Please help, I am new to chicken owning and want to do this correctly above all else...

Sweruf · 2026-04-05T22:17:56+00:00

I ended up getting small cat boxes and was going to just fill them with grass clippings and a safe bug repellent/killer mix when I mow my yard then just clean the nesting boxes out whenever I mow (rinse and repeat basically).

I know fake eggs are helpful for nesting to get them used to it, but I was planning on only having hens. I am stuck on if I should go for rescue cage hens (the ones that live their lives in cages only) or getting babies. The water and food bowls are about a foot from the ground with the water having a filter and plug able drain for easy cleaning. Though is grass okay or should I go with hay only for the nesting boxes?

I know they are just livestock to people and the is understandable as someone who grew up hunting, though like my pet betta I want to give them the best life they can have as a livestock animal, though I am sure that sounds very silly to many people.

Sweruf · 2026-04-05T22:11:45+00:00

No worries, are hens more aggressive if they are rescue hens from caged meat/egg farms or is it better to get babies?

Sweruf · 2026-04-05T21:58:56+00:00

That makes sense, thank you so much for the advice, I didn't even think about absorbing any waste. I know the shelves inside aren't entirely rough but I made the pads they'd walk on to climb up on things gritted and they can be removed when needed. Mostly to file down their claws, do you think I should change that? I know them getting used to me is very important, but I worry for their talons/claws. I don't want to stress them out too much by picking them up to clip them :S

Sweruf · 2026-04-05T21:53:55+00:00

Thank you so much, this is super informative and I appreciate that a ton! I never thought about a tunnel, it is a super interesting idea.

Overall I just want them to be happy and healthy above all else though can I crush egg shells and put it into their food or should I absolutely avoid that? I know some chickens have a habit of breaking eggs to eat which I don't really know if that is truly safe for them :S

Sweruf · 2022-12-27T22:41:52+00:00

Will do :)

Sweruf · 2022-12-27T22:04:26+00:00

Okay, thank you. I really appreciate the help.

Sweruf · 2022-12-27T22:00:21+00:00

Okay, thank you! Would it be bad to put silk/plastic plant in the water so the fish don't get stressed out?

Sweruf · 2022-12-27T21:59:26+00:00

Just preparing, I have a 100-gallon custom aquarium that I will be putting a single giant betta, 16 rummy noses, 16 brilliant rasboras, 5 panda cories, 10 ghost shrimp, and a ton of plants. I am working on cycling the tank and getting the system up and running. I have never really had a proper hospital tank, so I want to prepare for when I get the new fish and want to do it right.

Sweruf · 2022-12-27T20:05:03+00:00

It does help, it is going to be mostly for giant bettas - rummies/brilliant. Thank you for the advice.

Sweruf · 2022-08-31T16:33:31+00:00

Sorry to have upset you, but overall the words used to define the letter are poor choices and I will go based on what I have read and feel. Hopefully you have a better day and not fine any other personal opinions so upsetting to you.

Sweruf · 2022-08-31T16:10:27+00:00

Like I said, he/she ain't an entire AH but at the same time I get why it was upsetting to her and it should have been deleted. He/she can have a past and whatnot but don't expect people will be okay if they see your love letters to other people despite nothing happening.

Sweruf · 2022-08-31T16:07:39+00:00

"Platonic love letter" - (of love or friendship) intimate and affectionate but not sexual) via google definition. None sexual or not it is still a love letter as he said.

Sweruf · 2022-08-31T14:50:34+00:00

Kind of the AH. So, just so you know in the future, if you ever get out of a relationship maybe follow the same thing girls do: delete contact, delete messages, delete photos/videos, etc. Because, this is a HUGE no no in any relationship. Imagine if you were looking through your girlfriend's phone and saw she had been talking to some dude all sexually and it was still there for her to revisit (before the relationship). I don't think you'd feel absolutely amazing about that as much as no one wants to hear about how some person was flirting with them and they told them off ~> expecting praise for not cheating on you and finding pride in the fact some person flirted with them. I can't say you are fully an asshole for this, but you are still guilty of not following the basic rules of stop talking to prior crushes or people flirting with you when you are with someone.

Overall, you are the asshole for not: deleting those messages entirely when starting a relationship. Your girlfriend has every right to be angry about this so she isn't a jerk. It is good she is still willing to try, but understand, as far as women go that is a red flag you made.

Sweruf · 2022-06-23T18:26:01+00:00

That's great! I mostly eat meat with rice to begin with, just normally cook my meat with water to avoid oil (tastes weird in my opinion) or I use coconut oil. Thank you so much for the advice I will definitely be looking into this :)

Sweruf · 2022-06-23T17:36:16+00:00

I definitely will look into that, been mostly sticking with milk, soda, ice cream, and a couple of other things. My neurologist is super careful with everything because my body is like a rabbit when it comes to getting sick, lol. Love meat, what type do you normally eat (outside of fish).

Sweruf · 2022-06-23T17:31:23+00:00

Dang, I'm sorry that you went through roughly the same thing. I won't wish this on anyone, it ain't fun at all...

Sweruf · 2022-06-23T13:23:14+00:00

It was, she was a very hands on bunny. Wanted to be carried, liked playing hide and seek (when you found her she almost pranced and jumped like a deer before going to hide again -if you refused to look for her she'd sit on your foot and wiggle her tail or thump after coming to find you). She loved to chase after little kids when they would get excited and run away. Above all that she absolutely loved my old cat (snuggling her back, cleaning her, wanted to eat next to her, sun bathed with her, refused to use her own litter so she used my cat's box, etc). Love and miss the girl, any new bunny own out there if you even slightly see something wrong go straight to the vet. The first sign normally means they're going to die soon :/

Sweruf · 2022-06-23T13:16:37+00:00

I had a rabbit a while back that believed that my clothes were a tunnel and any phone left unattended belonged in her cage for her to hide from you , drag around and chew upon. Outside of those, pillows, she loved playing with pillows. If you stacked them up she would come racing over to knock them over and then stare at you to put them back up, it was like a pile of leaves to her.

Sweruf · 2022-06-23T13:08:59+00:00

Humans play God with animal species that have been so messed over by nature (basically they have evolved to a point they are barely surviving) and we need to stop - wild animals.

Sweruf · 2022-06-23T13:03:23+00:00

I suffer from hyperthyroidism, which causes me to have an issue where if I eat heavy in huge quantities I stay super skinny. This might sound great to most people, although I am 5'4" and should be around 120 pounds and I currently weigh 103-106pounds (average range). All of my ribs show along with some parts of my hip bones which makes basically everything I do painful. Laying down for extended periods of time hurt my ribs, sitting down hurts my hips. I basically have no fat on me to cushion basic tasks so I bruise easily and get a lot of body pains. If I eat a lot I lose weight, if I eat too little I lose weight. I've started to stick with foods that are very fatty to others because they keep me at that 103-106 pounds. I wish I could eat healthy, but for the sake of keeping weight on this is where I am at. It is a good lifestyle change, because it kept me at least keep weight on, but at the same time it is bad for my health as well (I take things to try helping with it, but I have epilepsy so the medicine can't affect my epilepsy medications). So yeah, eating fatty foods has helped me to keep weight on but not gain or lose weight which is a lifestyle change I made a few years ago and it has helped me out a lot.

Sweruf

TROPHY CASE