c/backyard-chickens

Tried deep litter vs weekly coop clean out for 3 months straight

I used to strip my coop down every Sunday no matter what. Took about an hour and I was always chasing the ammonia smell. Switched to the deep litter method back in February after my back started complaining. Just add fresh bedding on top and let the composting happen underneath. My 6 hens have been way less sneezy and the straw actually smells like hay instead of ammonia. Has anyone else found that deep litter works better in colder months versus summer?

That $10 solar waterer I bought off Amazon froze solid in 12 hours last week.

Had to chisel the ice out with a screwdriver at 6am in 15 degree weather, has anyone found a solar setup that actually works in real winter?

That old wire coop my neighbor gave me vs the $400 kit from Tractor Supply

I started with a nice prefab coop from Tractor Supply about 3 years ago and it looked great but the wood rotted out in like 18 months. Then my neighbor down the street in Portland said he had an old coop built out of welded wire and salvaged cedar fence boards that he'd used for 12 years. I took it home, pressure washed it, replaced 2 roosts for $15 total, and it's been solid through two rainy winters now. Anyone else had better luck with hand-me-down gear than the shiny new stuff?

Hit 50 eggs in one week from 6 hens and nearly lost my mind

I was out collecting eggs last Tuesday and counted 8 in one day from my 6 Rhode Island Reds. By Sunday I had 52 eggs sitting in my fridge and no idea what to do with them. My neighbor in Des Moines said I should sell them but I don't have time for that. Has anyone else had a sudden egg surplus that forced you to get creative with recipes?

My old brooder lamp finally gave out after 10 years

Last Tuesday night I went out to check on my 2 week old chicks and the brooder lamp was totally dead. It was one of those old red heat lamps I've had since I started keeping chickens back in 2014. I scrambled to find an old desk lamp I had in the garage and used a 100 watt bulb just to get them through the night. Has anyone else had an older heat lamp suddenly fail like that or am I just unlucky?

Unpopular opinion: those heat lamps everyone swears by almost killed my flock

I was dead set against switching to a radiant heater because I figured the old bulb style worked fine, but after my neighbor's shed caught fire from a knocked-over lamp last winter I swapped to a Sweeter Heater and my birds actually stopped panting under it so now I'm wondering if anyone else made the switch and regretted it or was it just me being stubborn for three years?

Took me 3 months to figure out I was over-cleaning my coop

I was scrubbing the nesting boxes with vinegar water every single day because I thought it kept diseases away. Then my hens stopped laying and a vet friend told me the strong smell was stressing them out. Has anyone else dealt with egg production dropping from too much cleaning?

Hot take: you don't need a heat lamp for chicks in the coop

Everyone told me I was crazy for skipping the heat lamp last spring, but I used a brooder heating plate instead and my 6 chicks did fine even when it dropped to 40 at night. Has anyone else tried this and found it works better than the old way?

TIL my chickens hate the new feeder I built last weekend

I spent all Sunday building a nice wooden feeder with a PVC pipe system from a YouTube video. Came out Monday morning and they'd rather scratch through the mud for bugs than touch it. Has anyone else had birds act picky with a new setup?

Rant: My brand new nesting box fell apart in a week

I got one of those wooden nesting boxes from Tractor Supply about 10 days ago, thought it would be fine for my 4 hens. Second time I opened the door to grab eggs the whole front panel just dropped off, the nails they used were like toothpicks. Anyone else had luck fixing cheap coops with better hardware or should I just build my own from scratch?

Pro tip: Don't skip the quarantine for new birds

I brought home a hen from a swap meet 2 weeks ago, thought she looked fine and tossed her in with my flock. Now 3 of my girls are coughing and one has a runny eye, vet says it's mycoplasma and I'm looking at $60 in meds and a month of separation. Has anyone else had a fast-spreading illness like this after adding a bird without a proper 30-day quarantine?

My rooster Duke decided to fight his own reflection in the dog's water bowl last Tuesday morning

He was fine for about 20 seconds then slipped and dunked his whole head, I had to chase him around the coop with a towel while he looked like a wet angry mobster. Has anyone else's bird ever tried to throw down with an inanimate object for no reason?

Wasted $120 on that automatic chicken door opener

It jammed shut after 3 days and locked my hens out overnight. We lost one to a raccoon - is the peace of mind really worth the risk with these things?

Rant: My rooster decided to challenge the mail truck this morning

So I'm out back filling the waterer around 7 AM, and my rooster, Colonel Cluck, spots the mail truck coming down the street. Dude puffs up, does his little war dance, and full-on charges the fence right as the truck rumbles past. He hit the hardware cloth so hard he bounced back and landed in the water trough I'd just filled. Now I'm soaking wet, the chickens are screaming, and the mail carrier gave me a thumbs up through the window. Anyone else have a bird that picks fights with inanimate objects 3 times its size?

Tried free-ranging my hens during a rainy week and everything went sideways

I let my 6 hens out for two days straight after a week of rain and 3 of them got impacted crops from eating too much wet grass and mud. Has anyone else dealt with this, or do you keep your birds cooped up after heavy rain?

Picked a barred rock over a wyandotte for my first flock and kinda regret it.

I got 6 chicks back in March and couldn't decide between barred rocks and wyandottes. Went with barred rocks cause they're supposed to be super hardy and easy. 4 months in and two of them are total jerks, pecking the others and hogging the feeder. My neighbor has wyandottes and they're all super chill, just wandering around eating bugs. Anyone else have luck with one breed over the other for temperament?

That guy who said to use pine shavings instead of straw was right

My neighbor Jim kept telling me straw was trash for the coop, but I figured he was just being picky. After 3 months of dealing with damp spots and moldy bedding, I finally switched to pine shavings and the difference is night and day. Anyone else have a friend who gave advice you wish you'd listened to sooner?

Had a neighbor tell me I was feeding my hens too much scratch grain

Old guy named Tom three houses down saw me tossing a big handful of scratch to my flock every morning. He said I was basically giving them junk food and they'd stop eating their layer pellets. Figured he was just being a busybody. Six weeks later two of my hens stopped laying and one got really fat. Cut way back on the scratch and after about 10 days they started laying again. Anyone else had a neighbor give advice that actually worked?

Unpopular take: letting my chickens free range during breeding season was a bad idea

Last month in Phoenix I decided to let my hens roam the yard during peak rooster mating time, thinking it'd be natural. Three days later two of them had bloody backs from overzealous roosters doing damage. Has anyone else seen injuries spike when you let them out during spring?

My neighbor's rooster taught me a lesson about predator proofing

Last month I was out in my backyard in Phoenix and heard my neighbor's chickens going crazy around 2 AM. I figured it was just a raccoon or something passing through. Next morning I saw feathers everywhere and their big Rhode Island Red was missing from the coop. Turns out they had just been using a basic latch on the door instead of a locking mechanism. I went right home and added a carabiner clip to my own coop door, plus some hardware cloth buried about 6 inches into the ground around the run. Has anyone else had trouble with predators getting smarter about opening simple latches?

My rooster crowed at 4am and my neighbor threatened to call the city

Found out egg shells are way stronger than I thought

My hen Fluffy laid an egg that fell off the roost bar last week. Dropped like 4 feet onto packed dirt. I figured it was a goner. Picked it up and not even a crack. Got curious and looked up the numbers online. Turns out an eggshell can handle around 60 pounds of pressure from the right angle. That arch shape is no joke. Made me rethink how I store them in the carton now. Anyone else had an egg survive a crazy fall?

My $200 automatic coop door was a waste

Bought a fancy automatic coop door last spring for 200 bucks and the motor died after 3 months of rain. Now I just prop a plank up manually at dusk and it works fine, has anyone else had their automated stuff fail fast?

Took me 6 weeks to figure out my hens were eating their own eggs

I kept finding broken shells and thought a raccoon was getting in somehow until I caught my Rhode Island Red pecking at a fresh egg yesterday. Turns out I was giving them too much light in the chicken tractor during winter and they got bored. Anyone else have a dumb simple fix that took forever to find?

Old school vs automatic chicken coop door - glad I went manual

I spent $120 on a fancy automatic door for my coop last spring but returned it after a week because it jammed every time it got damp. Went back to a simple manual trap door I built myself from scrap wood and some hinges, and it has worked perfectly for 8 months now without a single issue. Has anyone else had better luck with the old fashioned way over the new gadgets?