Recent content by RuffIedFeathers

I was asked to apply to be a vendor for a few charter schools so that homeschool families can purchase hatching eggs, for educational purposes. The charter schools require that I have general liability insurance. I'm having a hell of a time finding someone to cover me. Maybe it's what I'm...

I order a lot of birds from quality breeders or places like green fire farms, so they're more on the pricey side and less common breeds that you wouldn't find at TSC, etc. Most are sold straight run. I give away roosters, but sometimes I end up with more hens/pullets than I want. Is there some...

I just did a deep clean of the coop a couple days ago, but did not treat with anything. Can I treat the coop with permethrin without having to deep clean again? I have some, but I've never used it. Should I wrap her toe after applying Vaseline?

Is it possible that the scaly leg mites only affect one bird? Should I be concerned for the rest of my flock? Should I treat the entire flock with Vaseline on the legs, even if I don't see evidence of scaly leg mites being present on them? Thanks!

Picked up my Cream Legbar to trim her nails and noticed one of her toes is injured. Her nail is also not normal. I quickly checked a few of my other birds and didn't notice anything, but will do a more in depth exam on all birds within the next few days. What might be going on and how should I...

I have one rooster right now (self blue Ameraucana). I'm wondering which of my breeds I should try to cross it with to get neat egg colors. I especially love speckled eggs. Should I just choose the eggs I have that I think look the neatest? If they're speckled, do you think they'd produce birds...

I scrape off everything I can, but there's always some remaining. Do you clean it and if so, what do you use? Thank you for any advice!

Hello, What I currently do with my coop is the deep litter method with hemp. Recently I tried using just one bag of hemp to see if I preferred cleaning more frequently, but after a month it smelled really bad; it didn't when I was using 3 bag of hemp and the deep litter method. I was a little...

Interesting. I have read so much conflicting information. Could the eggs be organic, but not the chicken itself? I would love links to any research addressing this question. Thank you!

I have a mixed flock with roosters. I currently feed Kalmbach 20% Flock Maker non-GMO. I'm thinking of switching over to an organic feed, because many of my egg customers want to purchase "organic" eggs. Would either of these be a nutritionally quality food? Looking at either Kalmbach 20%...

I have a mixed flock, 23 hens (11 of them are 6-8 month pullets) and 1 rooster. They free range part time and have food available to them 24/7. Oyster shell offered on the side. Which of these would be a better choice, and why? Thank you!

No rain at all. We basically have a drought from May to October. It doesn't get any direct sun.

It's about 2-3" thick. 14 birds. Run is 8'x16' and they free range all day. They typically aren't in the run during most of the day. I will throw scratch down occasionally to get them to dig around and turn it over, sometimes I just use a rake and stir it around manually. Is it too deep? Not...

Here's a picture of the mulch No other changes. It is summer, but doesn't get too hot here (SF Bay area). No rain at all since putting it down. We don't really get rain at all during the summer. The run is covered.

I recently added mulch as substrate to my run. Before that it was just dirt. Since adding the substrate, it has started to smell. I used to just rake out the run and add it to the green waste. I read a thread somewhere where much seemed like a good idea and would be similar to the deep litter...