Boredom busting treat basket!

Recently I got the idea that my Guineas may be bored. They've been chasing around the coop and run just a little too much and a few look like they had some feathers pulled recently. Just...ya know, boredom behavior! It's only the coop that doesn't get to free range and I can understand where they might need a little more activity then their 12X20 coop (and run the same size) might provide. 

I've been trying to come up with ways to keep them busy and I think I've hit the nail on the head with this one. I made them a hanging treat basket! 

This is a great way to help alleviate boredom in the coop as it can cause bad behaviors such as feather picking, pecking each other, bullying and more!

Chicken coop maintenance: Plastic coops

It's that time of year again.....yearly coop cleaning! Oh sure coops get cleaned weekly, some stuff even gets done daily but the big cleaning is a once a year deal. This time we're going to discuss the maintenance needed for plastic chicken coops. 

There are all kinds of plastic coops people use. Our Silkie coop is a converted child's playhouse that we found on Craigslist, though I did consider using one of those large plastic garden sheds. Many people use the small 'garage style' sheds that can be bought at home improvement stores and warehouse clubs. 

Still others have converted other outdoor structures into coops. Whatever the case may be your chicken coop is going to need a thorough outside and inside cleaning at least once a year. Enter the power washer. 

Chickens everywhere, the Roos

This week we're going to talk about large fake roosters. I have 2 main roo's in my house. One in the living room and 1 on the porch. First up is Rodney the rooster. I'm not sure what the heck Rodney is made of...tissue paper maybe? His tail and some of his wing feathers seem to be made of starched burlap. My mom bought him for me from the flea market. He stands about 2 feet tall and is pure awesomeness:

Recycled dust bath tub for chickens

I have seen a lot of dust bath posts lately. There are so many great ideas....so many different ways to make a dust bath for your chickens. Ours were given to us and the chickens love them. They are a re-use project...so I thought I'd post about it so you can see how we recycled 1 barrel to make 2 dust baths for the chickens.

Last summer hubby's Uncle called and said "wait till you see what I'm bringing you!" He showed up about 20 minutes later with what looked like a rain barrel cut in half. It was super simple, he had cut the barrel in half then removed the top and bottom. We put one in the main coop and one outside the Silkie coop. 

They work great for allowing the chickens to dust bath which they need to do to keep their feathers healthy and free of parasites!

Chickens chickens everywhere

It just occurred to me how many chicken things we have. I don't mean chicken supplies....I mean things with chickens on them! We have signs, decorations, kitchenware and figurines. There are useful items, mascots, toys and things that 'make you go hmmm'. We have new stuff, old stuff and stuff that I'm not sure when we got it. 

Oddly enough, much of it is from back when we were city slickers. Weird right? We even had rubber duckies as an accent at out wedding 2 years before having waterfowl was even a thought. An omen perhaps? Either way, our house is filled with them and I thought I would devote a post this week to introducing you to a few of our nonliving poultry residents.

First up: this sign was a gift for hubby's birthday a few years back. Hand-cut and stained, it was supposed to hang above the building we sell chicks out of but we are too worried about getting it ruined to put it out in the rain and snow. It resides inside the garage instead. Eventually it will move outside....but not till we have somewhere protected picked out for it.