That would be awesome. I'm hoping to hear that they'll take root in the grass directly. I'm hoping to avoid containers themselves. Forage & fodder is what I'm going for. I just want to avoid a system where I'll have to move in & out like trays or pots.
Can I toss forage seeds out directly into our grassy run? We have 15 chickens (with 5 more coming in June to finish our flock) and 1 one-eyed turkey named Gabbie in a fenced in area of roughly 3500 squ ft that is all grass with a few thin grassy areas. Their coop is in the center of it & they...
We're in Houston area, so zone 9 I believe is our area. I so the big box pre-made mixes of seeds, but it seemed to me it would be more cost efficient to make our own. Plus that way we know too what is going in it & we can control proportions & ratios of what is in it. I love the sounds of those...
Hello! Thank you for reading my thread. I am wanting to start compiling a seed mix that will be spread out to grow as fodder & forage for our hens. I was wondering what things you would suggest putting in the mix? What seeds should I start buying to add to the mix? I know I could probably Google...
I don't know about this pelletized bedding. Mixing in with the shavings I like the sounds of. I've been wanting to do a coop refresher. I have seen Etsy has lots with great mixtures, but haven't quite taken the leap and gotten one.
A fun read! Well written too! Thank you for sharing it. It definitely helped and gave me something to discuss with hubs to get his thoughts on it. The compost part will peak his interest.
I'm wondering what everyone is using on their coop floors. Currently we are using shavings, but I'm wondering if there is something better we could be doing. We've tried hay in the past & certain elements of it I liked, but the snake risk was a bit too raised. I've heard great things about sand...
Our baby chicks are coming next week and I am preparing their brooder. Its a 2 giant clear tubs connected system. My plan is to do one tub with puppy pee pads (that side will have the food & water), then the other tub will have sand (so I can litter scoop it clean). I read that when using sand...
@K0k0shka and @Floof thank you both so much for the words of support and the ideas for future handling. I was skeptical if I was overreacting. A longtime family friend of ours (also a neighbor) told me "Its a good thing its just chickens, so its not that big of deal" and it made me question if...
Technically they are supposed to be in their yard or on a leash. But our particular subdivision is a bit neglected. Its kind of like the old west I half-joke at times. The area is outside of Houston. Its part rural, part suburb. There are city ordinances, but in our subdivision in particular a...
Oh ours are definitely pet chickens. My girls named them all with love & fun. Its what made it so hard finding those dogs in our yard just doing it for fun. My girls are young too (5 & 6) we brooded those chickens when they were 2 & 3. They remembered brooding them. It was a hard loss.
This is some great feedback on the waterer! Last time we struggled with a messy water situation and repeatedly soiled food & shavings from the amount of water splashing. Thank you!
Thank you! We are excited. I want to optimize any kinks I had last time & you all have given me such amazing input. My husband is already working on further fortifying their chicken area so we don't have a repeat. Our poor turkey seems so lonely lately all by herself in the yard.
Thank you so much for the input. I have jotted down several of your tips with plans to follow them. The play sand is an amazing idea. I love the idea of the easy clean up with much less waste. My plan was to use 2 clear storage tubs (connect them together one tub would have puppy pee pads as the...
I love the idea of giving them things to peck at. It'll help stimulate them & keep them from getting bored. I keep seeing the brooder plates and I've always wondered about them in comparison to the heating lamp. They certainly seem way more convenient. Also thank you for the links I'll be...
Thank you for your explaining your set-up! It gave me some great tips. Especially the paper plate trick as I struggled with the amount of food we lost in the shavings every clean up. Not to mention the smell from wet food (& wet shavings). It made me clean up way more than probably most.
In September we have 15 baby chicks coming in from Meyer's Hatchery. We aren't first time chicken owners, but a few months ago our neighbor's 4 dogs squeezed through our fence in the very wee hours of morning & slaughtered our entire flock (much to my daughters and my heartbreak). SO! Now we are...