Another one my ladies love is a plastic bottle (used, individual sized drink) with holes burned through with a wood burner. Then put in a bit of scratch grains and toss it into their run. Mine has four sides and they have to move it around with their feet to get the grains to come out. One of...
I live in CT so we're not far away and this past winter was my first with the ladies. I don't have insulation and was concerned about an extreme cold bout. I have an extension cord that's run out to my coop which I wanted at the time and I now find necessary. I put a wall mounted heater in my...
Regarding digging down for hardware cloth; I hear that going down is better than going out. Can you let us know why out is better. Is it because it's recommended 12" out and you share 18 - 24? Sorry, I'm starting a new build soon and gleaning from any and all advice I can get. Thanks in advance!
The thing mine like the most... by far... is a pot that's still filled with the soil and roots from last year's plants. I dump it out in their run and they peck away to their hearts content. I started growing vegetables in 5 gal buckets last year and the ladies loveeeee these turned over in...
I was looking at Ladies First. In fact, the maker of the plans for the coup I'm building use Ladies First on their coop / plans. Thanks for your input.
My new run will have hardware cloth buried in the ground as well. Maybe I'm just being over cautious. I just want to do all I can to keep the ladies safe. They're good at going to bed ( :)). The other part of my equation is that I'm in CT and winter lows can get down to 0; so warmth is a...
There's one I hadn't thought of; animals being smart enough to push the button to open the door. They are relentless. I guess once they learn the trick ---
I’m looking seriously at this one. I called and spoke to Ron because I’m not seeing much info about how hard the door comes down. Have you ever had a bird stuck in it and/ or hurt?
I was looking at these actually and spoke to Rod. Even from what he said it sounded like one way or the other the door was going to close. :/. If you have your hand in it when its closing does it hurt when it hits your hand?
Wow! That sounds nuts! I agree with what you say about them being there even though I don’t see them. And its for this very reason that mine don’t free range. The vast majority of the time they’re in a enclosed, covered run. Only when I’m out supervising are they in an additional run...
I'm having a new coop built for my ladies and was thinking of an automatic door. But, I'm seeing mixed reviews from doors made of plastic, to doors made with metal; doors that close on items they hit, to the point of a review that one decapitated a bird; doors with nice sensitive stops that...