Keeping Chickens Newsletter March 09

Keeping Chickens Newsletter

Published March 2009 by www.Self-Sufficient-Life.com


If you know anyone who may enjoy thisnewsletter please let them know that theycan subscribe at:www.KeepingChickensNewsletter.com

March 2009

Hi

Welcome to my Keeping Chickens Newsletter.

As usual, if you have any chicken related questions (or even tips, stories,coop photos etc. you'd like to share in future issues of the newsletter orblog posts) then just email [email protected] I will do my best to answer / include them.

Best WishesGina





Subscriber Letters

Toni Cusumano : Hello Gina: I have yet another problem. All of a suddenmy hens are missing feathers under their wings and near their top backs.There aren't any roosters in with the hens. We have seen the hens peck ateach other but not really in a vicious way.

We clean the coop every Saturday or Sunday. They get fresh straw andwe sprinkle the mite powder around. We fill their feeder up and changethe water almost daily, especially since it has been so cold and the waterdoes freeze. The past few weeks has been below freezing here on LongIsland, New York. I actually only let them out to free range two timessince November. I wanted them to get used to going to the nest boxes tolay their eggs.

We have been leaving the door cracked a bit and the window since thecoop has been moist. About the middle of December we had some moldgrowing so we had to clean the coop and dry it out. Now, I have left theirlittle door open all night and the two windows cracked. They areprotected. They have an outside pen directly attached so they can roaminside or outside at their will. The two big doors also have locks on themin case of smart animals who can open latches.

I feed them left over table scrape only in the morning and they eat it allup before noon time. My neighbor had rescued chickens four months ago,and has rat traps out and hasn't caught 1 rat or mouse yet. We also haven'tseen any signs of rodents. I keep all my trash with lids and dispose ofeverything quickly. (I am too afraid of un-welcomed company.)



I am sending you some photos. Could it be mites? Or a fungus?

My son handles the birds everyday and he is so far fine. He can pick themup and he pets them. When I want a certain bird I tell him to get it for meand he does.

Thank you again for your time and help. Eventually, I will learn more.But here on Long Island, there aren't many people with chickensanymore. We got our chicks June 2, 2008 and we have been enjoyingthem and the eggs are delicious.

My Reply : Under the wing sore patches are often signs of lice/mites(also there may be some around the vent area). During the day mites liveon perches & nests so it is best to check after dark. Take a flash light andpart the feathers around their rear ends and under the wings and look atthe skin. If you see tiny red or light brown insects that look like spiderscrawling on chickens skin they are mites. Lice are easier to spot becausethey are larger and are brownish yellow in colour. The act of dustbathingis the natural way that chickens help alleviate pest issues. A lot of chickenkeepers dust a little DE (food grade Diatomaceous earth, NOT the poolkind) in their coops, nest boxes, and dust bathing areas as a prevention(it can also be dusted directly on the birds as a treatment for lice etc ifneeded).

As they all seem to be having the same problem I think it is unlikely to bethem picking on each other, but if you do see that some of your chickensare being picked on (and sometimes sore / injured areas can inthemselves attract attacks) it seems that putting some vicks near the areaacts as a big deterrent (pine tar can apparently work in the same way) - alittle goes a long way. If any blood is drawn it is advisable to separateuntil healed as blood can have the whole flock attacking the injured, andchickens can be quite cannibalistic. Hope that helps.



Julia Knowles : Hi Gina, I really enjoy your newsletter, as a new keeperof chickens I find the newsletter very helpful indeed, also veryentertaining! I have attached a few pics of my four beautiful girls, Polo(no.1 hen and named by my 7yr old son's favourite pony), Beatrix (no.2hen), Jemima (3rd in the pecking order) and Henrietta (last but definitelynot least). They have only been with us for two weeks and Polo hasalready given us her first two gifts, I hope the others will not be too farbehind. Polo's first two eggs have been the very best I have ever eaten, Ialways bought free range organic eggs but they are not a patch on Polo's!Our girls have become such a huge part of our lives, they entertain thewhole family with their antics, have already exerted their authority overmy neighbours cats and seen off innumerable wood pigeons. I feel thathens will be part of my life from now on. Anyway, hope you enjoy thepics! The images show my son Charlie with Polo's first egg and Charliewith all four of our girls.



Helen Shannon : Hi Gina, Love your newsletter. I live in Northern Irelandand I'm sending you a photo of my Barnevelder cockerel Magee. He's abig softee and loves to be carried around the garden. The hens are lovelytoo, very quiet and friendly and lay lovely dark brown eggs.

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Patricia : Hi Gina, My name is Patricia and I live in Marysville, Ohio.We are coming up on our one year mark in raising backyard chickens andit was successful, but ultimately very rewarding. Friends and neighborsall enjoyed some great eggs. We started with 7 hens, lost two, in the fall,to a tragic dog invasion and one during a below zero day in December.The remaining 4 live in a refurbished shed and it has worked out great.

I have two questions...

First, is there a general rule of thumb for adding new hens in the spring?We get along fine with the four, but it would be fun to have the littlechicks around again.Second, I currently feed them a "layer feed mix...Dumor" plus kitchenscraps and free range of the yard, weather permitting. I am ultimatelyinterested in an all organic diet. I have no idea what is in the layer feedand am willing to mix up something. Do you have any suggestions aswhat that should contain and what the rations should be? Currently I freefeed and refill the feeder when it gets empty.

Thanks so much for your time and this news letter is great!!! Patricia

My Reply : There was a bit on mixing flocks in the July issue pages 11-15(available in the subscribers archives). It usually helps if they are of asimilar size. I have one layers feed recipe on the blog :http://successwithpoultry.blogspot.com/2008/10/winter-mash-homemade-chicken-layers.htmlI don't really know very much about feeding organically, but I assumethat as long as the ingredients are organic then so are the hens ☺ If youwere intending to sell organic hens or organic eggs then you may need tocheck the exact rules (for example certain vaccinations may negate the'organicness' of the hens / eggs). There are also commercial organicfeeds available.

Daniel Manderfield : We have some Rhode island red chicks and wewant to know how to sex them. Can you help? Thanks, Dan.

My Reply : There are some sexing tips on the blog are here :http://successwithpoultry.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-tell-sex-of-chicks.html As mentioned on the blog there are a few signs to look out forbut really no way of knowing for sure, but maybe a couple of the 'oldwives tales' listed there will help you such as the needle and thread one -a lot of people swear by that.



Jane : Gina, you mention in this newsletter feeding turnips and swedes tochickens. Would that just be whole, as I can't imagine them coping?!Thanks for the newsletter, I am always delighted when your email arrives,it is my monthly highlight! Regards, Jane from Oban, Scotland.

My Reply : Thanks ☺ The mention of turnips etc. is from quite an oldpoultry diary when it was common to make your own feeds. If you makeyour own mashes you could add a bit of turnip etc into them. Or just put awhole one into their pen for them to peck at and play with. Some will turntheir little beaks up into the air in disgust but if yours turn out to like it, itwill give them a bit of excitement and is quite funny to watch. A wholecabbage or lettuce can have the same effect – you could even try hanginga lettuce or something like that from the coop or a pole so that it is a bitmore of a challenge to them (any string should not be too long tominimise any chance of entanglement).

Joan Taylor : Help we have a beautiful roo named Pretty boy Floyd. Ourproblem is he is cutting his girls with his spurs when he mounts them.Bad roo! We bought chicken saddles but the hens really reacted badly tothem. Can you rubbercap a roo's spurs? (Like they do cat claws?) Otherthan caging him any ideas? We are treating two of our girls now becauseof big side gouges.

My Reply : Spurs are a bit like a dogs nails and sometimes it is easiest totrim off the point (being careful not to cut down to the quick - a lightshone behind the spurs should make the 'dead' and 'live' parts clearer tosee) and that can usually solve the worst of a spurs problem. They dogrow back so you will probably need to do it again at some point. Somepeople do remove the spurs completely. That can be quite a painful thingto do to the rooster and so is usually best done by a vet or someone whohas experience doing it (and could cope if it started bleeding heavily). Ihave never heard of putting a rubbercap on them but I can't see how itwould hurt or affect him and so may also be a good thing to try.

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Luke Johnson : I got this chicken from McMurray hatchery as a rarechicken. I never found out what breed it is. Could you tell me? Love yourletter. Luke--- Anyone Know?

Shannon Templeton : My husband is almost finished building our 6'X6'chicken house. This is our first time to have chickens (don't have themyet) so we are really novices in all aspects. I have been getting yournewsletter and doing other research on the web and have bought a coupleof books on the subject. I am wondering if I should paint the inside of thehouse and if so, what should I use. Many thanks, Shannon

My Reply : Whether to paint or not is really a matter of personal choice.It isn't absolutely necessary, but some do feel that it makes the wallseasier to wipe down when cleaning. Chickens can be drawn to flakingpaint (and chip / eat more making it worse) but it shouldn't be too muchof a problem if you used one that specifies it is non-toxic and/or safe foranimals although obviously a paint that doesn't flake at all would bepreferable.



Kay : Hi Gina just read the latest news letter, always look forward to it,it’s so entertaining and I have picked up many good tips. Thought I wouldtell the man who wrote in saying he was going to be a new chooks ownerand he was a bit afraid of how his dogs would react, well I too was a littlescared of how my two ridgebacks would react as they love chasingpheasant partridge etc when I walk them over the fields (they never catchanything) it’s so amazing really they seem to know that they belong to thefamily and don’t take a blind bit of notice in fact when they first arrivedthey were very scared of them and wouldn’t even look their way. Theseare my dear girls a cross between a warren and a rhode island red, theyhave been with me a year in April and have never stopped laying, theymust be very happy chooks eh.

Tracey : Gina, I have recently subscribed to your mag and it has helped alot as I am just starting out. Am wanting to know what can be done forone of my 6 month old pullets whose top beak is growing over. She ishoused with one other very dominant hen. Is there something we can giveher to assist? A friend has informed me that they cannot have certainscraps? What would be the main common kitchen scraps to avoid?Thankyou Tracey

My Reply : If she seems quite happy, and can still eat and drink ok, thenit is probably not too much to worry about - chickens with crooked beakscan lead an otherwise 'normal' life doing all the chicken things you would



expect them to do. If she does seem to be having trouble eating then amash instead of pellets may make it easier for her. Raising the food offthe ground and/or a deeper dish can also help those with beak troubles.Some cases of crooked / crossed beaks can be improved by trimming.Trimming is usually best done by a vet, at least the first time (trimmingtoo far can cause pain). Beaks that have been trimmed a little are likenails and will usually grow back and so it may need to be done every fewweeks. Parrots and budgies etc. sometimes need it doing aswell so vets dosee the issue from time to time.

Adam : Once again my girls seem to amaze me. Right now I have 6chickens, a black star named Kimchi because of the red feathers on herchest, a rhode island red who is just Red, a beautiful brown (unknownbreed) eagle looking chicken named Lady, a dominant speckled(unknown breed) chicken, and two locally saved chickens (I live inMiami FL). With your design we built them a coop, but with those girlsand their mad pecking skills the grass beneath the coop quickly died. Sowe (my mom and I), mainly me, would push the coop over on to newgrass, which also proceeded to die. Eventually we let them out of thecoop and they are now free ranged chickens. One good thing and one badthing came from releasing them, the good thing is that my bird (Kimchi)waits at the glass door and sings to me until I come outside, where I amforced to preen her feathers, while she preens mine (my hair could use anice shampoo right now) the bad thing is that we have no idea where theyare hiding the eggs. Well the other day Speckly chicken was bawking upa storm right, so I quickly run to her to see what the matter is. She was ina turned over forgotten garbage can with about 5 DOZEN other eggs.And these weren’t your regular eggs. Kimchi makes the brown one,Speckly makes large all white ones, Red makes regular white ones, thetwins make small white cream ones, and Lady makes ones with agreenish tint to them. I didn’t know what to do with all of these rotteneggs. I ended up throwing them in the canal and feeding the fish.Also a side affect of the chickens killing the grass is that, when theypooped it contained the seeds of everything we feed them, which is cherrytomatos, regular tomatos, corn, apples, oranges, and a few other seeds.All of this has made a wonderful little garden because the pooped seedshave grown. So thanks to the chickens we are more or less "real" farmersnow. Lastly, I have a question. A red tailed hawk keep swooping by, I’mnot afraid for my big girls (Kimchi, Red, Speckly, Lady) but I am scaredfor the twins because they are extremely small. Any ideas so I can stoprunning out with a broom would be helpful, thanks.



My Reply : Unless you pen them in and have some kind of covering overthe top you can't fully protect against hawks but there are a few thingsyou could try to put them off. Noise (such as windchimes) has been knownto work on occasions. Some people also try tying long and short strips ofplastic bags to poles (so they blow and rattle in the wind). In the Januarynewsletter one subscriber showed photos of her hawk proofing (criss-crossed colour string). Garden centres also often sell full-size models ofthings such as foxes and owls etc. and so something like that may put ahawk off (I don't know exactly what would be the most scary model for ahawk, but the assistant at the garden centre would probably be able toadvise) - or, if you have a dog that likes to spend time with the chickens itwould probably deter (or chase off) any hawk that tried to swoop down.

Patti Jo : I had something bad happen this weekend and I am trying tofigure out why… I lost one of my girls this weekend. 9months old, she'dhad a cold back in Dec but was doing great now. I went out to let themout for the day and she was dead and had coughed blood all over theplace. I felt so bad.....if I'd known she was still not feeling well I wouldhave brought her in the house or something but she'd been so well. Anythoughts? Patti Jo in Kittery, ME

My Reply : I'm really sorry to hear that. There are probably lots ofpossiblilities including simple things like something sharp beingconsumed and cutting the throat or crop or something hereditary etc. Ifound one mention of blood coupled with unexplained death in theSuccess with poultry book which was related to internal fat saying that"The fat extends into the liver and destroys its cells. The organ isweakened and unable to contain the blood in it and perform its naturalfunctions. The result is the bursting of the organ and the release of alarge amount of blood and the fowl which might be apparently in perfecthealth dies in a few moments, usually with a few convulsive movements."

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Jacqueline Moor : Thanks, Gina, it's terrific as always. I love seeing allthe different breeds and reading about them. I had hoped to have a coupleof snaps of our 6 gorgeous chickens to send you this time, but no luck!They are doing really well, - we had six eggs today, (only the third timewe've had 6!) - 34 in total this week, which is our peak so far. They varyvery much in size and shape, i.e. fat or slim and long (Chicky-Chick's arelong and slender with superb shells!). Yesterday, for the first time one ofthem laid her egg from the perch. It fell onto the straw beneath, and wasunbroken! Normally they go into the nest boxes, and are very clean. Inever have to clean out droppings from the boxes. The rest of the hen-house is a different story! I “muck out” every morning, and give themclean straw about every 2 weeks. They are very affectionate and give mea terrific welcome whenever I appear. It lifts my heart!Thanks again, Gina. Till next time - all best wishes, Jacqui

Herb Burke : I really enjoy learning that my birds are not really unusual.Based on the reports from your other subscribers, they all seem to behavein the same crazy manner. I do have one hen that has a unique habit. Mynext-door neighbor rides around in a power chair and when Floppy spotsher coming over to my place, she runs to her, jumps up in her lap andrides to the spot where the neighbor passes out bread to my flock. Ofcourse Floppy always gets the first piece.

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Jan Withrow : I started raising chickens one year ago with 25 hens andone rooster, all Buff Orpingtons. It has been a wonderful experience and Iwish I had tried to do it years ago. I enjoy your newsletter very much anddecided to send you a few pictures. My hens started laying eggs at 5½months, at 6½ months one of the hens went broody. I didn't realize at firstthis was what she was doing, but by the time I had, she was setting 10eggs. She hatched and raised all ten, 6 hens 4 roosters. The attachedpictures show her with her babies. One picture shows a chick on her back.the pictures look red because of the red light in the “nursery.”

We had an incident with coyotes and they decimated my chickens,leaving me with only 10 hens. One was Rudy who was setting the eggsand wasn't out in the pasture the day of the attack. (We have two germanshepherds which fought with the pack of coyotes and were injured, butrecovered.) This is my question. Rudy has decided to go broody again. Ihave 25 more chicks coming April 17th, and would like to see if I couldreplaced her unfertilized eggs with the chicks....but it is more than 21



days until they arrive. I've been removing the eggs everyday for a week,but she won't budge from the nest and just continues to try and get aclutch going. Should I try and find some fertilized eggs for her to set,break up her broodiness or let her keep an egg a day until she gets aclutch and just let her set. She was a wonderful mother with the others.

My Reply : I don’t think there is necessarily one ‘best’ option there - theyall could in theory be possibilities. It is not unheard of to swap an egg fora chick under a broody hen if she has been sitting on them for more than19 days. The chick would start cheaping and if she adjusts herself tocover over it then that usually means it has been accepted. The processcan then be repeated gradually throughout the day (although I'm not sureif she would be able to cope with as many as 25). There is no way toguarantee she would accept the chicks though so a 'plan b' would also benecessary in case you needed to take them back.

Leanne Baines : I have four chickens they are about 4 months only. Ihave three Light Sussex Bantams and 1 Australian Game bird X withlight Sussex...they sleep in a nicely converted aviary with some lovelynesting boxes attached that my husband made, they haven't started layingyet though, and during the day the just have the run of the back yard.They all seem to be happy and they adore Cheese slices.

Ashok Kumar : I hope you are well. Please find my girls for yournewsletter. Best wishes Ash



Linda Marshall : Hi Gina, Love the newsletter. Have only read thismonths issue and plan on digging into a lot of back issues too. Have nochickens yet but plan to have some this spring. We have a shed we canconvert into a coop and plenty of yard for them to have access to. Myhusbands concern is how well they will winter in Minnesota. I'd like tohave egg layers but he'd like to go south for a month or two in the winter.I have a daughter that lives in the area who would be glad to feed themwhile we are gone those few weeks. Your thoughts? Any help from yourreaders would also be welcome. Thanks and wish me luck, Linda

My Reply : A chickens main needs are food, water, sanitation, exerciseand secure housing. Most of the care elements can be partly or whollypre-prepared or automated if need be although the chickens would stillneed checking on to ensure that nothing has been knocked over or sprunga leak etc. and there are no injured or sick. There are large feeders andwaterers available which can hold several days (even weeks) worth ofsupplies. Chickens are safest if they can be locked into a secure coophouse each night - but then they need to be let out again in the morning.There are automatic coop door openers available which operate on atimer so even that may not be a big issue if it proves a reliable alternative(I’ve never used one so I don’t know how good they are in practice). Asecure pen should help keep them safe when out of the coop. They areless prone to sickness if they can be regularly cleaned out - unfortunatelythis cannot be automated(!), but as you are still in the planning stages itis probably worth looking through some past issues of the keepingchickens newsletter as subscribers often mention little tips and tricks theyuse or have put into their coop which has made their lives easier when itcomes to cleaning them out and maintaining their flock. Good luck!

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Sister is the B&W chicken, French has the black on the face and Fry doesnot.

Christy Weick : “Last Thursday, we became owners of three chickens thatsomeone threw out at our house. They look older then our 14. One lookslike a New Hampshire Red, one like a Dominique and the third a crossbetween a New Hampshire Red and something else. They must of beensomeone pets. The Dominique is in bad shape and she is easily picked upto be treated. We have named them French, Fry and Sister (Dominique).I'll send pics when we get them. I know they need to be kept away fromour 14 but I have no set up for that yet. They been keeping there distancefrom our 14 and I been worried about them with the cold weather and putout extra black buckets with hay. But they seem to be eating and findingthe water okay.

Update : Well with this wacky weather comes tragedy...this morning Iwent to feed up and found Sister, Ruby and Old Lady dead. Roo ismissing and I know that he is dead. Patrick and I lost a couple more BPRsbut no bodies. French, Fry and another BPR are badly hurt. Patrick and Iand dug graves this morning for the three and placed a log over theirgrave (so it would be hard for the wild animals to dig them up). I put bluecoat over the wounds of the three that made it through the night out in theopen. I got them in the coop with water and feed. I don't know if Frenchwill make it through the day. I suspect a fox or an animal along thatsize...so says the footprints. Those that survived (and all feathers intact)are out of the coop eating and acting a little funny, but I know they willmake it. We found where the fence was pushed it and I will fix that whenI get home (after work). You know people say that they are just stupid



animals, but once you are in charge of their lives from a week or so andgo through all of this it still HURTS. It so happened that last Friday theFFA instructor called me and ask if in March they have more chicks(RIRs their parents place at state) then they can handle did I want topurchase some from them. I am so thankful that I told her yes. I had alsocalled the local feed store to place an order for 10 rainbow layers. I hope(and know) we can make it through February and if we have to start againwe will. Besides Patrick enjoyed taking care of the little ones and I’drather take care of them when they got big enough to go out into the pen.

It's better to have loved something than not to have loved at all,Christy

2nd Update : Good Morning Gina, I wanted to let you know that wepicked up Patrick's baby chicks this morning at school with the AgTeacher. They look great and I put them in their new home and theyfound the feed and water right off the bat.

Patrick is holding Big Foot (Welsummer Rooster) and in the barrel wehave 2 Cu Marans, 5 RIRs and 6 Welsummers.



I think we have a rooster in the RIRs, too. Sunday night will be a test onour heating for the chicks it will be in the lower 30's. Patrick says that BigFoot already has little spurs on the back of his legs. At what age (week)can you tell? The Ag teacher said that he was a week older that then oneswe picked up and they were four days old?

My Reply : I have a little bit in the April 08 issue on seperating pulletsfrom cockerels which includes some photos of 'pullets' where one actuallyturned out to be a cockerel (a video version is also available here :http://successwithpoultry.blogspot.com/2008/07/sexing-chickens.html).Of course it is a bit easier to tell in retrospect ;-) but I think the photos doshow that the cockerel had a redder comb, thicker legs and differentstance showing within a few weeks. It is usually easiest to see in acomparison with others of the same breed so as you have 6 otherWelsummers it should start to be clearer within the next three or fourweeks (perhaps sooner).

Lori Brooks : Hi my name is Lori I’m from Abbotsford British ColumbiaCanada. We really enjoy your news letter. We have 18 chickens runningaround and really enjoy them. We have one hen that comes in the houseand lays an egg in our woodbox beside the fireplace. This one sleepingwith my husband is so tame when she hears the door open in the morningshe runs for the house. Of course we always have a nice treat for her.



Barb Gates : Hi Gina I thought I would drop you a note to let you andyour readers know how thrilled I was to be the proud recipient of the firstegg from my girls. On Feb. 1st. 2009 one of my Americana hens (I havetwo, so I am not sure which one laid the egg) left a beautiful blue/greenegg for me. I can not tell you how excited I was - I have been waiting andlooking everyday since I got my chicks back on Sept 10th, 2008. At thistime at least three of the five a laying on a regular basis, and I havecollected over 20 eggs. I have attached some pictures of my first egg - itwas a double yoke!! Thanks for your great newsletter - keep up the goodwork. Barb Gates, Apache Junction, AZ

Christina Thomson : Hi Gina, I have enjoyed reading others' experienceswith hens. My partner and I have recently got four POL pullets. One,Wilma the Warren is laying regularly, but is separated because she's apecker! If anyone has any good tips to stop her or successfullyrehabilitate her I'd be grateful.The Black rock, Nesta, escaped today, but was swiftly caught and thenproceeded to lay her first, huge egg! Olga, the speckeldy hen, is nosy andinto everything and Bluebelle, the bluebelle, is healing up nicely after hermauling from Wilma and Nesta. SO, we are having huge fun with themand I have got to be a dab hand with chickenwire and drill!Barney, the dog is Ok but gets over excited when we go into the run. Iknow I'm just being gaga about them, but it seems everyone with hens is



the same! Nice to be able to be out of the closet at last and admit to myinsanity!! Regards, Christina

Gardner Family : Our ladies are spoiled rotten. This winter has been sostormy and cold that we have a red heatlamp on in their coop 24 hours aday + a white lamp that is on approx 14 hours a day. We have continuallyhad 8 - 10 eggs out of our 11 hens daily all winter. However, if one of thelights burns out or we forget to plug it in - we are punished by only 3eggs for a few days! I guess they don't want us to forget them again!Jennifer

Gina Hall : Hi Gina, Just wanted to send you a photo of my first everhatch with my incubator. The larger chicks are silver penciled wyandottesand the small ones are mixed bantams. They are one week old in thisphoto. Obviously they are feeling their chick feed!!

I am also building two hen houses, just small ones for bantams. I ambuilding these myself without help so can't build anything too big. One isjust a square one with a drop down side to get eggs, the nests are plasticcontainers in a frame. The second one I like better is an A frame, 4” X 4”X 4”. It's pretty cute if I do say so. ☺ I am amazed that I am actuallygetting them built. I have a Hovabator incubator and a home built one. Ihave several eggs in both right now and am expecting a shipment ofchicks next week. 25 feather legged bantams. I am SO excited for springto come so my chicks can go outside. Thanks! Gina Hall ☺



Subscriber Coops

Thanks to Christy for these photos of her coop and hens.

“Hi, I really enjoy your newsletter and wanted to share my photos. Welive in New England and got our ‘ladies’ 2 years ago. Each spring we adda few to our little family. This past fall we lost a few to racoons. So weare looking forward to getting more chicks soon. We had to find our firsteggs in the yard (mostly in the compost pile) at first. But now they havethe hang of it .



I really love them. They have great personalities and each is so different.Thank you for your great newsletter. Christy”



Thanks to Spencer & Family for these photos of their new coop.

“Here are a few pictures of my coop that I am making ready for our halfdozen of Rhode Island Reds soon to be arriving to our home, The familyare all excited and can’t wait to bring them to their new coop, I will sendmore of it when the girls arrive. We hope the pictures make your Newsletter which we all love. Kindest regards. Spencer & Family”



--------------------------

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Thanks to Synthia for these photos of her chicken ‘Sun rooms forWisconsin winters’

“The latest is made from recycled sliding glass doors when building anew coop. The rounded sun room was made from pig fencingsurrounding a small coop. Synthia NW Wisconsin”



-----------------------

Thanks to Pauline Jackson for these photos of the building ofher new Avery coop.

“Hi Gina, just wanted to send ya some pictures of my new chicken penthat we are building at the moment, as you can see its very pink lol. Theblue table is were we will be building the house for my girls, they can’tbe free range chickens as we have a lot of foxes and my cat likes to killbirds so a big Avery is the only way. It’s about 12 foot by 12 foot and 6



foot high so just hope the girls like it. I have 4 at the moment posh, scary,ginger and sporty, there was baby but he turned out to be a cockerel lol.So the spice girls are missing 1 at the moment lol.

Building The Nestboxes

Nestboxes attached and roof on the chicken house.

The wire is going on now so just the doors to fit and then the Girls will be moving inlol.



Well my girls have moved in now and are loving all the space, myneighbours say they must have the best hen house in town lol. Myhusband finished it today even though he is not supposed to do any workas he has cancer, but no one can stop him lol. Well he can rest now lol. Ialso want to say thank you for the advice about the chicks legs he is doingwell and walking great, cant even tell his legs were spread. Well will have6 more to move in the new pen when they are bigger. Got 3 sussex chicksand 3 frizzels if they are chickens not cocks lol, Well thanx again hopeyou like the pics Regards Pauline”

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Keeping Chickens Newsletter March 09