Run Floor

[SilkieNation]

There is a product they use on fish that will help with the infection and bumble foot. You do however need to remove the bumble. The product is called Tricide-Neo for Koi, and can be found online.

What exactly is the bumble? The scab?

 

[eal847]

My neighbor bought this one for their early chicks and put it in the dirt run with the hens. It lasted less then 6 months. It is made with thin soft wood The door broke after about 6 weeks, then the nest box started falling apart. Make your own. You can find easy blue prints.

 

[arkwelded]

If you have any skill with tools stay away from those overpriced prefabs. I built our 10th predator proof run roost for $500.00. We have had 20+chickens with no problem.

 

[Skyfeathers]

I agree, I've not heard many say they were happy with prefab coops. I've built all of mine but one, which came with 6 of my hens, and have made them good and sturdy, no falling apart! If there is any way you can build your own, do so. You will be glad you did!
On my big coop floor I use deep pine shavings, it works best for me. For the covered run, first it was just dirt, and I would rake and shovel it out frequently (it is very large), but it smelled bad. Then I used sand, and scooped it daily with a litter scoop. That's ok for my smallest coop, but was too labor intensive for the large covered run. Now I do deep litter in there with good hay from Tractor Supply. I clean it good, and put in a few bales, and the girls help me spread it. Every few weeks I add another bale or two, and it gets quite deep. There is only a smell when one has just dropped a cecal poop, which is easily taken care of. They get hours of entertainment from turning the straw and getting down into the sand to dust bathe.
My daughter and I performed surgery for bumblefoot on one of her hens, she had a huge one! (No avian vets anywhere near here) We had only noticed her limping for just a few days. Being in a run right outside her sliding glass door we can always see them. The surgery was traumatic and bloody, the hen tolerated it better than we did, and even though we were sure we got it all, soon it was back, this time poking through the top of her foot. We decided we were not doing that again, so started using straight Thieve's Oil on it, one drop every morning and night, top and bottom, and within 2 weeks it was gone! She has never had a recurrence, either. After all that, BumbleBea (guess where she got her name?) has become the sweetest, friendliest hen in her flock! I mixed my own Thieve's Oil, it is made from five essential oils that I got at a natural foods store. Clove 40 drops, Lemon 35 drops, Cinnamon 20 drops, Eucalyptus 15 drops, and Rosemary 10 drops. Drop all of them into a small dropper bottle, then use the dropper to put it on the bumblefoot. Research it on the web, there are many things it can be used for. It worked great for us. e
You mentioned your hens were not laying well. Mine go off laying when the summer heat hits about 90 degrees. They have a very well ventilated coop and run, but mine are only laying about half what they were a month ago. Stress of any sort can put them off laying. Loud noises, storms, change in feed, etc. I took away the rooster that was wearing out their backs and shoulders, but 3 of my silly hens started mounting the others . I'm having to isolate them one at a time to get them to stop! Grrrr! I'm thinking living with 3 'roosters' is enough to put any hen off laying!

Hope some of this is helpful, I've enjoyed reading your thread

 

[Skyfeathers]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the bumble is an infection caused by staph aureus. It can get very large and become quite solid. The one we got out of BumbleBea had a "core" about 1/2 inch long and larger around than a pencil eraser. We think it was caused by a wound from a pine cone she stepped on, and aggravated by her jumping down from the roost.

 

[Thechickgirls]

My run and coop's floors have sand. So easy to maintain, it takes a few minutes each day to clean.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Had to put my rooster down today. An x-ray showed a very huge mass. The vet is going to open him up to see if it is cancer or something like a salmonella abscess or something else that could be the problem with the hens - not eating hardly anything, not laying.

I'm so sorry about your rooster. It's hard to lose a pet, whether it's a chicken or dog or cat or whatever, we still love them. I also have some nine year old birds, LF Croad Langshans, and they do require a lot of care at that age, just like grandparents. I'm constantly giving them either nutritional supplements or arthritis medication or controlling some infection or infestation, but it keeps them going with a good quality of life for my retired "pensioners," who worked hard when they were young to supply eggs and chicks and kept the family fed, so now I take care of them in their old age. Lost one hen two years ago to cancer, but the rest of the flock is a happy little retirement community, separated from the hustle and bustle of the younger birds.

 

[SilkieNation]

I'm so sorry about your rooster. It's hard to lose a pet, whether it's a chicken or dog or cat or whatever, we still love them. I also have some nine year old birds, LF Croad Langshans, and they do require a lot of care at that age, just like grandparents. I'm constantly giving them either nutritional supplements or arthritis medication or controlling some infection or infestation, but it keeps them going with a good quality of life for my retired "pensioners," who worked hard when they were young to supply eggs and chicks and kept the family fed, so now I take care of them in their old age. Lost one hen two years ago to cancer, but the rest of the flock is a happy little retirement community, separated from the hustle and bustle of the younger birds.

Sounds as though you are a good mama! I have to say that I totally missed roo's illness until he had lost a lot of weight and I had the vet weigh him. In March we were at the vet with his last old hen and the vet said what unusually good condition he was in. Just goes to show you. These chickens certainly do hide illness well. Now I'm pampering my young hens and trying to wait patiently for the lab results on my rooster's tumors. I want to hear it is not Marek's, then we have to keep looking for reasons why they've stopped laying and are not eating so much. They are maintaining a reasonable weight though, and they will eat mealies and other treats, but I have cut way down on the treats in case their problem is nutritional. They really don't look sick, but something is definitely up.

It's nice you take care of the old birds. They are saying...

 

[Sydney Acres]

This is the coop I am considering buying. My question is, It it acceptable to use a concrete floor for the run? It seems like it would be easy to clean and maintain. If so, do I need to add anything like shavings on top of the concrete or can I leave it bare?
TIA

I have to agree with the majority of comments I've seen here. These prefab houses aren't usually worth the money. You could definitely build a better one yourself for the same cost, or find some out of work handy man (or woman) with just the most basic carpentry skills to build it for you. But if that's not an option, I will say that from the outside, this does look a bit better quality than many I've seen, although it may not be worth anything when viewed from the inside. In general, I call them "little boxes of death." They're usually poorly constructed using cheap materials, poorly ventilated, poorly insulated, not predator proof, and have a perch that is way too narrow without rounded edges. I won't say that there are none out there that are worth the money, but I just haven't seen them yet. I've heard good things about the "Amish built" ones, but I've not seen them myself, and don't have a company name to offer.

Regarding flooring, I use only two types of floors in my multiple nighttime coops (the birds free range during the day). The first is just a plain dirt or grass floor with some type of plan to keep it from turning into a manure pit. So either a moveable coop (aka chicken tractor), which works well as long as you do something to prevent predators from digging in, or some type of bedding that is changed or picked through as needed (shavings, chopped straw, wood pellets, etc) or sand that is scooped daily (like a giant kitty litter scoop, with a bit of 1/4 inch hardware cloth attached to a pitch fork). Alternately I use a concrete/cement floor (in pre-existing structures) covered with foam tiles, like they use in garages or weight room floors (http://www.sears.com/best-step-2-ft-x-2-ft-6/p-00962361000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2). (These are occasionally available at Costco at half the price, but I've only seen them three times in 14 years, so don't wait for them if you need them.) Seriously, these interlocking tiles make all the difference!! I have very heavy large fowl breeds (Dorkings, Sussex, and Croad Langshans) that all like to roost 2-4 feet off the ground (Sussex and Langshans) or 4-6 feet up (Dorkings), as well as heritage turkeys that like to roost 6-10 feet high, so when these guys jump down they need a stable but soft landing. The turkey toms are 30-34 pounds, and would be injured in no time if they jumped down on concrete, even concrete covered with 6 inches of shavings. But this flooring is both durable and soft (unlike stall mats, which are too hard to compress at all unless you're over 500 pounds). In my turkey pen I have the floor tiles double thickness, just because the toms are so heavy and I don't want long term concussive injuries to their joints, as these are beautiful breeding birds and I'm hoping to keep them free ranging and breeding without lameness for 8-10 years (once big toms and cocks get lame, their fertility suffers tremendously, and the chronic arthritis is very painful). I cover the mats with shavings to absorb any moisture from the droppings, and change out the shavings as needed. I have three coops that have this type of flooring over concrete for over 8 years, and it's still in excellent shape and still soft. I had to do some remodeling in one of the coops recently and spent a lot of time kneeling down on the mats -- 8 year old material and still really soft and comfortable on my knees, even with concrete underneath them and only a single layer of mats in this coop. (Oh, I was so grateful to have it, as I was kneeling for more than 8 hours with that project!!)

So if you can free range your hens during the day and concrete is going to be the most practical coop floor option for your situation, use these mats under the bedding and don't worry about how hard the concrete is. Your birds will be protected from all the problems that concrete cause to their feet. Do not use just bare concrete as your flooring. Eventually, even lightweight hens will become painful with serious feet issues. The convenience of easy cleaning is not worth it.

 

[SilkieNation]

I have to agree with the majority of comments I've seen here. These prefab houses aren't usually worth the money. You could definitely build a better one yourself for the same cost, or find some out of work handy man (or woman) with just the most basic carpentry skills to build it for you. But if that's not an option, I will say that from the outside, this does look a bit better quality than many I've seen, although it may not be worth anything when viewed from the inside. In general, I call them "little boxes of death." They're usually poorly constructed using cheap materials, poorly ventilated, poorly insulated, not predator proof, and have a perch that is way too narrow without rounded edges. I won't say that there are none out there that are worth the money, but I just haven't seen them yet. I've heard good things about the "Amish built" ones, but I've not seen them myself, and don't have a company name to offer.

Regarding flooring, I use only two types of floors in my multiple nighttime coops (the birds free range during the day). The first is just a plain dirt or grass floor with some type of plan to keep it from turning into a manure pit. So either a moveable coop (aka chicken tractor), which works well as long as you do something to prevent predators from digging in, or some type of bedding that is changed or picked through as needed (shavings, chopped straw, wood pellets, etc) or sand that is scooped daily (like a giant kitty litter scoop, with a bit of 1/4 inch hardware cloth attached to a pitch fork). Alternately I use a concrete/cement floor (in pre-existing structures) covered with foam tiles, like they use in garages or weight room floors (http://www.sears.com/best-step-2-ft-x-2-ft-6/p-00962361000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2). (These are occasionally available at Costco at half the price, but I've only seen them three times in 14 years, so don't wait for them if you need them.) Seriously, these interlocking tiles make all the difference!! I have very heavy large fowl breeds (Dorkings, Sussex, and Croad Langshans) that all like to roost 2-4 feet off the ground (Sussex and Langshans) or 4-6 feet up (Dorkings), as well as heritage turkeys that like to roost 6-10 feet high, so when these guys jump down they need a stable but soft landing. The turkey toms are 30-34 pounds, and would be injured in no time if they jumped down on concrete, even concrete covered with 6 inches of shavings. But this flooring is both durable and soft (unlike stall mats, which are too hard to compress at all unless you're over 500 pounds). In my turkey pen I have the floor tiles double thickness, just because the toms are so heavy and I don't want long term concussive injuries to their joints, as these are beautiful breeding birds and I'm hoping to keep them free ranging and breeding without lameness for 8-10 years (once big toms and cocks get lame, their fertility suffers tremendously, and the chronic arthritis is very painful). I cover the mats with shavings to absorb any moisture from the droppings, and change out the shavings as needed. I have three coops that have this type of flooring over concrete for over 8 years, and it's still in excellent shape and still soft. I had to do some remodeling in one of the coops recently and spent a lot of time kneeling down on the mats -- 8 year old material and still really soft and comfortable on my knees, even with concrete underneath them and only a single layer of mats in this coop. (Oh, I was so grateful to have it, as I was kneeling for more than 8 hours with that project!!)

So if you can free range your hens during the day and concrete is going to be the most practical coop floor option for your situation, use these mats under the bedding and don't worry about how hard the concrete is. Your birds will be protected from all the problems that concrete cause to their feet. Do not use just bare concrete as your flooring. Eventually, even lightweight hens will become painful with serious feet issues. The convenience of easy cleaning is not worth it.

I think concrete may be a bad idea. Although I had birds on concrete with shavings for nine years without a problem, I now have two with bumble foot and really, when you look at them scratching around and reaching the concrete, you can see how it might compromise their foot pads (if that's what you call them!). I've since bought heavy rubber mats and laid them down after sanitizing the floor. Shavings on top.