Some of mine aren't sure either. I have 5 hens. As you can see from the pic only 3 are eating out of my hand, one is in the background and the other not even in sight. I went out today with some stale donuts only one would eat out of my hand.
Well I wouldn't want the stale donuts either... unless you had coffee to dunk them in.
There are no native snakes in north america that can eat mature chickens but most chickens will find snakes to be good eats. Most of the stuff you hear about snakes bothering animals is based on old wives tales. In Fla there are some imported species that are very dangerous, even to humans and the venomous ones in various parts of the country but most of them won't bite animals they can't eat. I'm thinking a snake in a chicken coop is in more danger than the chickens
We have some treated plywood cut into 1'x1' squares for the nest boxes. I'm going to hit the dollar tree and get some plastic dish pans and put them inside the boxes for easy cleanup and safety for toes. My husband works for a company that sells plywood products and he had them treat it with a clear, animal safe sealant before he brought it home he says. I'll trust him until my coop falls apart and then I'll make him rebuild itWarping of OSB won't always be apparent after just a short rain. Our old coop looked fine the first year and then started peeling/crumbling a bit at a time. Someone still managed to want our old coop after 5 years but I advised them to raise it off the ground and put a pop-up canopy over it in addition to tarping it during rain/extreme sun exposure. Both elements do damage to OSB. I loved this old custom coop design but it was made out of the cheapest materials by the custom builder. Nest boxes from the collection door - junky material. We had to put plexi-glass squares at the bottom of the nestboxes because one hen damaged her toes/toenails (bleeding) scratching on the inferior splintered OSB material and she has missing toes/toenails because of it. Some hens are really OCD about scratching hard on a nestbox floor before laying their egg.The only thing not made out of junky glued-wood was the untreated 2x2 post frames, door frame, and flimsy chicken poultry wire (which stray dogs bent and mangled beyond repair). The builder used OSB boards for the runner base of the coop. What was he thinking? Such a lovely workable coop for our climate but it was built practically out of chewing gum and glue!
Someone actually wanted our 5-yr-old coop and we gave them the treated base boards to set it up off the ground at their place but unless they follow our suggestions to tarp it and set up a pop-up canopy over it to protect from the elements this won't last them long.
Heythanks for that plug
Yes. The mothballs keep snakes away. If rats are a problem try putting a little peppermint oil in a spray bottle and spritzing the outside of your coop.
I am going to plant some mint around the outside of my coop where the birds can't reach it. This will aid in the rats and I'll have mint herbs for cooking. I might even do an entire herb garden set up.
TJordan - Here's an idea for you. You could put the blocks around the bottom of your coop to plant the mint in. You could mix different types of mint, or you could plant mint and other herbs, lettuce, kale, etc. If you want some air flow just leave out a block on each side and add hardware cloth screen to help keep critters out.
Do a search for cinder block gardens then look at the images. There are a lot of different ideas on how to do them. I think either of these would be neat to have in the run for the chickens to get on if they want. Not sure what would be good to plant that they could peck at but not kill off completely. I noticed the second one has plastic pots in the holes instead of dirt.oh wonderful idea!!!! I was going to make a raise bed but I love this idea.
