and just tied it to hold it bent over and set it right on the ground.

​

​

​

 

[rancher hicks]

This darn thing won't work for some crazy reason.

 

[Beer can]

Testing, testing, 123.

 

[wny egger]

This darn thing won't work for some crazy reason.

try cleaning the history and any cookies you may have ..if that doesnt work try clearing the cache..you can find the cache in the search bar on the start button or windows button on the bottom left of your computer screen...