Heh...Hyper-alert...kinda like Hammy in Over the Hedge? :-)
Prayers for you too as you try to get someone to help you figure this out.
My chickens are huge...their days are numbered. They’ve got two weeks left...max.
Mrsnad
Mine were three weeks old yesterday. They’ve got three more weeks.
We built them two 3x4 foot cages with handles on the sides and hinged tops. Each cage has ten birds in it, which doesn’t sound like much space but it’s better than they get in commercial chicken houses where they just get one square foot. Plus, we pick the cages up by the handles and move them all over the back yard so that at any given time they have access to sun and shade, fresh grass and bugs and grit. Then I take the hose and spray down where they previously were and the manure rinses right into our sandy soil. They seem very content. Also, the frequent location change has kept them spotlessly clean.
I’m feeding 1/4 corn chops to 3/4 gamebird feed and intend to increase the increment of chops each week till slaughter. That should insure a good layer of fat! I learned that with Th’nuggets...they were a bit dry.