My hens also eat a bit of the bedding (pine shavings) when it is fresh. They have all kinds of real chicken food, sand and seashells. I doesn't seem to be harmful to them.
I tried it for a couple of months, and it worked great. I lost a few kilos and felt more happy and had a lot more energy. It turned out to be tough to stick to it in the long run though, partially because the rest of my household hates veggies.
It is interesting to shop for food on paleo. 90% of...
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Chickens are easier to feed than horses, just put a big feeder in the run and they will stop eating when they are full. They will always prefer their foraged food to dry pellets. Have fun!
Orps are a lovely breed btw.
I use one of these: http://www.lantbutiken.se/butik/3820-9145-large/varmekabel-till-vattenautomater.jpg
It is really versatile and keeps my un-insulated 10l water bottle heated just fine, so far it has been -6C here. You could easily stick it down an attachment pipe if it is wider than 2-3cm.
I´d vote for a slant roof. It is easier, cheaper and still looks good on such a small building. Put your effort into some clever and work-saving maintainance issues instead, like making it easy to clean or perhaps an automatic waterer.
This year I did not fence my garden and the chickens devoured the kale and rhubarb in a matter of hours. I do not blame them, but next year there will be a fence around those plants. However, I noticed that they left some plants alone, tasted a small bite and then just ignored them. Those plants...