What did you do with your flock today?

[629864]

Esh, snakes! I have no idea how to deal with snakes. What kine scary snakes do you have?
Once my girls have gone broody I lock them in a box and open it up just for a few hours out of the day so they can stretch and bathe, I leave fresh food and water inside for her. I really don't want other hens laying in the same nest OR bullying my broody off her nest.
Can you raise the cage so snakes can't get in? Like put it on a table in the run? Then chooks will have the room under. Said broody should be able to jump in and out. IF you do that... zip tie a pc of wood or 2" stick at the entrance so hens foot does not get caught. I had 2 cockerels catch their foot and one broke his (He is ok). Simple threshold solves the hazard

We have them all. Copperheads, water moccasins, rattlesnakes.

Interesting idea about raising the cage. I was worried about the chicks being up high. Not sure how to tackle that issue so they don't hurt themselves when it's time to let mama and babies out of the cage.

I bet I could set up one of the mid-sized crates (we have waaaay too many dog crates) and set that on a table....maybe line the bottom with 1/2 inch welded wire and a nice layer of straw instead of the plastic tray so the bottom can still have drainage.

I really appreciate you bringing up the danger of their feet getting caught. But I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the stick at the entrance. Do you happen to have a photo of how you did this? It sounds awful having a bird's foot get broken because of something i could prevent. I hadn't even thought about this being a possibility. Yikes! Im so sorry this happened to your boy, but super grateful you shared the experience and REALLY glad he's ok.

When you open up the cage so the broody can get some sun and dust bathe, do you close it behind her so the other hens stay out or do you just hang around to keep guard until she's ready to go back in?

 

[TropicalBabies]

We have them all. Copperheads, water moccasins, rattlesnakes.

Interesting idea about raising the cage. I was worried about the chicks being up high. Not sure how to tackle that issue so they don't hurt themselves when it's time to let mama and babies out of the cage.

I bet I could set up one of the mid-sized crates (we have waaaay too many dog crates) and set that on a table....maybe line the bottom with 1/2 inch welded wire and a nice layer of straw instead of the plastic tray so the bottom can still have drainage.

I really appreciate you bringing up the danger of their feet getting caught. But I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the stick at the entrance. Do you happen to have a photo of how you did this? It sounds awful having a bird's foot get broken because of something i could prevent. I hadn't even thought about this being a possibility. Yikes! Im so sorry this happened to your boy, but super grateful you shared the experience and REALLY glad he's ok.

When you open up the cage so the broody can get some sun and dust bathe, do you close it behind her so the other hens stay out or do you just hang around to keep guard until she's ready to go back in?

K. Total yikes! on the snakes .
I looked for a photo of what I did to the cage but all I managed was to realize I have way too many chicken, horse and kitten photos... 1,000s of them and maybe 5 of my dh and that is because he was on my horse. But none of my safety measures on the cages. So, I drew on a photo in hopes it would help. My cages open from the small side. I see yours open on the larger side.

That is where they catch their feet and if you cage is raised it can be bad... especially if you are not around to catch it.

 

[Bonkerelli]

My Serama rooster decided to lounge on my shoulder and take a short nap.

 

[kurby22]

My Serama rooster decided to lounge on my shoulder and take a short nap.
View attachment 2993933

I love when my roosters do that I brought Puff inside to watch the Super Bowl with me for a little while. He’s just the best!

I was out with them for a bit this morning and noticed both Fuzzy and Charlie were missing…so I went and looked in their coop. I don’t think Betty has been stealing eggs after all

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey who wond the super bowl? not even been on news today

 

[kurby22]

Hey who wond the super bowl? not even been on news today

LA Rams won! Was a good game!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Thanks was curious

 

[629864]

K. Total yikes! on the snakes .
I looked for a photo of what I did to the cage but all I managed was to realize I have way too many chicken, horse and kitten photos... 1,000s of them and maybe 5 of my dh and that is because he was on my horse. But none of my safety measures on the cages. So, I drew on a photo in hopes it would help. My cages open from the small side. I see yours open on the larger side.View attachment 2993422
That is where they catch their feet and if you cage is raised it can be bad... especially if you are not around to catch it.

So maybe a piece of plywood 2 inches tall by however many inches wide the opening is...on either side of the metal grate at the bottom of the door? Kinda sandwiching the crate metal between two pieces of plywood to block off the holes in the front of the crate lip. Makes sense. I'll do that this weekend on the crate already in the run. It's a giant crate meant for giant breed dogs, so it actually opens on two sides (one long and one short side). Its just a lot easier for me to get in and out of the thing using the door on the long side. I hadn't intended to keep it out there permanently, but all of the chickens use it for shelter during the day when we have inclement weather. I'll go out and find 15+ birds huddled in there. So I may just go ahead and leave it there until when/if we need it for another giant breed dog.

 

[629864]

I've been a little suspicious lately that there might be a hidden stash of eggs somewhere, but hadn't been able to find it. A lot of the pullets turning into layers have been SUPER curious about the nest boxes, but no matter how many times they go check them out I never found any of their eggs.

Until this morning.

Went out to the littles' coop. Heard the bee-de-beep-beep sound of a hen settling down to lay. But didn't see a hen anywhere nearby. Looked and looked and thought i was losing my mind. She was obviously right there. But I couldnt find her.

Until i got down on my hands and knees (fairly ...ehem....clean deep litter bedding)... and looked UNDER the shelving system i have set up for their nesting boxes. My little golden EE hen was contorted in the most uncomfortable looking position under there. So I gently shooed her out and saw she had left an egg. Then I went to retrieve it and my hand found 7 eggs total. I blocked it off because that's the last time I reach my hand into what would otherwise be a cozy spot for a snake. I also left an egg in each of the nesting boxes to encourage the girls to use them. The thing is, all of these nesting boxes are used regularly by the reds and brown leghorns. And I've found EE eggs in three of them. I have no clue why the crazy ladies would literally squish themselves under the shelving in order to lay eggs.

This means that this weekend i have yet another project to get to that I've been meaning to do for a while: total revamp of the inside of that coop. This summer I'll be removing the two lengthwise roosting bars and replacing them with 3 shorter bars that go across the width of the coop rather than the length. The longer bars just make it really hard to maneuver in there and result in a lot of wasted space. I wont be able to get that in depth this weekend, but before it gets too warm and springlike, I need to make sure there arent any hidey holes snakes would love. And that means raising up that bottom shelf so that it's not so close to the ground. Which is a bit of a bummer because there will only be room for three nesting boxes if I do that. But there are plenty of other places for them to lay if those three spots arent good enough. Spoiled rotten birds.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Mine have the storage tubs front cut out stacked them. Only 2 tall but like 5 are used by 26 birds.