Thanks for the the responses. The chunnel was on "Fresh eggs daily" (Facebook), but is a bit vulnerable to the dog. So a new version will get made over winter.
Trefoil - by side lapping do you mean the fact the wood grain is going the wrong way? It is cosmetic, and screwed in place and...
I'll probably trim it. And like the dog, little often is not a problem. Rather than too much at once. I did YouTube the potatoe trick, that's impressive, but you do leave the hen with a soft core for 1-2 weeks. Clearly it's a point of debate
Hi, thanks for your help. I can't figure out what this young lady is. She was pick'N'mixed from a farm, and the guy couldn't tell me what they were, but I liked the look of her. She's also got a funny back claw I didn't spot, I'll ask about that in the correct thread.
My family previously had a coop, but it was a small beginners coop. I'm embarrassed by our previous coop & was determined to do better this time. This coop is 1.2m x 2.4m x 1.2m. We have 6 shavers (New Zealand's egg machine) and may add a couple of other birds to get some interesting eggs for...
The only problem is that our coop design means its a real stretch to reach the corners. And with DLM hens they tend to shift the sawdust around. This is normally good, but if you miss an egg it can get buried.
Also, I spent a lot of time making a "great" nesting box for my ladies.... and my...
Thanks flewdcoop, we've got fake eggs already in, but clearly they don't get the message.
I'm going to dig out all the DLM sawdust leaving a hard floor and hopefully that will be enough. I'll find out in a few days. The nesting boxes are posh with lots of nice straw, fake eggs, cover and access.
Hello,
I've done a lot of reading and tried it all... now I'm stuck.
We've got 6 young pullets, one is POL. And has been a good girl laying an egg everyday now for 2-3 weeks. But Victoria will never lay in the nesting box. Instead she chooses the floor in the shavings.
It's nice purpose...
I thought I might re-invigorate this post rather than start a new one. I'm in the process of designing a coop for 6-8 birds in an urban back yard. We're lucky enough to have several raised beds for veggies which the birds get to enjoy on rotation. I am going to raise the coop for summer shade...
We've got two RIRs in our flock. Both have gone broody and we've had 7 healthy birds from them. One has been laying for about 2 weeks, and today has gone broody AGAIN.
Get some more eggs?
Is this normal to be recurrently broody?
Any tricks for breaking the brood? We tried persistently kicking...
Our girls gang up on one new one once, and recently with our new pullets. I solved it easily by quietly waiting with a hose... Peck, peck, peck (ok enough, she gets it) WOOSH
Thanks for the feedback everyone. We're still very new, and the only chick owners we know that've done anything other than buy pullets.
Selfishly keeping them separated from the remainder (only 2 hens, 1 barnie and 1 post menopausal shaver) so that the kids can play and interact with them etc...
We've had great fun using our broody RIRs to hatch some eggs, even took them to school in a box for the kids... great fun.
Questions though.
1. When do you typically seperate the chicks from mum (if at all?). We're hatching the eggs for a friend who's starting a coop and will take them as...
Hi there, looking for tips and tricks. I've had a nosy around the blogs and so far scaring them back seems to be the only solution when the girls roam too far.
Our 3 birds (one's broody right now) are getting out over the coop (first thing to be remedied) and ranging further than they're...
In ground is nice'n'simple. As for small amounts our 5 ladies and table/garden scraps means we have 3 x 350 litre compost bins full and working all year.