Last month my HOA in Austin voted to ban roosters after someone complained about the crowing at 5am. I got a warning letter for my 2 roosters and had to rehome them with a farm 30 miles out. Now half my local chicken group says roosters are essential for flock protection and breeding. The other half says they cause drama and noise issues with neighbors. I never realized how split people are on this until it happened to me. Do you keep roosters in your backyard or do you stick to hens only? Has anyone else dealt with a sudden local ban and how did you handle it?
I bought one of those expensive ceramic chicken waterers from a boutique farm supply place near me, thought it would be way better than plastic. Paid $60 for it, looked real nice in the coop. But after a week the water got all slimy inside because the white ceramic made it impossible to see algae growing. My chickens stopped drinking from it so I had to switch back to my old plastic one. Tried cleaning it with vinegar and a brush but the narrow neck made it almost impossible. Now it sits in my garage looking pretty but useless. Anyone else fall for the ceramic waterer hype or am I the only one who wasted money on that?
My neighbor Susan (she's had chickens for like 12 years now) warned me that cedar shavings can cause respiratory issues in hens. I figured she was being overprotective, but after 3 weeks of using a cheap bag from the feed store in Austin, two of my Rhode Island Reds started wheezing and sneezing. I switched to pine shavings last Tuesday and they perked right up within 4 days. Has anyone else had their birds react badly to certain bedding materials?
I spent a good 12 weeks running every test I could think of because one of my Rhode Island Reds kept sitting in the nesting box all day. I checked for mites, worms, respiratory stuff, even drove her to the vet for a fecal. Turns out she just wanted to hatch eggs I didn't have. I finally googled "chicken won't leave nest" and felt like an idiot when the first result said broody hen. Anyone else spend way too long diagnosing a non-issue?
I thought plastic was fine until I noticed mold growing inside the threads of the cap that I could never fully clean. After 3 of my hens got respiratory infections last February, I switched to metal waterers and haven't had a single issue since. Anyone else ditch plastic for something different?
I was at Tractor Supply yesterday grabbing a bag of shavings and the price had jumped to $8.49 for the same bag I used to get for $5.50 a couple years ago. The cashier said it's because of supply chain stuff with pine, but honestly it's getting ridiculous. Has anyone else started switching to something like straw pellets or sand to save money?
I kept finding broken shells in the coop and thought one of my hens was just being aggressive. Turned out my coop light was on a timer that was way too bright and running 14 hours a day. The hens were stressed and lacking calcium because they were laying too much. Switched to a dimmer bulb on a 12 hour cycle and the egg eating stopped within a week. Anyone else have a weird behavior that was actually just a setup problem?
So my neighbor Bob, who's had chickens for like 15 years, told me to mix plain yogurt into their feed every morning starting in November. He said the probiotics would keep them laying through December like magic. I tried it for three weeks straight and my girls actually laid less, plus two of them got runny droppings. I switched back to just their regular layer feed with some scratch and they picked right back up. Anyone else get advice from an old timer that totally backfired on them?
So I got one of those timer based auto doors from Tractor Supply about 8 months ago. Worked fine all summer and fall. But last Tuesday night something must have jammed it. I woke up at like 3 AM to a huge racket outside. Ran out in my pajamas with a flashlight and there was a raccoon trying to dig under the hardware cloth. The door was stuck half open because a piece of straw got wedged in the track. I ended up having to manually close it and prop it with a brick until morning. My girls were all huddled in the corner not moving. Now I'm looking at getting a photo sensor door instead since those don't rely on timers. Has anyone else had a door fail like this? I'm in Ohio so the cold might have made it worse too.
I kept getting these thin shelled eggs that would break apart when I tried to wash them. Finally after my Wyandotte laid one that looked like a deflated balloon, I counted and realized I was only giving them oyster shells like once a week. I had no idea they needed free choice calcium 24/7 especially during winter when they're not outside eating bugs. Has anyone else had their birds go through a weird soft shell phase that took forever to fix?
I was going crazy checking my feed mix and calcium levels for weeks. Then I realized my oyster shells were just sitting in the corner of the run untouched because they were too close to the waterer and got all muddy and gross. It took me 6 hours total across three afternoons to figure out the problem and move their dish to a dry spot under the coop overhang. Has anyone else dealt with hens ignoring something they clearly need just because of where you put it?
I got a batch of chicks from the local feed store back in March. One of them, a little speckled one I named Dottie, was super quiet and gentle for months. Then last Tuesday morning at 5:45 AM she let out the loudest crow I've ever heard right by the back door. I mean, I knew it was a risk buying straight runs but I thought I'd dodged it. Has anyone else had a hen suddenly turn into a rooster way later than you'd expect?
I was out near the coop in Portland trying to fill the feeder during a downpour and Leo flew at my face, so I finally cornered him with a broom and tossed him into the dog kennel for a week timeout. Has putting a bully rooster in solitary ever actually calmed yours down?
Last Tuesday it hit 103 here in Phoenix and I came home to find three of my hens panting like crazy in the run. I rushed to set up a misting fan I had laying around from my HVAC work and threw some frozen water bottles in their water. One of them ended up with egg binding from the stress and I had to do a warm bath soak on Wednesday night. Has anyone else dealt with heat related issues like this, what do you do to keep your girls cool when it spikes?
I always cleaned out my coop every two weeks because I thought deep litter would smell bad and be gross. Then my neighbor Sarah showed me her coop that she only cleans twice a year. No smell, no flies, and her chickens were scratching around happy. I gave it a shot back in March and now in September my coop actually smells better than before. Has anyone else seen a big difference switching away from straw?
Honestly I was picking up some oyster shell last Saturday at Tractor Supply in Springfield and this woman maybe 70 years old stopped me cause she saw the bag in my cart. She asked if I had laying hens and I said yeah three Rhode Island Reds and she just started telling me how she keeps twenty birds in her backyard and hasnt lost one to illness in over a decade. She said the trick is mixing dried mint and oregano into their feed every month because it keeps respiratory stuff away naturally. I stood there for like 15 minutes listening to her talk about her flock and she even wrote down her recipe on a scrap of paper. Has anyone else run into a random chicken keeper who dropped serious knowledge on them like that?
Last July in Phoenix we had that 5 day stretch of 115 degrees and my 8 hens just stopped moving. They were all huddled under the coop panting with their wings out and I panicked thinking something got in. I ran out with a hose and misted them down plus set up a kiddie pool with ice packs and within 2 hours they were back to normal. Turns out they were just overheating bad and I almost called the vet for nothing. Has anyone else had their birds go totally limp from heat before I lost a whole day of work over it?
I had a scare last Tuesday when I came home from work and found one of my Rhode Island Reds huddled in a corner with her feathers all puffed up. Turned out the neighbor's lab had squeezed under a gap in my fence and tried to get into my chicken run. My run is made from 2x4 welded wire and I always thought it was fine. But the dog actually managed to push the wire in a bit and one of my hens got her head stuck trying to get away. I got her out with no injuries luckily but it made me switch to 1/2 inch hardware cloth on the bottom three feet of the run that same weekend. That stuff is way stiffer and the dog can't push through it at all. Cost me about 60 bucks for the roll at Tractor Supply but worth every penny for peace of mind. Has anyone else had a close call with predators getting through welded wire?
I used to think keeping a rooster was just for looks or bragging rights, but last month my neighbor Dave saw me chasing my rooster around the yard and said 'you know he's actually keeping your flock safe, right?' He showed me how that rooster would spot hawks way before the hens and sound the alarm. Now I actually let him do his thing instead of locking him up at night. Has anyone else had a neighbor change how you see your own birds?
I was browsing a real estate blog last week and stumbled on a stat saying that 40% of buyers actually view chicken coops as a negative when looking at houses. I always assumed chickens were a selling point, like a garden or a deck. But the article said some see them as a noise or smell issue, especially in tight neighborhoods. Has anyone else run into this or had a buyer complain about your setup?
I used to strip out all the bedding from my coop every Sunday without fail, hauling bags to the curb for months. Then last winter I tried the deep litter method after reading about it online, and my girls stayed warmer and I cut my work down to twice a season. So which way do you lean for your flock, a fresh start each week or letting it build up over time?
I switched from straw to pine shavings last month after my girls kept getting damp chests, but now I'm dealing with more dust and the compost pile doesn't break it down as fast, what do you all use and why?
My neighbor Dave told me not to worry about the black walnut tree hanging over my run, said he'd had one for years with no issues. Three weeks after I built my new coop under it, two of my hens started acting weird and one stopped laying. I looked it up and juglone from walnut leaves can be toxic to chickens. Had to move the whole setup 20 feet away, took me a whole Saturday.
When I got 6 new chicks last spring, my dad told me cracked corn was basically the same as chick starter. I gave it to them for about a week and they all started getting sluggish and one had trouble walking. Turns out cracked corn doesn't have nearly enough protein for growing chicks, they need 18-20% starter feed. I switched to proper starter crumbles and they perked back up in like 3 days. Anybody else get bad advice from older family members about what to feed?