Matt McSpadden

I second what Nancy says as a possibility. However, when my tomatoes were stressed and purple, the whole leaf was purple. So it is possible the blotches are some sort of disease.

Welcome to Permies!

Just throwing out another option is those attachments for a pressure washer. They fire water into the ground to loosen and move things aside. More mess, but less grunt work.

I think you are on the right track. When we take animals into our care, we become responsible for their well being. A piece of that is making sure they are safe.

What kind of predators are in your area will determine what kind of changes might need to be made. A livestock guardian dog is one good method... but might be overkill for just 5 animals. Building a stronger shelter like you mentioned, might be a good option.

The type of predators will determine how strong and what kinds of materials you could use.

I came across this article
https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2024/07/honey-for-heat-stress-in-chickens.html

In the article she mentions several studies that have shown adding honey to the chicken's water has been shown to help with heat stress in chickens.

I have heard of using shade, using cold water, using ice blocks, using fans.... I had not heard of honey.

Has anyone else heard of this?

For my 2 cents... I like the style. But I also deal with charts and numbers alot, so this style is familiar to me.

My one critique is that it feels like one chart. But it appears that the columns in the top most part do not flow down to the next two charts?

***Edit - And yes, while I can do math... it's nice to have it handy, as I also find myself doubling and tripling recipes alot.

Warning label on a can of furniture polish:

"Do not ingest. Will cause a slow death, but a beautiful finish."

If swimmers get swimmer's ear...
and athletes get athlete's foot...
what do astronauts get?

Missle toe!

I first heard about "magic water" from Justin Rhodes.

I reference his ingredient list here https://permies.com/t/223841/change-bedding-deep-litter-chickens#1911245 and it is also referenced in passing in some other threads.

Here is a link to an article using Justin's recipe. https://thisbeautifulfarmlife.com/magic-water-for-baby-chicks/

I am not an expert... but radiant heating is not about heating the air, it is about heating things. So my gut is that a high ceiling will not matter as much when it comes to radiant heat. Convection heat would be a different story.