New to chicken keeping. Moved to Arkansas and the new property came with 17 hens and a rooster. Very happy about that as it was something I wanted to do anyway. We are now down to 8 hens and Bert the rooster. Unfortunately there was a bit of a learning curve regarding predators and free ranging practices. But that only accounts for 5 of my girls. The other 4 we gave to our neighbor. This is a more manageable size for me anyway.
Recently there has been an extreme infestation of nasty little light colored gnats swarming my coop. I’ve been days online trying to get help and this was the first site that actually had people talking about these particular gnats. Yay! And thank you.
Considering the predator issues we have here in the Ozarks (fox, hawk, coyote and bear! oh my!) I have reigned in my free ranging and now use a chicken tractor. We already have a large run as we built on to the existing coop early on. Now we have the tractor that docks to the original coop allowing me to move the chickens anywhere in the several acres that make up our hilltop. Every morning I lift the door and the chicks require no coaching to get inside. They are ready to go immediately. Inevitably tho, somebody delayed dropping an egg and about an hour into their adventures I see one starting to run back and forth across whichever side of tractor that is facing the hen house. So, back we go and sure enough, as soon as the gate goes up that hen is mad dashing it to the house. Trying to get them all on the same schedule has not worked. Any advice is welcome.
L
Recently there has been an extreme infestation of nasty little light colored gnats swarming my coop. I’ve been days online trying to get help and this was the first site that actually had people talking about these particular gnats. Yay! And thank you.
Considering the predator issues we have here in the Ozarks (fox, hawk, coyote and bear! oh my!) I have reigned in my free ranging and now use a chicken tractor. We already have a large run as we built on to the existing coop early on. Now we have the tractor that docks to the original coop allowing me to move the chickens anywhere in the several acres that make up our hilltop. Every morning I lift the door and the chicks require no coaching to get inside. They are ready to go immediately. Inevitably tho, somebody delayed dropping an egg and about an hour into their adventures I see one starting to run back and forth across whichever side of tractor that is facing the hen house. So, back we go and sure enough, as soon as the gate goes up that hen is mad dashing it to the house. Trying to get them all on the same schedule has not worked. Any advice is welcome.
L
Glad you joined.
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