I have had an Omlet door. It has worked all through the hard winter here in Idaho. And it has been one year this month, It was worth the money. Here is where I got mine...
I like the wiring. I also have hardware cloth on the bottom. and aproned out 2 feet. So far so good! I covered that with 3/4 inch gravel as one of the people, (Funclucks) mentioned earlier.
My suggestion, as I don't have a shallow well, (200 feet down), is build an earthen dam around the well and the coop/run. This will keep any accidental flooding from putting caca in your well.
It's a bear. It can tear through your house door if it needs to. Shoot the bear, or have wildlife services trap it. Not much is going to stop a bear once it's found a place to dine!
We're in the habit of changing out the shavings in the coop every 2 1/2 to 3 months. Depends on which hair gets wild. The way I built my coop makes it easy. The dust is minimal. But come April we will do a good scrub of everything and do a light disinfection.
I am just coming in to my 9th month of having Golden sex-links, which have been easy to take care of. I was able or obtain 3 Rhode island Red chicks by chance. they were a month or two younger than the Goldens. 1 died right away and just last week or so, one other died, for unknown reasons. So...
My buddy buried her already as she was 'his' chicken. She was very friendly to him. if it happens again, I will do an autopsy. and no, it doesn't bother me, as I was a mortician for 30 years!
Dear Clucker chasers,
I lost a 7 month old Rhode Island red sometime last night it seems. I was away the day before and found her this noon. Laying straight out. She is only one of the 2 Reds I have/had. The other 9 are Golden Sex Links and seem to be having no problems.
Was wondering if I...
I just use a dry stainless steel scrubber pad to knock off any detritus that might be on the egg. I only wash them if they get real muddy, when the odd egg gets laid in the run.