Howdy to All from Mitchell Farm in Illinois

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Mitchell Farm

Mitchell Farm

In the Brooder
6 Years
Mar 21, 2013
88
3
43
I am thrilled to be a part of what I have discovered to be an excellent forum for researching practical information for raising chickens. While having raised and butchered our own chickens as a young man 40 years ago, I am brand new at raising them from 1 day old chicks and actually providing for them in the most stress free, healthy, and practical means possible.

By way of introduction, my wife and I have three grown children, the last of which is completing his Junior year at a Christian college. We have been blessed thus far with three wonderful grandchildren who are growing up much too quickly! I have been in Education my entire career, 10 years teaching and 20 years as both principal and now superintendent of a medium sized unit district. My lovely wife of nearly 34 years is school district nurse. Lord willing, I will have plenty of time to mess with my farm animals in 4 years when my wife and I both plan to retire.

We have wonderful facility for "hobby farming" with 4 fenced acres, a pond, two large barns and an old 1949 Ford N tractor as my "workhorse". Our chicks are now 3 weeks old and it has been a real treat to watch them grow. I converted and old corn crib into a coop that is 18' x 8' which will provide plenty of room for my 26 Australorps, Laced Wyandottes, Orpintons and Reds. I have just completed a 30' x 8' run attached to this coop. Half of the run is covered with roofing, while the other half is covered with chicken wire to allow full sun, and yet keep the many raptors we have around here away from my chickens.

I based the vast majority of building plans on comments from this and other forums and truly appreciate the wealth of information available and provided by many of you. Hopefully, I have built correctly and my little ladies will be happy once outside. Can't wait to see how they react!

Happy Easter to all!
 
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Good for you, you sound like a real go-getter. It's a pleasure to have your join the flock
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Appreciate the welcomes! I have a question for those of you with experience. What type of bedding do you use in your coop? I can clean as needed. I was thinking of using straw simply due to posts I have read here. Most say that is absorbs better than pine shavings and is better for composting. My sister always has straw available as they are cattle and chicken raisers as well. Any opinions out there? Thanks in advance for your repsonses!
 
I use hay or straw in the coop. While I've use pine shavings with chicks in the brooder, I personally think hay or straw does a better job of keeping odors down. When I clean the coop I mulch around my tomatoes with the used bedding.
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
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I do the deep Litter method, and hay or straw does not work as well as it tends to compact. I do use hay and or straw in my run from fall through spring - the mud - snow - mud seasons.
 
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Appreciate your response. Like the idea of using straw during wet seasons. How often do you clean the coop during the year using the deep litter method? Do you ever stir or turn the bedding over prior to cleaning? If so, how often?
 

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