Recent content by sheetmetaltom

welcome back, life can get in the way off things sometimes

i have an evergreen tree in my run, it has low branches that they all like to roost in during the day. ive counted as many as 8 chickens at various heights in that tree. in the summer it provides plenty of shade. it has to many branches for any predators to get through. when i have smaller...

chicken math. totally only need 4/5 hens. 17 hens, 2 roosters and 3 ducks later. oh and i just found one today sitting on 4 eggs. marked them so i know what to leave and what to take.

to me its mostly about how much room they have, and a barn sounds pretty roomy. my coop is unheated and they never seem to mind. i usually throw some hay and a couple of pallets on the ground when its really cold so they arent always standing on really cold ground when not roosting

you will probably need to call them and tell them what happened and see if they will at least credit you for the extra roos. ive been lucky, ive bought from 3 different hatcheries and got exactly what i ordered each time.

cool, had no idea that ducks ate snakes. might be why i havent seen one in 3 years

welcome to byc. i came the same way, ghosting then finally joining in

i have 3 7-8 week old chicks, raised in the coop with everyone else. everyone else is 18 months to 5 1/2 years old. the chicks had 3 broodys watching out for them. they run interference with my 2 bossy hens. real pains. my ouside run is 50+ feet long but only 15 feet wide. 3 feeding stations and...

welcome to byc. dont have cats, but i do have pitbulls. my chicks seem to stay away from them, but the rest of the flock just thinks of them as giant chickens and follow them around the yard when free ranging. kinda makes my pittys look a little sad. but the chickens seem pretty happy wandering...

my coop is 8' wide and 12 feet long, 6' high plywood and 2x4s. it isnt pretty. my inclosed run with roof is 10'x 12'. i have 18 chickens and 3 ducks all living together. the ducks shunned the house i built for them and decided living with chickens was much better. its to much work to separate...

welcome to byc :thumbsup

i agree with snow, since your coop is low maybe adding an extra section to the run and keeping the coop inside gives you added protection, as any predators will have to get into the run and then the coop to get at them. my coop is the same shape but bigger so i made my original run in sections...

interesting thread. i have 7 types of hens including ees. 2 of my buff orps look like what they should look like from your pics. nice and puffy and 2 dont. but they all come from the same hatchery and ordered together. i love the way the flock looks with everyone being different. so last winter...

got 5 of my original 8 still here. about 5 1/2 years old. only get about 6/7 eggs a week from them. but the golden wyandotte is the head of the flock and the 2 black astrolopes go broody when anyone sits on eggs and they are great babysitters and chase off anything that comes near the little...

amazon sells it if you cant get it locally. i give mine the crushed oyster shell, but i throw oyster and clam shells in the run also. i put them in a bag and step on them over time the just disappear. there not buried because i dig my run out a couple times a year and toss the soil in my...