Managing my chickens/run to avoid disease.

[rosemarythyme]

They would bill it out, not clean it up, and it got ground into the dirt and created sheets of stinking feed. It smelled terrible and once they did that, it was wasted.

I tend to underfeed my birds verses overfeed. I watch what is left over pretty carefully. If a lot is left over, I feed less, if it is bare clean - I feed more. Spilled of billed feed is cleaned up by the girls. Thing is, there is a lot of variance day to day.

So keeping your feed dry, keeping it from being spilled, from collecting in the mud is also important.

I had that issue too until I took a two pronged approach to feeding. I feed fermented feed outside which they do a good job cleaning up as the day goes on, and dry feed inside only. The dry feeder is removed at night so any dry feed that's spilled gets picked up the next morning before they're let out.

They like corn a lot, and go for mealworms regularly, but they do serm to ignore the crumbles.....I will cut back on treats and see what happens.

They should primarily be eating their feed or foraging if they free range. I only hand out treats to get them to come back to the run, and I mix in feed to further reduce how much "junk food" they get.

 

[Perris]

But I am not sure that they are getting the right nutrition. They like corn a lot, and go for mealworms regularly, but they do serm to ignore the crumbles.....I will cut back on treats and see what happens.

you might find this thread interesting and informative
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-research-debunks-trad-views-on-nutrition.1567953/

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Thanks! I grew up in Napa Valley and lived in Mendocino County as a young adult, so have a good understanding of the Humboldt area. I don't really have the energy to do the physical labor that your type of gardening seems to require, but have read about, and am really interested in, permaculture farming and gardening. I took up chickens because I can't garden anymore. They are so calming. Good luck with yours. So far mine have been great. I just have to teach dogs not to kill them (lost my first 5).

Napa and Mendo are beautiful places (away from the areas mobbed by wine tourists!), and yes, our conditions are similar but cooler (on the coast). Dense fog out my window again this morning, I can barely see the chooks poking around their run across the yard.

I am very blessed to be physically healthy and fairly strong as I approach my Big 7-0 birthday this year. Being an avid (some say rabid) gardener was my exercise and therapy for decades in a stressful job in Los Angeles, and my comfort & joy now that we're happily retired in rural Humboldt. The chickens are my new icing on that cake!

We've always had dogs - both of us suffer severe "fur hunger" without them, but I'd never trust either of ours with the chickens, prey drive is just too strong. The border collie mix in particular lies outside the run and STARES at them intently (with ILL intent), often holding a squished tennis ball in her mouth the whole time; the corgi is a veteran hunter of small furry & feathered things and is low-to-the-ground, sneaky and FAST. Alas, he likes to bring his successes into the house to enjoy.

I am so sorry you can't garden any more, that's such a sad loss to someone who enjoys it very much! The permaculture methods are labor intensive to start, but (ideally) much less work as the guilds mature. We'll see if they mature faster than I "over"-mature!

 

[LER23]

Napa and Mendo are beautiful places (away from the areas mobbed by wine tourists!), and yes, our conditions are similar but cooler (on the coast). Dense fog out my window again this morning, I can barely see the chooks poking around their run across the yard.

I am very blessed to be physically healthy and fairly strong as I approach my Big 7-0 birthday this year. Being an avid (some say rabid) gardener was my exercise and therapy for decades in a stressful job in Los Angeles, and my comfort & joy now that we're happily retired in rural Humboldt. The chickens are my new icing on that cake!

We've always had dogs - both of us suffer severe "fur hunger" without them, but I'd never trust either of ours with the chickens, prey drive is just too strong. The border collie mix in particular lies outside the run and STARES at them intently (with ILL intent), often holding a squished tennis ball in her mouth the whole time; the corgi is a veteran hunter of small furry & feathered things and is low-to-the-ground, sneaky and FAST. Alas, he likes to bring his successes into the house to enjoy.

I am so sorry you can't garden any more, that's such a sad loss to someone who enjoys it very much! The permaculture methods are labor intensive to start, but (ideally) much less work as the guilds mature. We'll see if they mature faster than I "over"-mature!

Here is ine of my murdered chicken stories: I have a miniature Xoloitzcuintli (aka Mexican hairless) dog. My 4th one, and second chicken killer, sad to say. Back in July, before I put up double fencing, I was sitting in my family room with the back door open for dogs to go in and out. I was reading when Mickey, my Xolo, rushed in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had something in his mouth....Oh My Gosh!!! He made a very bad decision to bring his kill, a leghorn pullet (that had to have been caught, and then pulled, through the wire fence!) in to devour on his comfy dog bed. He was immediately spanked with the dead bird and told loudly what a bad, bad, BAD dog he was. Sadly I think he felt no remorse. He looked pretty mad that his prize got taken away. My husband still laughs when he tells the story of watching me chase my little dog, whacking him with a dead bird.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Here is ine of my murdered chicken stories: I have a miniature Xoloitzcuintli (aka Mexican hairless) dog. My 4th one, and second chicken killer, sad to say. Back in July, before I put up double fencing, I was sitting in my family room with the back door open for dogs to go in and out. I was reading when Mickey, my Xolo, rushed in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had something in his mouth....Oh My Gosh!!! He made a very bad decision to bring his kill, a leghorn pullet (that had to have been caught, and then pulled, through the wire fence!) in to devour on his comfy dog bed. He was immediately spanked with the dead bird and told loudly what a bad, bad, BAD dog he was. Sadly I think he felt no remorse. He looked pretty mad that his prize got taken away. My husband still laughs when he tells the story of watching me chase my little dog, whacking him with a dead bird.

Oh, my, not sure how to respond to that (sad, wow, laughing...) -- horrifying and funny at the same time. Awful to lose your pullet, but your form of discipline leaves quite the mental video in my head! (And yup, he probably felt no remorse...dogs aren't great at remorse, in my experience. "Okay, okay, okay! What are you so upset about? Hey, that's MINE!")

 

[wrathsfarm]

Here is ine of my murdered chicken stories: I have a miniature Xoloitzcuintli (aka Mexican hairless) dog. My 4th one, and second chicken killer, sad to say. Back in July, before I put up double fencing, I was sitting in my family room with the back door open for dogs to go in and out. I was reading when Mickey, my Xolo, rushed in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that he had something in his mouth....Oh My Gosh!!! He made a very bad decision to bring his kill, a leghorn pullet (that had to have been caught, and then pulled, through the wire fence!) in to devour on his comfy dog bed. He was immediately spanked with the dead bird and told loudly what a bad, bad, BAD dog he was. Sadly I think he felt no remorse. He looked pretty mad that his prize got taken away. My husband still laughs when he tells the story of watching me chase my little dog, whacking him with a dead bird.

That's a funny one. We need to see the video...
You mentioned that your run is fairly level. That will give you your standing water and your mulch your thinking about adding will just soak in it. Try adding more fill dirt and sloping it away from coop and man door before adding your mulch. This will allow good drainage and your mulch will dry out faster. It doesn't have to be much of a slope just slightly off level depending on your annual rain/snow although more slope the better for drainage. And your flock will love the fresh dirt.

 

[LER23]

That's a funny one. We need to see the video...
You mentioned that your run is fairly level. That will give you your standing water and your mulch your thinking about adding will just soak in it. Try adding more fill dirt and sloping it away from coop and man door before adding your mulch. This will allow good drainage and your mulch will dry out faster. It doesn't have to be much of a slope just slightly off level depending on your annual rain/snow although more slope the better for drainage. And your flock will love the fresh dirt.

Thanks. I do have a couple of very shallow puddles when it rains steady. I offset the wet ground in the run by letting them into the yard a lot to forage in the grass. They don't mind getting a little damp, and can access the coop when they need to, or sit in the doorless, but dry, half of the shed that hasn't been turned into their coop. It has a wood floor, nice and dry. When the rain slacks off again, which should be in a couple of days, I will fill in with dirt. The ground already slopes away from their front door, but I can increade the slope a tad, just in case.

 

[LER23]

Oh, my, not sure how to respond to that (sad, wow, laughing...) -- horrifying and funny at the same time. Awful to lose your pullet, but your form of discipline leaves quite the mental video in my head! (And yup, he probably felt no remorse...dogs aren't great at remorse, in my experience. "Okay, okay, okay! What are you so upset about? Hey, that's MINE!")

It was horrifying, but I hadn't gotten too attached prior to the massacre. If it were to happen now...yes, definitely far mor upsetting.

 

[Acre4Me]

I’ve lived in the willamette valley, so I have an understanding of the climate.

Wet/damp can be addressed to some extent with ventilation. You could put in roof vents, under eaves vents, window (not at roost area), upper ventilation (above their heads when roosting).

Also, you can elevate the coop so that there is airflow underneath it too. Our walk-in coop was built 2.5 feet above the ground. This has really helped the coop stay drier/dry out faster.

Having a roof over the run, and over the ventilation openings also helps so that less water can enter the coop and run area.

 

[LER23]

I’ve lived in the willamette valley, so I have an understanding of the climate.

Wet/damp can be addressed to some extent with ventilation. You could put in roof vents, under eaves vents, window (not at roost area), upper ventilation (above their heads when roosting).

Also, you can elevate the coop so that there is airflow underneath it too. Our walk-in coop was built 2.5 feet above the ground. This has really helped the coop stay drier/dry out faster.

Having a roof over the run, and over the ventilation openings also helps so that less water can enter the coop and run area.