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  1. Ridgerunner

    How long do you keep hens confined for teaching them a new place to roost?

    Whatever the exact topic, whenever you start a question like this the answer is "I don't know". You do not get any guarantees with chickens and their behaviors. I don't know how ling it would take. But I'll make a suggestion. Every night, after dark and they are easy to catch, go out there...
  2. Ridgerunner

    Integration Roadblock and Questions

    The way I do this when the chicks are in a separate coop/run is to allow the older ones and the chicks to see each other for a week or two across wire, then open the gate between the littles and bigs. See what happens. They tend to return to their own coop to sleep at night. After they have...
  3. Ridgerunner

    Pullets wont roost

    Are they sleeping somewhere predator safe? If they are in danger you need to do something. Most of my brooder raised chicks start roosting at around 10 to 12 weeks of age. This is in a coop away from the adults, the adults can bully them off of the roosts if they are around. I've had some...
  4. Ridgerunner

    How many more hens can fit in this coop?

    Yes, we generally manage then differently. Not only do the commercial operations typically de-beak their chickens so they can't eat each other, they chickens they use are bred to be docile, to take confinement well. There are other differences between the commercial operations and us. We both...
  5. Ridgerunner

    Dust bath

    That looks plenty big enough for two large hens. You should have enough room for a kitty litter bin and they are not that expensive.
  6. Ridgerunner

    Dust bath

    What do your facilities look like? What are you using to move them around? Knowing what you are working with might give us some ideas as to what would work for you.
  7. Ridgerunner

    Integration Roadblock and Questions

    May I make a suggestion. Turn that chair upside down. When they perch on it they will poop. If it is normally upside down, when you want to sit in it just flip it and you should have a clean seat.
  8. Ridgerunner

    How many more hens can fit in this coop?

    A 25 sq ft coop means something like a 5 ft x 5 ft coop. That looks a lot larger. Are you sure of the measurements? If it truly is that small then you are maxed out. I would not try to add any more.
  9. Ridgerunner

    Mixing polish with others

    Some questions have no clear answers. Some people add polish to flocks of other breeds with no problems. Some have problems adding Ameraucana to Ameraucana or any other breed. You do not get guarantees with living animals and their behaviors. I have no idea how much total space you have in...
  10. Ridgerunner

    Brooding Bantams refresher!

    From a quick search a 106 quart tote is around 45 cm (18 in) x 86 cm (34 in). I'll use those dimensions. Instead of blindly converting square feet into chicks (using rules of thumb), I'll try to go by what I've seen. Most rules of thumb don't consider age anyway. I have never raised bantams...
  11. Ridgerunner

    Opinions please

    So should be about the same size as BR and RIR and lay a lot of fairly large eggs.
  12. Ridgerunner

    Opinions please

    Which type of Black Sex link are you considering and how do they fit with your goals? A BLS is a chick whose mother is barred, whose father is not barred, and you can tell by down color at hatch whether it has the spot on the head that signifies it is a male. Some BSL offered by the...
  13. Ridgerunner

    Favorite breed other than Cornish Cross

    There is only one person on this planet that has your desires, climate, feeding regimen, and management techniques and that is you. If I raise some of those my results and opinions will be different from yours. My suggestion is to get several of as many of those as you can that have the same...
  14. Ridgerunner

    Need help!

    Hi Madison, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined! I can see the beak so the chick is probably in position. Before a chick is ready to hatch it needs to absorb the yolk, dry up blood vessels in that membrane, and do a few other things. Some chicks do a lot of that between internal pip and...
  15. Ridgerunner

    Can I get toxoplasmosis from over easy eggs?

    A piece of space junk could fall out of the sky and hit your house today. You may have a fender bender the next time you go to the grocery store. You may see some sunshine today. Many different things could happen but some are a lot more likely than others. The bad consequences of seeing...
  16. Ridgerunner

    Aggressive mating behaviour: a recent review of the literature

    It would be interesting to see what would happen if his competition were removed. I grow out several cockerels every year with the flock. Of course it is more complicated than this, but they generally form a sub-flock of their own with the pullets. A few of these cockerels are aggressive in...
  17. Ridgerunner

    Quick winterization question

    A few years ago someone in Nova Scotia told a story on this forum about their chickens that roosted in trees. In the morning they would be covered in snow if it had snowed overnight. When those chickens flew down it would be like a snow storm with all of the snow coming off that was stacked on...
  18. Ridgerunner

    Aggressive mating behaviour: a recent review of the literature

    Thanks for the link, an interesting read. It reinforced several of my thoughts and, like a good article, brought out new things to think about. I consider it worth my time reading it.
  19. Ridgerunner

    About to place late winter/ early spring order - help on which type

    Are you asking about the 3-4 for large brown eggs as well as the colorful eggs or is this question only for the colorful eggs? I've ordered about 80 chicks from three different hatcheries. About 1/3 of those chicks came from Meyers. Every chick arrived alive and healthy. When dealing with...
  20. Ridgerunner

    Adult hens getting into medicated chick crumbles?

    I always want to know what the medicine is in "medicated" feed before I say too much. If it is Amprolium there are no withdrawal periods for either eggs or meat. If it's something else there might be. But you are not getting eggs or butchering them for meat so there will be no ill effects...
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