Recent content by Poppy Putentake

  1. Poppy Putentake

    Does my run need a solid roof?

    One idea: If you made the top of the run "house shaped" (sloped like the roof of a house), and you put polyethylene sheeing on it, it would shed snow. If you enclosed most of the sides also with polyethylene sheeting (with lots of ventilation area also) it would be something like a little...
  2. Poppy Putentake

    Nest box questions

    I've raised chicks with a broody hen several times, in a small tractor separate from the larger coop for the grown hens. It has a ramp leading to an "upstairs" area with a place for brooding chicks somewhat larger than a regular nesting box. However, I have always started the chicks with the hen...
  3. Poppy Putentake

    When should I start expecting eggs?

    Those older hens will always tend to be higher in the pecking order, although this also depends on the breed and an individual bird's temperament. That said, once the pullets start to lay, the older hens will probablly sort of recognize them as aldults and let them join the flock as junior...
  4. Poppy Putentake

    Putting hatched chicks with broody hen

    I think it is actually better for a hen with chicks to be away from the rest of the flock. The only problem would be getting the hen good and settled into the new place before the fake eggs "hatch". Also, my prefered time to give a hen chicks is an hour or two before dawn.
  5. Poppy Putentake

    Does an A-frame coop/run need a real floor or can it be open air?

    Hi InvertGang, I built an A-frame tractor but do not recommned them. Problems: 1. If the tractor includes roosting space and nest boxes, it will probablly end up too heavy to move quickly and easilly. 2. If the underneath is open to the ground (the main idea behind tractors), it is hard to...
  6. Poppy Putentake

    Hi Granny23/Debbie, I did get your e-mail with the coop pictures -- will reply more by e-mail...

    Hi Granny23/Debbie, I did get your e-mail with the coop pictures -- will reply more by e-mail. Sorry for the slow reply, this has been a busy month. Poppy
  7. Poppy Putentake

    Letting Hen Raise Chicks

    Pretty Bird Rocky wrote, Right, chicks reared by a hen don't get as much exposure to humans early on and are more likely to be skittish around humans. (The breed makes a difference also.) One time, I was getting checks in early April instead of May, and my usual broody hen (a Wyandotte) just...
  8. Poppy Putentake

    Letting Hen Raise Chicks

    I second what others have said. A few tips: The hen doesn't need sit on eggs for a full 21 days before being ready for chicks. A hen with a strong broody tendency will be ready in a week or less. This seems to depend more on the breed and the individual hen than the duration of egg-brooding...
  9. Poppy Putentake

    Mini-greenhouse for winter chicken run?

    I've been thinking of either building or buying a mini-greenhouse to serve as a daytime winter run for a small (3-6) flock of hens. In the summer they free-range; I'm thinking they would benefit in winter from a place where they'd be sheltered from the wind and would have access to snow-free...
  10. Poppy Putentake

    Tips for first time meat bird owner

    I disrecommend"A-Frame" style tractors. A tractor with a "house shaped" (vertical sides) cross-section is more practical than one with a triangular cross-section (sloped sides all the way to the ground). Either way, a weakness of tractors is making them secure from predators. I'd consider...
  11. Poppy Putentake

    It's all about dimensions

    ?????
  12. Poppy Putentake

    It's all about dimensions

    What everyone designing a coop needs is to know is what range the dimensions for everything should be; height, width and depth of nesting boxes; height of roosts over poop boards, size of poop boards; width and steepness of ramps; etc.. Has all this ever been compiled in one place? It would be...
  13. Poppy Putentake

    A bit of dry humor

    True. The other thing is that Archeopteryx was actually smaller than standard size chickens and had reltively small teeth. Anyway, my own fantasy is about prehistoric humans keeping flocks of Tyranosaurus rex laying hens. That would make egg collection really interesting!
  14. Poppy Putentake

    A bit of dry humor

    Here is one dishonorable-mention-winning entry from the2024 Bulwer-Lyton Fiction Writing Contest, where entries consist of single sentences that could be the first sentences of works of fiction.
  15. Poppy Putentake

    Reply to review by 'Poppy Putentake' on item 'Beaktime Waterer Cups'

    I tried these for one summer, but the hens did not use them, then I modified them, removing the yellow trigger, and they worked well. See my post here.
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