Recent content by SubArcticFowl

  1. SubArcticFowl

    My experience with wood pellets

    I thought I'd share my experience after using wood pellets in two ways over the last two winters. For five months of the year my chickens stay in their indoor coop, an 8' x 16' area under my deck with a concrete floor. It is insulated with two warm walls that keeps the temp around -5 C for most...
  2. SubArcticFowl

    Official BYC Poll: How Do You Get Rid of Dirty Coop Bedding?

    Actually [pushes up glasses] it is really hard to shoot something into the sun. The rocket would more likely just slip into an orbit around the sun.
  3. SubArcticFowl

    Official BYC Poll: How Do You Get Rid of Dirty Coop Bedding?

    My entire management system is also a work in progress as I've only had chickens for a little over a year. I recently switched over to shredded paper in the coop. My plan is to do a clean-out in early September before temperatures go below freezing for the winter. I will put the coop bedding...
  4. SubArcticFowl

    Using Shredded Paper for Coop Litter - As Good As Wood Chips?

    This is what it is and what the shreds look like. They are strips about 0.5 - 1.5 inch long.
  5. SubArcticFowl

    Using Shredded Paper for Coop Litter - As Good As Wood Chips?

    I've on the shredded newspaper bandwagon for the last month or so and pretty happy. My shredded is only a 5 sheeter and newspaper works the best on it. Boxboard crawls, but works.
  6. SubArcticFowl

    school drawing

    In my office, of course. I look at it for a smile every day.
  7. SubArcticFowl

    school drawing

    Yesterday was the last day of school for my kids. My kids are in French Immersion (Canada). My oldest is in Grade 2 and came home with this drawing in her bag of year-end junk. It melted my heart. The depiction of the chickens is very accurate.
  8. SubArcticFowl

    What are your opinions on free ranging?

    My hens get about an hour of supervised free range time in my 3/4 acre fenced backyard. The rest of the time they are in their covered, well fortified run. Foxes are a major concern for me and don't just show up at night.
  9. SubArcticFowl

    Using Shredded Paper for Coop Litter - As Good As Wood Chips?

    I just got through this entire thread and it motivated me to fire up my shredder. Last winter I used wood pellets in my winter coop as I get them delivered in bulk to heat my house. I'm still not sure if it is best to fluff up the pellets with water or keep them dry, but that is a whole other...
  10. SubArcticFowl

    Feeding compost

    Thanks for your input. That does reinforce my initial concerns. I think I'm going to back away from having an active compost pile in the run and keep my usual system going. I still want to add lots more carbon sources to the run and will give them veggie scraps. I also just sourced some free...
  11. SubArcticFowl

    Feeding compost

    There are a million composting threads on here and I just read the 30 page one on the gardening forum, but there are still two questions I have. 1) It is often stated not to feed chickens mouldy or food that had gone bad. Well that is exactly what happens in a compost pile. So do people that...
  12. SubArcticFowl

    What to feed chickens during Pesach (Passover)

    I don't see how it is to your benefit if you are giving all the benefit away. What do you mean by "as it keeps one from needing to buy more of whatever else they eat"? Are you talking about the owner or the animal? My chicken feeders only need to be topped off every 7 weeks. So it is easy...
  13. SubArcticFowl

    What to feed chickens during Pesach (Passover)

    I find this interesting and I had no idea. Could you deprive yourself of the benefit by just giving your eggs away for the 8 days? I had to look up how long Passover lasted, btw.
  14. SubArcticFowl

    What's the temperature where you are???

    Just cracked 0C (32F), aka freezing, today for the first time this year! My chickens are still in their winter home. The long-term forecast looks okay, but it could still drop to -30C overnight. Heck, it was -32 two days ago. Also, I don't feel like hiking through the snow to their summer coop...
  15. SubArcticFowl

    What is the least dusty bedding in cold climate?

    I have been using wood pellets for my winter coop. They are delivered in bulk to my house for heating so there is no real extra cost or time involved. I do not wet them to fluff they up as some people do. It keeps the coop 100% dry. I scope up large poops every day or two and stir in small ones...
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