I wouldn't worry about offering something (oyster shell or layer feed) too soon. Younger birds seem to prefer crumbles - but crumbles can be messy as chickens are SLOPPY eaters. If it were me, and this is MY opinion, I'd just put the food and grit out for them and let the birds choose what...
vinegar work on plastic watering systems only. Mine is 5 gallon bucket, PVC pipe and Nipple Waterers so the vinegar works fine. If you have metal watering cans, vinegar will erode the metal and ruin the galvanization. If you have metal watering systems, consider bleach. You can use bleach on...
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A little clorox never hurt no chicken! I do believe you should get as much of the slime out by wiping it down with a bleach solution. THen, when you refill, consider a small amount of vinegar in the water to keep the slimey's away.
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anything you put in will get 'messed on'. With these, just shake OR rinse.
I also keep them dusted with a heavy load of Diatomaceous Earth to keep any crawlies off the girls.
I may be the odd one out here. I do not use pine needles, pine shavings, corn cobs or any other organic material. As I looked into what to use, my requirements were something that 1) would work; 2) was cheap; 3) was recyclable and reusable; 4) could be cleaned.
The result was for me to use a...
I'd consider making your run invincible if you plan to allow your girls to have open freedom between roost and coop. I live in Florida and severe cold is not such a big concern (although we do get overnight temps in the teens occasionally). If coons or any other critter for that matter can can...
welcome and hello from Lecanto, FL (between Inverness and Crystal River).
We have 7 hens and only 2 are producing now. The rest have been tight @$$ed for the last 3 months since the cold snaps started. I'm thinking they better get on with laying or they may find themselves lining my crockpot...
We live in Florida, USA on the Gulf of Mexico side. Temps range from mid 20F in winter to 100F in Summer. Here are pics of our open air coop/run with auto watering and feeding. We use Sand for flooring to make clean up easier. Egg boxed are 5 gallon buckets laid on their side with a plastic...
if you do make the decision to add sand to the gravel, be sure to have some type of a barrier to keep the sand from seeping down into the gravel and filling the voids in the gravel bed. I went to Home Depot/Lowes and bought landscape cloth to layer over the gravel and under sand. THe landscape...
It sounds as if the gravel is already there and you are asking about sand, after the fact. If so, you will soon find that the rock is not the best flooring for the chickens and their waste. I was in this same situation. My decision was to top the gravel with landscape cloth then top the...
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Change the sand? umm, no I don't. Some may here but I have no need yet. I reserve the right to need to at some point in the future though. April will be 1 year with 7 hens.
I am no expert on this at all. I do know that my 7 hens were hatched in early March 2010. 3 weeks ago, egg prduction dropped off a cliff and now there are feathers all over the coop/pen. After 3 weeks, I have 2 hens laying again.
This is my first experience with keeping chickens so I don't...
here is my homemade auto feeder... a 7.5 gallon bucket. That is a trash can lid threaded on the rope holding the bucket. The lid floats freely and keeps birds from perching on the feeder.
I too started with pea gravel. It was just plain difficult to clean and the rocks got very soiled. I covered the rock with landscape cloth and then laid a 3-4' layer of sand. Now clean up is SSSSOOOOOO much easier. I use a kitty litter scoop and only clean once a week. Any food scraps lay...
I live in Florida and do not have to worry about really cold winters. My pen is open air on one side with sand floor throughout. I do not have to deal with weight issues in a raised coop.
OK, so I hear some chickens seem to make noise as they are startled in the night hours and/or at first light. Have you noticed that full moon nights have more noise making chickens? Please share your stories for others to read.
my nesting area uses an astroturf type platic door mat. When it gets dirty, I hose it off, shake it a few times to get most of the water off then place it right back in action. It takes all of 3 minutes to clean the nesting area.