Texas

[Auntiejessi3]

Happy Easter y'all

 

[janiedoe]

Happy Easter y'all

Happy Easter, Jessi! And the rest of y'all have a great Easter Sunday too

 

[Honeybunny_3]

Poop stinks. Poop on the ground stinks.

I started with hard packed clay soil and the poop stank. I brought in shredded yard waste from the county dump for free. Think wood chips or mulch or compost. Depending on when and how long the pile had set, I was getting all three in the same used dog food bag that I filled up. Much easier for transporting than filling the bed of the truck, then wheel barrow then yard.

After 2 years, the run/yard has transformed from hard pack clay to living loam with no stink. The chickens still poop everywhere but there is enough life in the soil that devours the stink that everything is glorious and green.

Bananas are heavy feeders. Chickens are heavy poopers (and so are ducks). Match made in heaven. Get carbon down in the yard to absorb the stink. Wood chips, compost, yard waste, leaves, grass clippings, junk mail, boxes, cardboard, hay, straw, twigs and kitchen scraps are all good. My yard ate the first six inches of wood chips in 6 months, it was hungry and the hard packed clay turned into beautiful dirt. The chickens went from a bare run to me having to mow the grass in it.

Plant shrubs or trees for shade and hawk protection. You need heavy feeders around the pond to soak up the nitrogen waste because the duck poop will over fertilize the pond and you will have an algal bloom. Get duck weed (invasive to Texas so you can't buy it but check the local waterways before the county sprays) or water hyacinth (invasive to Texas, read the laws) or another native water plant.

As with all pets, ya gotta deal with the poop.

This is wonderful info. Thank you so much! What do you mean by "yard waste?" Do I need to roto till the area around the ponds first, then add the junk mail, grass clippings, cardboard, etc and till the added stuff into the ground? Or just throw the stuff on top of the ground? I assume you shred everything.

FYI, I was reading on goggle that pine shaving is toxic to many animals. I know this because the last 2 days my dog has been sick and last night he threw up some of the shavings. I took him to my vet prior to him vomiting thinking he was hurt not knowing he ate pine chips as there were no symptoms of that. Vet didn't treat him for that, just gave him some pain meds because he has had back issues in the past. We both assumed it was his back. Now I will probably be making an emergency vet visit today as he is still not well. Just be aware everyone pine shaving of any kind is not good to put down in the brooder or pen with any animal. TSC DID NOT TELL ME THIS!!!

Anyway, reading online pine and cedar (more so) shaving are bad for pets and raise the liver enzymes up. They are toxic to so many animals, not to mention can cause an obstructionfor anything that ingests the stuff, like what is going on with my Yorkie. I am looking a peer reviewed articles that this is how many pets have died, especially chickens and rabbits. It's also toxic to people and some tests have shown it causes cancer so I am staying away from this stuff now, but the baby ducks have been on it. If using mulch it needs to be all natural and NO cedar, which is why I can't go to the mulch center to get it there as I live in a very heavily area with cedar everywhere so the much at the yard will have lots of cedar. Being up all night with my poor dog got me reading a whole LOT of great research that I wished I had known before I bought these ducks and the pine shavings, which BTW, is what TSC had in the brooders they had in their store.

 

[Honeybunny_3]

Hey, sorry. Most of the time I'm eon the BYC app on my phone, and I am not smart enough to figure out how to link things that way. (Or more accurately, get the link to the article I want.)

This article is good: Hoop Coop

This seems to just be more ideas about hoop coops, but I think it might be helpful to you: top 10 hoop coop ideas

I totally understand and Thank you so much! Happy Easter !

 

[Honeybunny_3]

Consider a large dog kennel with chain link. Just cover the whole thing in hardware cloth, top to bottom and frame the door in so there are no gaps. Be sure and use hardware cloth on the top too. You can put a small shelter in the middle or in a corner.

I think that is what I'm going to do. Everything I have seen one is not quality built. Thank you so much. Happy Easter !

 

[Honeybunny_3]

View attachment 3783250Thought y’all might appreciate this

That's it!!!

 

[Honeybunny_3]

I have a metal roof on my coop and my run and have had no issues. It is nice under my run roof in the summer, much like being in the shade of a tree. And in case you're wondering about location, I am pretty centrally located, and the last couple summer have seen temps exceed 110.

This is good to read!!! Thank you so much. Our summers are horrible. Happy Easter !

 

[Honeybunny_3]

Yikes! Car troubles suck, hope it get's figured out soon! Someone just decided to accidently run off with my keys.

That's great! Sounds like y'all got a solid plan structured! Good luck!

Ventilation is the main key with coops here in Texas. I haven't noticed any heightened heat under tin, but I also haven't used it as a roof for an enclosed space. I think it would be fine, but if you're not sure, a wood roof is also a perfectly fine way to go! The idea of plywood, tar paper, and metal sounds like a good one to me! As for paining, White is the best color to reflect heat. It's not able to absorb sunlight like darker colors do. Darker colors, like black, attract and absorb heat like crazy.



That's what my run is made out of. We got a 10x10, had it forever. It's held dogs, ducks, and now chickens. We got the lower two feet covered with small gap chicken wire, framed the door gaps a bit, and built a roof over it. Works perfectly in our little back yard.

Thank you. Great info for the roof and paint. I will probably go with the plywood , tar paper, and tin. I didn't know that about white, so white it is.

Thank you so much! I hope you found your keys too. As for me I'm still without a car. Don't EVER buy a Volvo!!! You can't find anyone to fix them and we live too from from the dealership. . Happy Easter!

 

[janiedoe]

Thank you. Great info for the roof and paint. I will probably go with the plywood , tar paper, and tin. I didn't know that about white, so white it is.

Thank you so much! I hope you found your keys too. As for me I'm still without a car. Don't EVER buy a Volvo!!! You can't find anyone to fix them and we live too from from the dealership. . Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you. My daughter had a Volvo. Even if the dealership is nearby, they never seem to have the right parts, so you have to wait on them, and they cost a fortune. Good luck with your car.
Also, I hope your dog is feeling better.

 

[Chocoboko]

Happy Easter everyone!