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Alterian posted:The fence can go up tomorrow. This reminds me when I said to myself I'll close that inch-wide gap under the roof of the coop tomorrow and then woke up to four raccooned pullets.
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Jul 15, 2020 18:02
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First time hen owner this summer, after my city approved permits for backyard chickens last year. I have four Hy-line Browns about a year and half old. Been having a great time with the kids caring for them and collecting eggs. It has been a learning experience, though. We discover something new about biology, bird health, and bugs about every other week. My luck may be running out though. One of them seems to be really sick. Her foot swelled up over the course of a singe day with a huge bulge on the bottom. It's painful to stand on, and she's really upset. Researched online and it looks from pictures to be "bumblefoot", and not sure where to start with helping her. May have to give in and schedule with the "exotic" pet vet, which is going to be costly. Is this a common injury to expect in the future?
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Jul 15, 2020 18:26
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Lawson posted:This reminds me when I said to myself I'll close that inch-wide gap under the roof of the coop tomorrow and then woke up to four raccooned pullets. Haha. This isn't our first trip around the hen house. The coop itself seals up tightly and is going to be locked every night. They have a small portable enclosed area I've been moving around the yard during the day for them. They're not allowed to be out and about until their fenced in area is 100% done.
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Jul 15, 2020 19:15
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You might have to check out how to treat bumblefoot yourself. It's a fairly minor procedure if a little gross and intimidating at first. Haven't done it myself, but there are lots of places online with instructions and videos. Try looking at some of the chicken boards for more hints. Backyardchickens.com, chickenforum.com, forum.backyardpoultry.com
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Jul 15, 2020 22:51
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Roostroyer had bumblefoot. The cure involved soaking and an xacto knife. Look for Chido's posts upthread. I would, but on mobile for the time being.
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Jul 15, 2020 23:24
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I need help with flies. Here is a pic of our set up: We move the coop to a new spot once a week but with all the feces that accrues in the run area the flies absolutely swarm. The coop itself doesn’t seem to attract nearly as much flies and we keep the bedding pretty clean, replacing it a few times a week. The issue is I can’t really clean the bare ground/grass. We are open to having a permanent spot for the coop and making the ground such that it is cleanable but I have no idea how to go about that. In the meantime I have fly traps on the way from Amazon. Any suggestions?
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Jul 17, 2020 00:44
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LuckyCat posted:I need help with flies. Here is a pic of our set up: The only real solutions that I know if are either to move the coop more often, or get some netting and fence them off a larger run while they're in one location. edit: If you opt to move them, make it a daily, or every-other-day chore. With a coop that size, I can see how the ground underneath can quickly get overwhelmed. Moving it on a more frequent basis will also allow the grass and soil a better regeneration/absorption rate when you do move it. Weltlich fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Jul 17, 2020 |
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Jul 17, 2020 01:15
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A coop that small you can just scoot it over one width or length a day. It shouldn't take long and you go out to the coop every day anyway I assume.
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Jul 17, 2020 02:20
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I’ll give it a go! Thanks!
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Jul 17, 2020 03:20
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Pioneer42 posted:First time hen owner this summer, after my city approved permits for backyard chickens last year. I have four Hy-line Browns about a year and half old. Been having a great time with the kids caring for them and collecting eggs. It has been a learning experience, though. We discover something new about biology, bird health, and bugs about every other week. Lawson posted:Roostroyer had bumblefoot. The cure involved soaking and an xacto knife. Starts here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3417601&userid=45555&perpage=40&pagenumber=5#post403786592 spookygonk fucked around with this message at 11:35 on Jul 17, 2020 |
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Jul 17, 2020 11:32
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My wife has COVID and can’t assist with moving the coop but today I started my routine of going out in the morning (when I do the AM check and get the same silkies into the run because they are too dumb to use a ramp) and I dragged the coop to a new spot. With 100 deg weather limits me a little but only for a few months.
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Jul 17, 2020 16:11
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spookygonk posted:Starts here: Thanks for digging that up. Man what a saga.
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Jul 17, 2020 23:03
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LuckyCat posted:My wife has COVID and can’t assist with moving the coop but today I started my routine of going out in the morning (when I do the AM check and get the same silkies into the run because they are too dumb to use a ramp) and I dragged the coop to a new spot. With 100 deg weather limits me a little but only for a few months. Sorry to hear about your wife.  Hope she recovers soon!Huge disclaimer: I don't have chickens yet, so I probably should not be giving out advice. I'm still in the researching phase and agonizing over planning my coop, so I'm absolutely not an expert. But I have been looking at a lot of coops and reading tons of BYC posts, and generally spending a good bit of time trying to figure out what's best for my future chickens. I'm guessing you might have a fly issue because your run is fully covered, preventing rain from washing away feces. I've seen that some people put sand down in their covered fixed runs, and keep them clean by raking or scooping them. (A litter scooper taped to a pole or broom handle works well for this, apparently.) Might be something to consider.
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Jul 20, 2020 13:13
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That's odd because my run is fully covered as well and immobile and I haven't had a fly problem yet. Did you have a lot of flies around in general anyways? I don't think with that many chickens you would get so many feces in a week to have such a problem. Moving them once a week should be fine, really. Could try fly traps of various kinds for the time being to see if it helps at all. Apple cider vinegar based traps are effective (and cheap) in my experience and you could rig something up in the run to keep it in there and not accessible to the chickens. That said I have also seen setups people made to basically rot meat in a bucket in the run and have holes in the bottom so when flies lay eggs on it the maggots fall through and the chickens eat them. Not a particularly recommended thing I think but it does show that flies being around isn't necessarily bad for the chickens per se.
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Jul 20, 2020 13:46
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A rotten meat maggot generator is, uh, certainly... inventive.  First time I've heard of that.I finally pulled the trigger on an Eglu Cube with a 9 foot run. Hopefully that will be roomy enough for 4 hens (the max I can keep here) even if they're super fat and fluffy, but if not I can always expand on it.
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Jul 20, 2020 15:04
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My continuing broody hen saga: After having a successful brood, one hen decided to abandon her chicks after 3 weeks. After a couple weeks more, I found her on a new clutch of infertile eggs. I replaced them with fertile eggs but after a week something ate all her eggs except one. (Probably another hen  ) I tried to move her nest but she was not having that so then I tried to move the other hens and they weren’t having that either. They just paced outside the fence in 95 degree heat all day so I took pity and let them back in. To fix this ridiculous situation I decided to order some hatched chicks, she would get chicks and no one could eat the eggs, brilliant right?At darkest midnight I took away her one egg put the chicks under her... At sunrise she rejected all of them. Now I have 7 motherless chicks in the brooder and a broody hen on no eggs. 
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Jul 23, 2020 16:34
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The pen is done! It took a little longer to finish than expected because we decided to give them more space. It ended up being 1,500 ft² for five chickens. We put netting and ropes above to deter the hawks and it also helps keep them in the pen.  
Alterian fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Jul 23, 2020 |
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Jul 23, 2020 18:52
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I love that coop and run. I got some help and now I can upload pics again! Here are my new chicks while they were waiting to be introduced to the broody hen. (Darn that hen!)  
Joburg fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Apr 24, 2023 |
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Jul 23, 2020 21:44
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Alterian posted:The pen is done! It took a little longer to finish than expected because we decided to give them more space. It ended up being 1,500 ft² for five chickens. (you're gonna need more hens, just because)
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Jul 23, 2020 22:02
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Anyone in the Portland area looking for an extra pullet? We raised some Novagens this year as well as some buffs and I am one over the county dictated limit after I sell one tomorrow. Someone reported me so I'm on a deadline.
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Jul 24, 2020 04:22
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therobit posted:Anyone in the Portland area looking for an extra pullet? We raised some Novagens this year as well as some buffs and I am one over the county dictated limit after I sell one tomorrow. Someone reported me so I'm on a deadline. How do you get reported for an extra chicken? I’d be mean mugging my neighbors for the rest of our acquaintance. Who in the name of God cares about an extra chicken?!
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Jul 24, 2020 07:07
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Captain Log posted:How do you get reported for an extra chicken? The guy across my back fence is a tremendous rear end in a top hat. I also get reported for parking a car on the street in front of my own house for more than 48 hours. I don't have proof it was him but his wife admitted to a different neighbor a couple years ago that he had trapped their cat and was going to kill it until his wife intervened. He's also the only person who would both be able to see and would care, because I know the rest of my neighbors pretty well.
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Jul 24, 2020 07:27
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One over the limit? What a complete and utter loving rear end in a top hat.
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Jul 24, 2020 09:13
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I’m not a mean spirited person and have never pulled a prank in my life. But I’d discreetly be throwing dead fish on his roof every Thursday night until him or I died
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Jul 24, 2020 09:26
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Captain Log posted:I’m not a mean spirited person and have never pulled a prank in my life. Yeah, I hate boomers. Anyway at this point I willing to give away a single Novagen pullet to the first person in the Portland area who can take delivery. Preferably tonight. They are a sex link breed and supposedly lay prolifically. They are calm too.
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Jul 24, 2020 18:12
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Ugh. I'm glad I have an understanding with my neighbours that I don't mind barking dogs and they don't mind my illegal rooster.
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Jul 24, 2020 18:19
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Halloween Jack posted:Ugh. I'm glad I have an understanding with my neighbours that I don't mind barking dogs and they don't mind my illegal rooster. Ask me about my beautiful sultan rooster I had to have butchered a few years ago because of the very same rear end in a top hat. His name was Hollywood and he was gorgeous. There are at least 5 other cockrels in the neighborhood but they don't live across the back fence from a dickbag. Edit: I didn't buy a rooster intentionally. We raised him from a chick and things were fine for months.
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Jul 24, 2020 18:49
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Yeah, I would definitely have vandalized his property at this point. The guy who ran over my Pride flags is lucky I don't know where he lives.
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Jul 24, 2020 19:02
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therobit posted:Ask me about my beautiful sultan rooster I had to have butchered a few years ago because of the very same rear end in a top hat. His name was Hollywood and he was gorgeous. There are at least 5 other cockrels in the neighborhood but they don't live across the back fence from a dickbag. God, reading that pisses me off so bad. That dude sounds like he cannot be far from a hate stroke.
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Jul 24, 2020 19:48
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Captain Log posted:God, reading that pisses me off so bad. U want a chickam?
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Jul 24, 2020 19:56
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spookygonk posted:That is way cool. Thanks! I probably wouldn't put too many more in the space. We'd need to build another coop or make our current one bigger if we did. We tried to pick a size where the area shouldn't be 100% destroyed and pecked clean and their outdoor waste can let nature take its course without getting too smelly. We have an acre and a half of land, The pen is in the back right side of the fenced in area of our backyard. There's a gate in the middle that leads to the wild forested part of the property. We still have a spot to the left of the gate that is not very useful as is. its semi overgrown and weedy with lots of little saplings and bushes among the tall trees. I was joking with my husband that we could make another chicken pen over there and make a bridge over the gate for them to cross over to it. My rough estimate is that area could be about 3000 sqft. Or we can get a couple of milk goats.
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Jul 24, 2020 20:47
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Found the chick am a home
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Jul 24, 2020 21:34
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One of our friends just painted this for us as a housewarming gift:
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Jul 24, 2020 22:09
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Rip_Van_Winkle posted:One of our friends just painted this for us as a housewarming gift: frida quailo...
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Jul 25, 2020 03:11
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 I wish everyone's birds only the best 
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Jul 25, 2020 03:53
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Alterian posted:We tried to pick a size where the area shouldn't be 100% destroyed and pecked clean Alterian posted:There's a gate in the middle that leads to the wild forested part of the property. We still have a spot to the left of the gate that is not very useful as is. its semi overgrown and weedy with lots of little saplings and bushes among the tall trees. I was joking with my husband that we could make another chicken pen over there and make a bridge over the gate for them to cross over to it. My rough estimate is that area could be about 3000 sqft. Alterian posted:Or we can get a couple of milk goats. Yay, chicken transport! 
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Jul 25, 2020 08:34
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therobit posted:U want a chickam? If only I didn't live in a condo. Rip_Van_Winkle posted:One of our friends just painted this for us as a housewarming gift: I just audibly chortled at that. 
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Jul 25, 2020 10:07
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Lord Awkward posted:
Lmao
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Jul 25, 2020 12:03
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Does anyone have any experience putting leg bands on chickens? I'd like to be able to identify them a little bit better since we have three of one breed and two of another. Some of the ones on Amazon look like they're just zip ties. I only need five and it looks like most packs are 100 or more.
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Jul 25, 2020 12:43
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| # ? May 18, 2024 05:42 |
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Alterian posted:Does anyone have any experience putting leg bands on chickens? I'd like to be able to identify them a little bit better since we have three of one breed and two of another. Some of the ones on Amazon look like they're just zip ties. I only need five and it looks like most packs are 100 or more. they just kind of assume the bird's going to rip them off. most don't. I prefer the clip ones but the zip tie sorts are fine, too. Just leave them a little bitty bit of room and they're fine. If you see them cutting into the bird, hack it off and put some antibiotic stuff on it.
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Jul 25, 2020 12:48
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