The Ameraucana Thread: Where everything and anything about the breed can be discussed (APA, Non-Stan

[Outrun Acres]

It's POURING here, and the runs have turned into a bog!!!

The grow out pen is the worst, as it had shavings in it, that have now gone sour. I put a pallet in there so that they could get out of the water, but I still feel bad for them

Any suggestions? The rain isn't stopping till tuesday....

When we had "bog" problems we have used cat litter. I have never used it with chickens though. I don't know if they would try to eat it or not. We have had the same problem recently I just got a shovel out and scooped out the old nasty dirt and replaced it with clean. I tried mound it up so the water would flow to the corners of their run and not sit right in the middle and form a puddle. The pallet is a good idea. That should probably work until the rain stops.

 

[Outrun Acres]

So excited to have my first Ameraucana chicks! They are from Ray_n_Debi. Right after I ordered eggs last fall there was a cold snap and her hens stopped laying. I waited until April to get the eggs. Then went to the post office 3 times the day they arrived. They couldn't find the box first two times. My friend has cabinet incubators and hatched them for me. There were 2 dozen eggs and 10 hatched. The others are still in the icubator just in case. They are so little compared to other chicks I have had. Or maybe it just seems that way? The red on the heads of a couple of them are marker so my friend could tell them apart from her own chicks.

My goodness they are just too cute! Are they blue/black/splash? Or are some lavender?

 

[Outrun Acres]

Ok so I am very impressed with the answers I have been getting in this thread, everybody has been so helpful!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart

I am still thinking ahead so I can be prepared for when my chicks arrive. I live in South Central Texas and the heat is just around the corner, my EE has a hard time with it (I guess because she does not have a comb and wattles to help relieve the heat) so I have been reading everywhere looking for tips to help this situation. Last summer I got pans with water and my hens liked to step in them and cool their feet, also I gave them cold watermelon and every treat (veggies and fruit) were kept in the fridge until it was given to them so they were cold. Also I have a roof on my run and we normally get pretty good breeze almost every day. We installed a fan in the run for when it was dead still. I am planning to freeze bottles of water to put them in their waterers, also I have a big plastic container (one gallon) that I plan to freeze and put it in a tray covered with an old towel so they can lay around it (if only I could get them to get the idea, last summer they did not lay around it) but I am not giving up yet on this plan. I will let them free range very early in the morning and move them back in the run when the heat starts getting real bad (around 11AM). When my chicks get moved to their new coop, it will already be hot as hell

I have an extractor fan to get the heat out and lots of ventilation (I hope they don't get too scared with the extractor noise)



this is my covered run (before we built the new coop at the end)

this is our new coop ready for the chickies

this is part of my chicken yard. The bushes we planted are not big enough to give them shade, this is why I plan to just let them free range in the mornings.
So please give me some ideas to improve the heat situation. I am awfully worried about my chicks getting way too hot, specially being ameraucanas.
BTW that little house structure in the middle of the pic is my idea of a hawk shelter, they can run under it although since I am always with them when they are free ranging (lots of hawks in this area) my flock feels secured so they just go there to eat the grass under it and maybe cover from the sun ???
Many of you might have already gone thru many real hot summers, so you might have some tips to give us newbies. Very much appreciated.

Your coup and run are beautiful! The only thing I can think of that might help with the heat is putting up misters. It's relatively cheap and can really cool down the temperature in the run. The combination of a mister and a fan does wonders for them when it gets really hot.

If you put food and water underneath the hawk shelter the chickens will be more inclined to gather underneath it. They will still free-range out in the open though. Do you have a rooster? Ours do a great job of alerting our hens to danger and so far we haven't had any losses due to predators.

 

[maryhysong]

Your coup and run are beautiful! The only thing I can think of that might help with the heat is putting up misters. It's relatively cheap and can really cool down the temperature in the run. The combination of a mister and a fan does wonders for them when it gets really hot.

If you put food and water underneath the hawk shelter the chickens will be more inclined to gather underneath it. They will still free-range out in the open though. Do you have a rooster? Ours do a great job of alerting our hens to danger and so far we haven't had any losses due to predators.

Last year I had scrounged some bamboo screening out of a trash pile and wired it up on my fence on the west side of the pens; it helped cut the intensity of the afternoon sun. but the ducks destroyed it. This year I have some bits of shade cloth I'll do the same thing with, but I"m putting it on the outside of the fence. I've also though of using conduit or PVC to make hoops to cover with shade cloth, then wet the ground under it to help keep them cooler.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Made a run to the Co-Op to load up on feed today. Purina has changed their 50 lb Layena to 40 lb bags and the price is the same! Wassup with that???? I'm calling Purina on Monday. Hope anyone else that's as unhappy with that as I am will make a call too!

God Bless,

 

[salt and pepper]

Thankyou! I drained some of the water out, so it's not AS bad. Can't wait for this rain to stop!

 

[horsiefly53]

My goodness they are just too cute! Are they blue/black/splash? Or are some lavender?

Honestly, I don't know what they are. Maybe you all can tell? I had ordered B/W last fall and then there was a cold snap and their hens stopped laying, so I waited til spring to get them and she sent extra. They were labeled but I never thought to write it down or look at the unhatched eggs. Ten out of twenty four hatched. Another thing I had to go to the post office three times because they couldn't find them the first two times-looked in the wrong spot I think. I think I am lucky any hatched.

 

[delisha]

Delisha, you can grow chard nearly year round. It handles pretty much the same as kale but the leaves aren't curled. We grow it up until snow and then some still make it! It freezes well, I Blanche it before I freeze it.

Thank you so much..I have never tried it..I am now.

Ok so I am very impressed with the answers I have been getting in this thread, everybody has been so helpful!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart

I am still thinking ahead so I can be prepared for when my chicks arrive. I live in South Central Texas and the heat is just around the corner, my EE has a hard time with it (I guess because she does not have a comb and wattles to help relieve the heat) so I have been reading everywhere looking for tips to help this situation. Last summer I got pans with water and my hens liked to step in them and cool their feet, also I gave them cold watermelon and every treat (veggies and fruit) were kept in the fridge until it was given to them so they were cold. Also I have a roof on my run and we normally get pretty good breeze almost every day. We installed a fan in the run for when it was dead still. I am planning to freeze bottles of water to put them in their waterers, also I have a big plastic container (one gallon) that I plan to freeze and put it in a tray covered with an old towel so they can lay around it (if only I could get them to get the idea, last summer they did not lay around it) but I am not giving up yet on this plan. I will let them free range very early in the morning and move them back in the run when the heat starts getting real bad (around 11AM). When my chicks get moved to their new coop, it will already be hot as hell

I have an extractor fan to get the heat out and lots of ventilation (I hope they don't get too scared with the extractor noise)



this is my covered run (before we built the new coop at the end)

this is our new coop ready for the chickies

this is part of my chicken yard. The bushes we planted are not big enough to give them shade, this is why I plan to just let them free range in the mornings.
So please give me some ideas to improve the heat situation. I am awfully worried about my chicks getting way too hot, specially being ameraucanas.
BTW that little house structure in the middle of the pic is my idea of a hawk shelter, they can run under it although since I am always with them when they are free ranging (lots of hawks in this area) my flock feels secured so they just go there to eat the grass under it and maybe cover from the sun ???
Many of you might have already gone thru many real hot summers, so you might have some tips to give us newbies. Very much appreciated.

That is a really really nice place you have..how about an arbor with grape vines? Grape vines grow fast..In the mean time..kiddy pools with ceramic/clay bricks for them to stand on in the shade. Any shade you can make them with water to cool down. Misters are great ideas. Also a deep dirt hole works. The deeper the cooler.

Quote: cute chicks..

 

[aldarita]

Thanks Outrun Acres and Delisha, you have given me great ideas

I am already working on the misters for the run (doing some research) and definitely plan to make my dirt boxes deeper. I notice my hens like to take dust baths when it is hot (already in the 80s) so I will add more dirt and turn it around when I do my cleaning shores. Oh and also thanks for the compliments on my coop and run, we are so very proud of the work we've done so far.

 

[Outrun Acres]

Made a run to the Co-Op to load up on feed today. Purina has changed their 50 lb Layena to 40 lb bags and the price is the same! Wassup with that???? I'm calling Purina on Monday. Hope anyone else that's as unhappy with that as I am will make a call too!

God Bless,

That is just wrong! We were buying Dumor feed from Tractor Supply (which I found out is made by Purina) and the last two bags we purchased seemed to be of very poor quality. Both the layer and the starter/grower. Twenty-four hours after we switched to a different brand of feed all of our birds started doing better, chicks, adolescents and adult birds. They must have reformulated their feed recipe or maybe we just got a bad batch. More and more people keep posting about their negative experiences with Purina feed lately. I would sure like to know what is going on with that company because the quality and quantity for the price is not all that great right now.

Thankfully, I had switched over to a new brand of feed before my Ameraucana chicks hatched. No spraddle leg chicks this time!