Someone commented on my latest YouTube video that if you use chicken wire, you’ll definitely lose your backyard chicken flock.
I think it’s funny when people say this or that will DEFINITELY happen – especially if “that thing” runs against the grain of their opinion.
When it comes to chickens and ducks, you should always make the best decision for YOUR flock. That might mean hardware cloth. Or it might mean chicken wire.
It might mean pink powder coated wire.
There ARE some things you should never do with chickens – like feed them apple seeds. They contain trace amounts of cyanide and offer no nutritional value.
But some things have a bit of wiggle room – like chicken wire, what your coop should look like, whether you use wood chips or sand.
These are personal decisions.
If you want to check out the video and read the entire comment and my response, you can right here!
(If you like it, be sure to give a thumbs up or a comment – it tells YouTube people like our videos, which helps other chicken owners find them.)
Latest Hatch
I’ve pulled out about half the eggs from this latest hatch.
They just didn’t develop – but in the flock’s defense, most of the eggs I stuck in were from hens JUST starting to lay – so the eggs might not have been really fertilized.
As of the other day, we have some silver laced polish eggs developing and definitely some duck eggs.
The California Whites have been running with cochin roosters, and I can’t wait to see what chicks hatch!
(California white isn’t really a true breed. I think someone messed up at the hatchery and bred chickens that weren’t meant to be bred, and they decided to make the best of it by creating a designer chicken mutt.
But the hens are nice, quiet chickens, and I like them. So I said why not to hatching a few of their eggs).
In anticipation, I moved some of the ducklings to the main coop, where there’s more room. They have grown SO FAST. They outgrew their pen almost as soon as we had it built.
It’s a good pen, and the new chicks will enjoy it! You can see the completed pen here:
Maat van Uitert is a backyard chicken and sustainable living expert. She is also the author of Chickens: Naturally Raising A Sustainable Flock, which was a best seller in it’s Amazon category. Maat has been featured on NBC, CBS, AOL Finance, Community Chickens, the Huffington Post, Chickens magazine, Backyard Poultry, and Countryside Magazine. She lives on her farm in Southeast Missouri with her husband, two children, and about a million chickens and ducks. You can follow Maat on Facebook here and Instagram here.
Always great informations–thanks very much!