The autodoors are so insanely nice to have. We initially thought it was a luxury item, but then when we had evenings where we would be out and about and not there to close the coop door, or if we were sleeping later due to illness, we decided to investigate our options. We've got Omlet...
This article is great, thanks for posting, and I love how thorough you were.
Question: Under the list of Calcium Rich Foods, spinach was listed. I'm a tad confused, because my understanding is that spinach consumption results in soft shells, so we discontinued feeding it to the girls. I...
When we first started, we got the plastic one at a feed store that held the dry feed. It worked fine. We also got a metal water font and that worked fine, and we put it up on a paver stone to raise it above the ground to reduce the mess.
Then I started fermenting their feed and discovered...
Loads of great advice here already. I can tell you personally that the thing we learned was that your back and your knees will thank you in so many ways when things are far more accessible. We've got an Omlet Cube with a 9 foot run, attached to a Walk In Run. It's a pain in the a$$ to have to...
Hi Charlotte! Welcome. I live in a suburb housing tract in Southern California, below Los Angeles county. My city has the same ordinance - 5 hens max, and no roosters. So, I get it. For those of us keeping them as pets with benefits, I can attest that the number is not a deal breaker. Your...
Mostly, for my tiny flock, when it needs it. The coop itself has a poop tray, and I usually use a kitty litter scoop and remove the poop every other day. You know, the poop is REAL. As for the run area, if I'm deep littering then it would be somewhere between 3-6 months with maintenance as...
Spot on. Honestly, you can look at your proposed city's/area's local govt pages, and do a search on what their back yard chicken keeping policy is. Super easy to do. That should help you make your decisions. I live in Southern California, in a city/suburb, and we are allowed up to 5, no...
We do! Our current flock:
Tiny Black Silkie: Dottie
Black Australorp: Gertie aka Gertrude
Three Easter Eggers: Ruby Tuesday, Veritie, Clever Clara
Previous Girls that Passed:
Lilly
Poppy
I wanted to name one of our Easter Eggers (they are the newest additions) Extra Crispy or Chicken...
Forgot to add that the girls have not had any digestive issues with the sprouted lentils. However when I sprouted flax seeds, which took a very long time btw, their next day poops looked pretty horrific, so I'm not doing that again! :eek:
I decided to try this as well. I'm using little trays and have a rhythm going now - I have the tender leafy sprouts for feeding the girls in the afternoon, and trays that were started on subsequent days. When the most mature batch gets fed, I start a new batch in that tray. It's working...
We just added three Easter Eggers to our tiny flock. They are about 21 weeks now and already laying these incredible green eggs! One of the three of them (we're not yet sure which one) has more of a blue tinge to the egg shell colour. Not gonna lie, it has been fun seeing the new eggs and how...
Yes! Black Australorps. Developed for Australia weather. Dual purpose. Fantastic egg layers. And gorgeous iridescent feathers. I will say this last summer we had uncharacteristically hot days (we're in Southern California) and when it hit 104 F early in the day, we brought the girls into...
I would love to free range my girls. In fact, we originally intended to, with supervision. We live in a suburb here in Southern California. Our back yard is fully fenced in. We do get racoons, possums, skunks, cats, occasionally coyote. BUT we have a healthy amount of hawks and to my...
Excellent discussion with an excellent question!
My friend has had many different hens, and the leghorns, while great layers, she says are absolute jerks.
I've got Black Australorps and Silkies. Australorps are fantastic for producing gorgeous, large brown eggs. They are generally friendly...
Great advice here, and yes, I must echo the irony of it all. My hens *love* it when I dump a bit of water out of the font onto the stepping stone the font rests on. So yes, that meme about the chicken drinking from a muddy puddle when you make all the efforts on providing clean water are so...
This is so helpful! Our chicken run has been infiltrated by what was at first one rattie. The other night I went out to grab a trash can and there was like a family of super healthy, well fed rats doing their nightly routine of eating the leftovers of what the girls had. They are getting in...