safety

Hi y'all... I've raised chicks/chickens for a decade but this is my first foray into ducks. I have 9 absolutely ADORABLE Ancona ducklings that are a week old now. Initially, I started them out on a thin layer of soft hay bits that fall from the bales for our other livestock. It's very soft &...

Hi y’all, I need to deal with a sudden tick invasion in my yard and want to use Spectracide Triazicide because I know it works. I found 3 ticks on my clothing yesterday just by walking in the short weed/grassy area in my yard where I’m building my coop & run. A few notes; my chicks are still...

Hi everyone! I have a large ever growing flock. (Chicken math) I have an 8x12 shed I converted into their coop and they free range. My dogs do a great job protecting them during the day but I'd like to build/buy a run for extra security. How big should I make it? Is it cheaper to buy the lumber...

One of the waterers for my chickens broke and the backup isn't doing as well as it normally does. My dad has me trying to clean out an old rusty metal waterer. In the middle of trying, I wondered if it was even worth it considering how much stuff built up, probably from iron in the well water. I...

Hello, I’ve got a flock of 5 birds, 3 chickens 2 ducks. I’ve got hundreds of tiny mushrooms popping up in my lawn and I’m worried it may not be safe for the chickens to eat them. Just curious to know what folks have seen or done with lawns riddled with mushrooms.

Ok so I'm not asking for help, I am asking for opinion. Maybe suggestions and/or requests. Things along the lines of what you would want added. Like photocell operated. However I have a different setup for that so I would have to post a new thread for that one. So besides painting it what do...

Hello! I lost three of my 4 hens. It’s completely devastated me. I live in town and my birds were free range in my yard. They had been totally okay till a few days ago. After this I am choosing to do a completely new setup.l where they will be in a very large run so they aren’t restricted to a...

So I've now read a fair amount of things here to help deter hawks. The hawk(s) seem to be getting more aggressive. Great info and help here though! This evening the hawk swooped ME. I came outside expecting to scare him off again because my hens were yelling, but I couldn't find him. Then I...

So I'm kind of a hill Billy. Long story short I was a butcher for 10 years. Got 20(-1) chicks 3 weeks old (10 black Australorps and 9 white leghorns) They are gonna be free roaming free range. Can y'all take a look at my keebleers coop and let me know what y'all think? The run is for the winter...

I have three Toulouse, two geese and one gander. My sweet goose, Pumpkin, made a beautiful nest under our deck this past week. She kind of made it and then ignored it until the past couple days. We went out this evening to put her to bed (which is a fenced area, with a covered wagon. Our ducks...

I’m figuring I’ll have to have a desperate area for the newly hatched chick I’m getting. I was wondering if he’d be safe with the other chicks I have, which will be a few weeks old at that point. I kind of think they’ll end up killing him.

Hi! We had a coop camera from a friend but it recently died. Does anyone have any suggestions on cameras?

So T-bone is a lovable chunky little guy. Except for when it comes to certain dogs who just don’t rub him the right way or other animals who might scurry across the yard. When we got our first rooster he wanted nothing more than to chew his face off but he could not catch him. Then we had...

Looking for some recommendations or advice on our chicken space. Our coop is 5.5x6 with an attached secure run that is 5.5x10 plus a triangle that is 6 feet long (the secure run and coop are retrofitted to our kids playhouse. We added a daytime run that is 15x12. We currently have 4 mature hens...

At least one of my 2 eggs have hatched, either last night or early this morning. I have a make shift nest box with food and water inside a dog crate. I know the chicks will be able to fit through the bars. When do I take the crate away? I figure I will leave the box for sleeping since they need...

Hi chicken tenders, it's going to be a warm sunny 80 degree day here today and my chickies are 2.5 weeks old. I'm eager for their first excursion outside but I'm not confident that bringing them out with no enclosure is safe, and I'm also not sure if this large baby gate is safe for them. I have...

So I haven’t had any trouble with my small flock, originally when I let them start to free range, I did lose one to the neighbors dog but now the other 4 stick to safer areas. They were pretty cooped up in their coop and covered run all winter but now that the snow has melted they demand...

We had a lot of rain new years eve. It caused our wiring to short out when it got wet and it burned the coop down. We were able to get a new one built and get the survivors moved but all our birds have some burns. The reason we had lamps was because we ended up with too many roosters in a coop...

Hi! I just recently finished building a couple coops and purchased my first pair of chickens. The rooster is half Easter Egger and half Copper Maran, the hen is a silkie. They’ve been with me for about a week and are already quite comfortable with me. They get along very well and eat from my...