Recent content by LilRedmamma

I know it’s gone too long if I have to get out of the coop for a clean breath - it happens though. My own experience years ago - that birds like geese and poultry carry histoplasmosis and ringworm from droppings. Most humans who are exposed don’t get sick, it’s a risk. For me, it’s more...

Some city-folks just ain’t got no sense Lol🥰 the birdies

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!! I thought my Barbie (Barred Rock)was dying from something incurable…. now I’ll just TRY’n set her in the nest to lay with the fake one 😊

Not my status but re. this 🔥💯 temps… keeping them alive has been a real thing. Last night the BR let out a loud squawk like she was in pain! She was slumping wobbly. They’d already roosted— I dumped all the water in the run then hosed down the coop and run, even inside the coop! They actually...

Sorry so long to reply— KC’s heat has kept me too busy. It’d take a truck load of sand to do any good (washes away too fast). Sand will dry quickly after rain but also mixes completely into the soil. If it’s rock hard clay in dry weather but slick crap in rainy, add some farm grade lime to alter...

Is the unrepaired part of the yard unsafe or you simply want it to be more convenient for you amid all the hard work? It only has to function, chickens don't care about how many sticks are in the yard or looks at all (they'll love to climb on dirt and wood piles to find tasty bugs). Fyi lol...

No hens ever have tried to 'escape' but one would screech at me as if to say, "hey privacy please?!", and one coo'd at me.

When I first started chickens I tried the grass seed in a frame in a small run—- lol my clumsy butt busted it before the birds did! Then I tried building a portable tractor that was too cumbersome for me. Now, my yard is a SMALL city lot, I can’t free range my birds… so I grow vines outside the...

I don’t mean to be a damp rag but… even after 2 weeks separated by netting my 16 wk old roo did not fare well with the 16 m old hens— in with them not even 2 minutes he got absolutely trounced by a once docile ISAb! I finally had to separate the hen and her sister again from the new run- they...

Did I miss the coop dimensions? Three 16 wk olds need at least a 3x5 coop, double that for the next 3… will they all be in the same coop from the getgo? That’ll be a problem unless the coop has ample space for them to fly to the perch and stretch out on the perches. (A red light helps minimize...

I teared up today, reluctantly culled the SP roo. I loved the sound of his crow in the morning… but Independence doesn’t allow roos and I don’t have room for chicks.

Absolutely agree that that twitching and flopping is nerve-wracking, and also a hunter, I didn't expect it to bother me. But that is still one reason I have a hard time reconciling to bow hunt vs rifle... killing my first chicken was very difficult, her body flopping on the bench. An axe was the...

I, too cull an (older) bird by either its attitude or behavioral issue is a problem or it stopped laying, so it's a logical decision not age. Unfortunately, their runs had ample space as fledgelings but are just a bit crowded at 14 weeks with 4 pullets, 1 roo and 2 16m hens, and 2 RiRs@14w. One...

You could build a simple ladder with rungs especially for their shorter step, being sure it is anchored SNUG, doesn't wiggle or that will spook them off. And I had to literaly put them on the bottom rung and coax them one at a time with a little treat and your most excited mamma voice to keep...

I'm curious, have you heard them try to fly up to the bars? Kinda hard to tell, but are the perches wide enough (circumference) for them to comfortably rest their feet on without falling off? I've had to make several adjustments in all three of my coops, each with 2-3 perch heights and wide...