Free range is great in theory but not practical for most of us. Plus it brings the risk of loss due to predators, which is a tough trade-off. We opted for building the biggest run we could (15’ x 30’) and giving the girls a lot of places to roost or hide. I think crowding is key. The space per...
I have a couple of observations for you. Your coop and run are beautiful! Lots of room and lovely. But there aren’t many places for girls lower in the pecking order to get away from bullies. You might try creating elevations and obstacles - think jungle gyms and playsets for chickens. Enough to...
They’ve been in a large dog crate, in the run where everyone can see each other. I’ve just added an enclosure to the front of the kennel so they have an enclosed patio now. I’ll try letting them out more next week.
Howdy all. One of my 21 hens went broody months ago, so I got her some babies two weeks ago. She’s at a point now where she wants to come out of the dog kennel she’s been brooding in, and wants her babies with her. I’m not sure they’re big enough to be safe from the other hens.
When is it ok to...
They’ve had no trouble at all. I also run mine off an extension cord from the house. The waterer is a Little Giant which is my favorite - I have two so I can rotate them out. The lid will freeze to the base if it’s cold enough so swapping makes life easier. But it’s not necessary - just beware...
Well, well . . . the roosts ARE spaced 14” center to center, horizontally. This weekend I’ll spread them further and cross my fingers till the next molt.
As for poor feathering, they all looked great a couple of months ago (except for Lacy, who so far has never molted).
Thanks for the input...
For those of you who are not interested in building your own heated solutions, here is a way to keep your plastic waterer from freezing and ALSO keep it from getting damaged by the heated base.
Use wood to keep the plastic waterer from resting directly on the heated base. I made an oversized...
I suspect if it was really nasty weather outside they would go in with less drama? But it sounds like you have it sorted. Leave that other roost out for a few weeks 24/7 and it won’t take them long to get into the new habit. Then you may be able to put the other roost back without having to...
My best guess is someone is sitting on a roost at dusk, picking at whoever is in front of her that evening?
My concern is they might have trouble negotiating ghe roost levels if the bars are further apart, but maybe I’m overthinking that . . ?