Colorado

[coop410silkies]

@coop410silkies He was just in a sleeping arrangement that didn't have enough ventilation to keep the humidity down.

I also woke up to a coop with snow in it. We had blizzard condition here again, but the winds were strong enough this time to get snow in all 6 nesting boxes, about 1/4 of the actual coop area & the west window unlocked. It was super frustrating because I thought I had sealed all the gaps around the nesting boxes. I'm going to have to figure something else out tomorrow when I'm shovelling the pen out. I don't think anyone but the peas ventured out into the pen today, but it was just terrible out here. Memnoch & Mercury are hanging out in the barn for the night, so I'm hoping everything is quiet until morning for them. If he wasn't fully into his adult crowing sound, I would seriously consider bringing them inside the garage again. I feel like I might worry about them the most because I hatched & raised them & they were my firsts. Probably a good thing I'll never have kids - I'd totally be the obnoxious helicopter mom!

OK, I can understand. He is a small bird, and one might think he needs either company, or a small enclosure, or both to stay warm. The outside humidity has been so high, though - like in the 80's - and I wonder how it can be reduced in coops and outside enclosures. I understand, too, that your "firstborn" are so very special.

I, too, am doing some clean up today. On top of shoveling the drifted snow, I have to catch some escaped chickens and mend the fence where my dog got in and killed my prize SS pullet. Honestly, I empathize with you.

I hope your birds are OK and that we all recover.

 

[coop410silkies]

Well, it's been an interesting morning. A neighbor plowed my turnaround and thereby plowed both my trucks IN. Plus, my only 4WD, a Tracker, is dead to this world. I do not plan on going anywhere soon.

There are a couple of piles of snow in a tarp covered hoop coop, but the birds do not seem at all stressed, and most of their coop is dry. The snow heaps are on the leeward side and I'm wondering how they drifted in.

The big Sussex cocks are all puffed up and miserable-looking, but, while they have feed available 24/7, they still plow through the wind and the snow to get to the house, where, hopefully, they will get some "special" food. They are so pathetic, they are almost lovable. If they are willing to tough it out, though, they get my respect and the best care I can manage.

One of my new heated dog bowls froze solid. It's not much more than a disappointment, because the Silkies that it served love to eat the snow. STILL. It has only a 25 Watt element; the one with a 60 watt element and a 5 gallon bucket nipple waterer in it is holding its own in keeping the water in the bucket de-iced.

My back door on the north side blew open, and I woke up to large drifts of snow on BOTH the inside and outside. Ugh. My mud room became a flood room.

My dog, a St. Bernard/GSP mutt, killed the ONLY SS pullet hatched last summer by her Broodie mom. The Dad died a couple months ago, and this pullet was his last offspring; he was from Walt Reichert in Tennessee. The loss is still settling in, and I am about to cry a bucket. I might have to get philosophical.

What is strange about this is how my dog interacts with my chickens. In general she is solicitous about them. My LS cocks dance for her, and she lies down so that they can grab her by the head and neck and tread on her. But only for the white birds, who are colored and patterned like her. The SS she doesn't care for, least of all the hens. So, this little SS pullet she killed she brought up through the snowdrifts to a little protected spot under my window, where I often put out snacks for the roaming LS cocks, and there she left it. She killed and brought only the one, and the did come out of their pens to feast.

My dog - a substantial muscular b**** who knows how big she is - doesn't just pester me to go out and take care of the chickens, she DRAGS me out; she PUMMELS me, without mercy, to go out and tend to them. I'm deaf and can't hear them, but every time somebody squawks, I have to go out. If a gate is open or a door is flopping open - or whatever - she goes into hyperdrive and gets my sorry arse OUT, even in the middle of the night. Yesterday, I was in a poor humor, and I refused to be horsed around. So I shut her up in the basement to get a few hours of relief. It was when I finally let her out that she decided to go get the pullet. I think she was feeding the LS cocks that I never went out to give snacks yesterday. She could not WAIT to get me outside and see what she done. And THAT just blows my mind. It's why I have to get philosophical.

OK, my feet are warm again, and I can go out and finish what I started earlier. The dog is beckoning.

 

[COChix]

Well, it's been an interesting morning. A neighbor plowed my turnaround and thereby plowed both my trucks IN. Plus, my only 4WD, a Tracker, is dead to this world. I do not plan on going anywhere soon.

There are a couple of piles of snow in a tarp covered hoop coop, but the birds do not seem at all stressed, and most of their coop is dry. The snow heaps are on the leeward side and I'm wondering how they drifted in.

The big Sussex cocks are all puffed up and miserable-looking, but, while they have feed available 24/7, they still plow through the wind and the snow to get to the house, where, hopefully, they will get some "special" food. They are so pathetic, they are almost lovable. If they are willing to tough it out, though, they get my respect and the best care I can manage.

One of my new heated dog bowls froze solid. It's not much more than a disappointment, because the Silkies that it served love to eat the snow. STILL. It has only a 25 Watt element; the one with a 60 watt element and a 5 gallon bucket nipple waterer in it is holding its own in keeping the water in the bucket de-iced.

My back door on the north side blew open, and I woke up to large drifts of snow on BOTH the inside and outside. Ugh. My mud room became a flood room.

My dog, a St. Bernard/GSP mutt, killed the ONLY SS pullet hatched last summer by her Broodie mom. The Dad died a couple months ago, and this pullet was his last offspring; he was from Walt Reichert in Tennessee. The loss is still settling in, and I am about to cry a bucket. I might have to get philosophical.

What is strange about this is how my dog interacts with my chickens. In general she is solicitous about them. My LS cocks dance for her, and she lies down so that they can grab her by the head and neck and tread on her. But only for the white birds, who are colored and patterned like her. The SS she doesn't care for, least of all the hens. So, this little SS pullet she killed she brought up through the snowdrifts to a little protected spot under my window, where I often put out snacks for the roaming LS cocks, and there she left it. She killed and brought only the one, and the did come out of their pens to feast.

My dog - a substantial muscular b**** who knows how big she is - doesn't just pester me to go out and take care of the chickens, she DRAGS me out; she PUMMELS me, without mercy, to go out and tend to them. I'm deaf and can't hear them, but every time somebody squawks, I have to go out. If a gate is open or a door is flopping open - or whatever - she goes into hyperdrive and gets my sorry arse OUT, even in the middle of the night. Yesterday, I was in a poor humor, and I refused to be horsed around. So I shut her up in the basement to get a few hours of relief. It was when I finally let her out that she decided to go get the pullet. I think she was feeding the LS cocks that I never went out to give snacks yesterday. She could not WAIT to get me outside and see what she done. And THAT just blows my mind. It's why I have to get philosophical.

OK, my feet are warm again, and I can go out and finish what I started earlier. The dog is beckoning.

. Sorry about your dad and your dog eating your pullet. Hope things get a little better....

 

[Double Kindness]

This snow can go away now.. well.. maybe after Christmas.

The ducks are frolicking in the snow. I put down some straw do they can walk around a bit.

I was looking at the etsy.com store Party Fowl.. she makes custom duck harnesses, diapers, leashes and bling. Kinda spendy st $40 a diaper harness set up.

 

[coop410silkies]

. Sorry about your dad and your dog eating your pullet. Hope things get a little better....

Oh, thank you for the hugs and kisses.
My DOG did not eat the pullet, she brought it up to house for her FAVORITES - the LS cocks - to eat. (And they did) She often takes her own meals out to them, and she hounds me until I take their special snacks out to them. She fusses so much about them, I don't have to.
As much as I would like to blame and punish her, I just can't. She could grab a chicken anytime it struck her fancy, but she took just the smallest weakest one.
It was the PULLET's Dad who died, and the pullet was his last offspring.
I was born and raised a city girl, and my dog seems to be a "farm" dog. I am seriously having to rethink what I've always "known" about dogs (which turns out to be practically nothing). And chickens!
So there are some good aspects to this sadness for me, which probably never would have happened had my big dog not been doing her "thing." Now THAT's a philosophical thought, isn't it?

Or maybe just a choice?
Blessings

 

[KLBCOS]

Bus coops are cool, the standard bronzes don't fly like the Royal Palms ( those I clip the wings on) the coop has a very high ceiling and I put roosters up their and they are quite content. They will climb up the ramp and go in provided the door is big enough, I have a 24"x 24" coop door and the geese and turkeys can get in that just fine. The geese get a little testy in there, during mating season come March, then they hiss and chase all the other birds. But for the most part there is peace in the valley. Winter feed I mix my own organic grains and field peas, I get minerals to add to it from McMurray to make a complete food, give them free choice oyster shell. Summer I ferment the feed and add organic soy to up the protein for all the egg laying and chick raising. For some that may be too much work but I am a retired old man and got a little extra time to do this stuff (way fun as the kids say). However everybody gets the same feed, the geese an ducks in the summer eat a lot of grass in the pasture, in the winter i have a cage with grass hay and they all munch on that but mostly the waterfowl. Hope that answers your questions a little bit. 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. So, it's sounds like you increase the protein of standard feed to accommodate all the different varieties. I too have a bit more time to care for chickens. Thanks again.

 

[KLBCOS]

Any thoughts?

I am considering removing all the bedding underneath the roost bars of our bus coop. This will leave about 2/3 of the bus with bedding. The reason I want to do this is then I can remove all poop under roost bars every few days or daily when my schedule allows it. I like the idea to reduce moisture and poop in the coop in the area with the most poop. Currently the bedding is shavings and hay and gets very matted down.one of my concerns is if we have very cold temps for many days the poop will freeze and be difficult to remove or I'll have to wait until the poop thaws. Will it be cold without the bedding? I would love to hear your thoughts or experience as I contemplate this change. TIA

 

[coop410silkies]

Any thoughts?

I am considering removing all the bedding underneath the roost bars of our bus coop. This will leave about 2/3 of the bus with bedding. The reason I want to do this is then I can remove all poop under roost bars every few days or daily when my schedule allows it. I like the idea to reduce moisture and poop in the coop in the area with the most poop. Currently the bedding is shavings and hay and gets very matted down.one of my concerns is if we have very cold temps for many days the poop will freeze and be difficult to remove or I'll have to wait until the poop thaws. Will it be cold without the bedding? I would love to hear your thoughts or experience as I contemplate this change. TIA

I have many of the same questions. Have read where some people put down news papers, empty feed bags, tar paper - or whatever - under the roosts and just roll them up and pitch them into their compost bins. There are threads about this. Yeah, I think the floor will be colder where you don't have the bedding, but honestly, they birds might not mind too much, especially if they have the roosts to sit upon to keep warm. I was chipping ice from my porches, and where the birds had come up and pooped was like concrete. I did not know that poop froze like that. I don't think it would be a good idea to remove the bedding. Some people love sand under their roosts, but not everyone.

 

[Percheron chick]

Can you fashion some type of slanted poop tray that you can scrape off into a wheelbarrow or pull out and dump? You are going to have to put a thin layer of shavings down so the poop freezes to it not the floor. I would look at pulling up the floor under the roosts, replacing it with wire and let the poop fall to the ground. Next summer...

 

[uzisuzuki]

This snow can go away now.. well.. maybe after Christmas.

The ducks are frolicking in the snow. I put down some straw do they can walk around a bit.

I was looking at the etsy.com store Party Fowl.. she makes custom duck harnesses, diapers, leashes and bling. Kinda spendy st $40 a diaper harness set up.

Those are cute! It is a bit pricey, but it might be worth it in the long run.