I have exactly the same thing going. Deep pine shavings on a linoleum floor, no composting happening, and they don't dig much in it.
I do shovel the used litter from the coop into the runs, and let the chickens spread it around for me. Once the litter and poop are outside on the ground, it...
I don't believe in making exceptions, even for people. We're just another animal, after all. I say if God meant us to wear clothes, we'd be born with them.
I don't like hunting, except the birds landing on you part. I scared a year's growth out of a poor woodpecker last time I was out. :-D
I find hunting tedious, but venison is worth the work.
So, I officially have my first moulting hen. She stopped laying, oh, a month ago or so when we had the first good cold snap. The last week or two she hasn't been as active, but not a big enough change to concern me. Yesterday I picked her up and looked through her feathers and sure enough...
If you're still not sure, I would go ahead and isolate her, and give water only for 24 hours, and then see how things look.
I had a go-round earlier this year with an impacted crop. It took several days of water only, followed by several days of feeding coconut oil and raw egg, but eventually...
I wouldn't worry too much about it. If it's a tested and proven recipe, I'm sure it's fine. For straight saltwater brine, I wouldn't use so much.
And like I said, I don't have any reason to think that you can't brine a chicken right away - it just seems to be that most people don't. But...
The only time I've ever had a brined bird come out too salty is when I messed up the salt ratio in the brine. As long as you have no more than 1 cup of salt per gallon of water, and make sure the salt is totally dissolved, it will reach it's own equilibrium.
I would let the bird rest first...
There is no perfect number or formula for brining times. When you brine something, you're using the salt to carry water into the meat, and that's pretty much all it does. The longer you leave it, the more water will soak in, until you reach a saturation point. The thicker the meat, the...