Reviews by Cryss

Excellent information I’ve never had any of the conditions and hope I don’t. This information will be helpful if I do. That being said, I have found the occasional rubber egg or empty membrane in early mornings under the roost. I couldn’t tell who they came from. I’ve found lash eggs once and a very strangely warped thick shell. Without anyone exhibiting symptoms I don’t know who it came from. It’s been probably almost year since I’ve seen a rubber egg.

I love me some pretty, colorred eggs in my basket. I see a couple breeds I need to investigate further!!

I love the way you recycled used materials to buil this big, walk-in style coop. Strong and with all of the elements a coop needs. Excellent

Great bit of research done to find these links. :thumbsup

The woodwork is beautiful and well executed. The builder is probably Well experienced in building things with wood. It looks strong and has good elements. As a work of construction this is lovely. As a coop the size is suitable for 1 or 2 birds only. It only needs 1 or at most 2 nests for its size. The run needs to be 2.5 times the size of the coop. Seeing this lovely little coop makes me look forward to what this builder can do with a bigger plan.

Jealous! Mega jealous! Gorgeous!

I’m glad you started with the definitions of hen, rooster, pullet, and cockerel. You’ve chosen some excellent photo examples to show the physical differences. And although I agree in general about your comparison of hen/rooster combs and wattles I also find that some breeds have females with huge combs and wattles. My own white leghorn Matilda, who passed away last week sadly, would put many roosters to shame with her voluptuous headdress bits. Naïve visitors would comment on my “small rooster”. All in all this was a very good article. Thank you for sharing it with us

I like that the builder noted the mistakes and relates the plans to fix them like the use of chicken wire to be changed to hardware cloth. I like that it was understood that they are preparing a proper coop and this is not intended to be permanent. My main concern was predators due to chicken wire, and crowding since they grow so fast. Obviously that was quickly fixed with the beautiful big coop. Kudos!

Wow. Just wow. You did it right by getting advice upfront from this wonderful site. I did it wrong but this forum mentored me through it, still making corrective adjustments. Your entire setup is wonderful, lots of thought in it. And it’s beautiful to top it off! Excellent!!

All the things I should have known before I bought chickens. Do it correctly right from the beginning. It’s waaaay easier than fixing all the mistakes.

My first accidental rooster was mean and very aggressive. I had to separate him from the hens and from humans especially. I swore I’d never again have a rooster. He passed away peacefully in his sleep. Then as a favor for a friend I fostered 2 young cockerels. After quarantine I introduced them to my ladies. I was immediately enamored of both boys! The older hens taught them manners quickly. Seeing them learn to dance was something I never saw in the mean rooster. The new boys both show me respect and seem to trust me with their ladies. I have reached overtop of the alpha to grab a hen hiding behind him so I could treat a bumblefoot. He let me know with concerned clucking and standing up for a second that he saw and was watching. Then he ignored me.

This article has verified for me the actions that I’ve done properly. It’s also pointed to actions I may need to be aware of in the future. Understanding the natural reactions and lifestyles of chickens helps us know how to be respectful of them. This article has been very helpful in this. Thank you for writing this.

Well done, easily understood.

Adding new birds is always stressful. Knowing how to do it reduces a goodly portion of that stress. Well done.

I now can say I don't have 15 chickens, I don't even have 5. I have none!
Well written, well thought through, and fun to follow.

I'm 68 and started to "build" a coop before my son in law intervened, thank God! Your coop is AWESOME! More awesome cuz you did it yourself. You had a smart plan for it going with panels. Proper job!