There are buff rocks,barred rocks and white rocks and maybe even more colors.
Starting Over
" I'm still wavering on the whole idea, though. My son thinks I've gone bonkers! We'll see..."
Lazarpl, think it thru *G*. Once you start, there's no going back.....
Yes, no going back, and it's expensive to get started too. I have to buy some sort of henhouse and run. I have a dog house that's not being used, it's 35" x 36" or so, have thought of making that over into a coop. It has a lift-up roof, so would be easy to get into. (My son made it.) It needs more ventilation holes, though, and something to close the door off at night. It might work for awhile, anyway, with only 4 hens. Will have to get a nesting box and a roost, too. Then the run is another story. I found a pre-fab coop and run on ebay that looks nice, both (together) would cost about $400, counting shipping, That's a bunch of cash!
I've been thinking on all this for about a month now, reading lots of books on raising chickens. I almost got into this a year ago, but decided not to at that time.
Let us help; we are a great group of enablers!
Porkpal, you guys tickle me! I get more chuckles reading these forums than I do all day doing anything else!
BTW, when reading one of the other forums I read "All chickens have lice and mites."... Oh-oh, does that mean that if my chickens are allowed to free-range in my backyard that my two little dogs will get those bugs too? They're mostly inside dogs (a toy poodle and a Lhaso Apso) but they're also out in the backyard quite alot, especially the Lhapso. She loves being outside. If they get those bugs, then they'll bring them in the house! I have enough problems keeping my house clean without asking for more! (I won't necessarily have the dogs loose outside and the chickens loose there at the same time too, but still, they'd be running around in the same grass and yard.) Sounds like this could be a red flag warning!! Your comments and experiences??....
Lice and mites are species-specific. Dogs can't support chicken lice or mites, nor can people.
Whew! Thank goodness!!! I was worried there for awhile that my chicken-raising days were over before I started!
When I was a kid I raised chickens for one spring and summer in my backyard in a small town in Iowa (MANY years ago!). I remember once my chickens got little red bugs under their wings, and my mom, who had been raised on a farm, had me smear some Crisco or something like that under their wings. It cured them, got rid of the bugs, which I assume were lice (?). Have you ever heard of doing that??
From reading all these forums, I never would have dreamed that chickens got so many sicknesses! I guess my chances of that's happening would be less with only 3 or 4 chickens, though, wouldn't it?
There are many things that can happen to chickens - fortunately most rarely do. My chickens have always been pretty low maintenance.