The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

@Leahs Mom

I pretty much have the same setup as you do in my garage/barn. I tie-wrapped a couple of tarps over top and sides of the pens. Mostly over their roosting area and a little more, to hold their body heat in at night and also a warmer place for afternoon naps. Looking good

@Toast n Jelly
Do you have problems with rodents in there? That's one of my concerns.

Thought I'd share a laugh w/ you guys, I hope this coat, which I have slaved over all day is enough to keep my naked Rudy warm tonight.

@Kassaundra
Looks like he wants that thing off NOW! Hope it gives him some comfort for the cold!!! Made me laugh

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote: Yes I did have problems with mice but I set those humane traps a couple of winters ago and caught quite a few, maybe it scared the rest off ??
Who knows what this winter will bring. Have you tried the bucket and water trap yet?

 

[Leahs Mom]

No, but I haven't actually moved them in there yet so I don't know how much of a problem - if any - I'll have. I just know that it is not as "mouse proof" as the hen shed is with lots of ways for them to get inside.

I set traps in there the last couple of weeks and caught a few ahead of the game. Haven't gotten any in a week or so, but I'll leave the traps out. There has not been food in the building before either so they didn't have any reason to have a huge infestation except to get out of the weather. This will be a "new game".

 

[JNB]

Hi Everyone.
I have a question I was hoping you all could answer. We have a lot of cedar trees on our property. I use bunches of the limbs that I trim in our barn. I hang them by the stalls. It seems to help with bugs like flies.
I was thinking of hanging some from the roof in our hoop coops to help deter mites and freshen things up. Did an internet search and found a lot of info re cedar shavings and cedar oils being toxic and causing respiratory issues.
Does anyone here use them or know if the small limbs in bunches would be safe ...good idea..bad idea...

 

[hennible]

I used a small amount of ceded trim in my coop with the same idea in mind ( bugs ) to no ill affect in my birds. Used it for two years. Had to move them to a new coop (temporary coop) or I'd still have cedar trim...
That's my experience.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Hmmm looks like I will be looking for those lungs after his milk bath. I am curious.....being that he is only 5 months old do you think I could roast him tomorrow night? It would be about 30 hours since he went in the fridge. And will he not be so stiff when he has soaked....maybe thats how I can tell when he is ready to roast?
I have mint growing around the coop. As I found it in other areas of my yard I moved it to around the coop. Some was even coming up inside the coop. I dont mind it smells good in there and a good bug deterrent. I would also plant basil (antibiotic) & garlic (tho that's in the veggie garden under plastic wire to prevent the hens from digging it up.

Thanks !!! somehow I missed the crop somewhere. Boy that gizzard was solid & muscular.

Thanks for the idea about the Dawn dish soap. I will try that next time.

The crop is like a semi translucent bag at the base of the esophagus and completely outside the body cavity. It is what gets big and round after they eat at the base of their neck, out front. If there's no food in it, it can be fairly hard to locate.

I'll bet you missed the lungs. Unless he has lots of room inside, they can be kind of hard to coax out of the rib cage but it can be done. If you split him, it should be super easy to get them out. They are located among his ribs on his back, just below (as if he was standing) his shoulders.

 

[Lacy Blues]

JNB, I would imagine it would be safe to use just a few sprigs in your hoop coop, as long as you have good ventilation. I'd tie them in such a way that they couldn't get knocked down.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Hi Everyone.
I have a question I was hoping you all could answer. We have a lot of cedar trees on our property. I use bunches of the limbs that I trim in our barn. I hang them by the stalls. It seems to help with bugs like flies.
I was thinking of hanging some from the roof in our hoop coops to help deter mites and freshen things up. Did an internet search and found a lot of info re cedar shavings and cedar oils being toxic and causing respiratory issues.
Does anyone here use them or know if the small limbs in bunches would be safe ...good idea..bad idea...

Just a few posts ago, I asked a question about herbs to use in coops. If you follow the links I got in reply, there are a lot of chicken-friendly herbs that will repel bugs.
Since winter's coming on, I don't think bugs should be as much of a problem for a few months. Plant some of the good stuff in the spring.
That being said, just a few larger sticks might not harm the birds, because they won't give off the higher levels of aromatic esthers that are dangerous... Of course, those compounds are also what keep the bugs away. So its a double edged sword. I also don't know how much or little amount of the cedar fumes it takes to cause a problem. Like people, individual birds probably have different levels of sensitivity. I'd stay away from it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hi Everyone.
I have a question I was hoping you all could answer. We have a lot of cedar trees on our property. I use bunches of the limbs that I trim in our barn. I hang them by the stalls. It seems to help with bugs like flies.
I was thinking of hanging some from the roof in our hoop coops to help deter mites and freshen things up. Did an internet search and found a lot of info re cedar shavings and cedar oils being toxic and causing respiratory issues.
Does anyone here use them or know if the small limbs in bunches would be safe ...good idea..bad idea...

@JNB
I would not take the risk.

We actually had someone on this thread that purchased some shavings from a different source than they usually do. The bag states "pine", but she later found out that some cedar had been mixed into those bags. Not sure if "by mistake" or just a bad manufacturer or what.

Anyhow, shortly after she used the chips she began to have chicks die. The only thing that she had changed was that she purchased these chips from a different supplier. When she realized it was the only variable, she began to examine the chips and determined that they had gotten some cedar in with them. She immediately removed those chips from the chick quarters and had no more deaths.


Birds are very sensitive to fumes.

My thought would be that if you're concerned about that issue, use something the you know doesn't have that risk. Like HoosierCheetah said, there are things you can use that we know there is not the risk.

 

[RedRidge]

Thought I'd share a laugh w/ you guys, I hope this coat, which I have slaved over all day is enough to keep my naked Rudy warm tonight.

That's funny! I don't care who ya are... ;-)