1st night in the coop for 4 week olds

[trophywife]

Nice work on the coop

 

[kcfuerst]

I have a ladder indoors for my girls. I think they need one.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Quote:
Nice set up.

I added a ladder inside to the roost this afternoon - not that they will understand how to use it or even use it - but alas it is there!

 

[bobbieschicks]

I had to put them on the roost again last night (2nd night) and I checked this morning and they were still up there. However - 3 were inside the manure box sitting, 1 was on the actual roost board and 1 was on a nearby wall stud. UGH! Silly chickens! Yesterday I found one of the chicks on floor on the other side of the wire in my storage area - so I know I have to block off access with a board on that side (added to To-Do list).

How do I get them to stay out of the pine shavings and on the roost board? Will they eventually figure out not to sleep in the shavings? Eventually I plan to put sand up there in the manure box- would that deter them from sleeping in it?

Here's a picture of the manure board area with shavings for reference:

 

[Keltara]

Quote:
Hi Bobbie. I just wanted to give you my 2 cents again. First of all about the sand. I currently have sand in my coop and it is WONDERFUL!! My girls free range all day long, so at this point the run is not an issue, but before winter comes, we will be adding sand also to our run. It is soooooooooooooo clean. I use a kitty litter scoop to clean it each day and it takes approximately one minute to do so. My coop floor is 4x4 and raised. We have no flies in our coop and even on the hottest and most humid days, it smells like a fresh summer breeze! The poop dries immediately upon hitting the sand and therefore the girls never have poop on their feet or bodies. I got my girls in April. We have only had sand in the coop and I don't see any need to change or replace the sand any time in the near future, so it is a money saver too. So as far is sand is concerned...sand is good and everyone would definitely benefit from switching to it. As for the roosting thing. If it were me, I'd keep going out each night after dark and place them back up on the roosts where they belong. If you don't, they will make those their permanent roosting spots. My girls all roost in the same spot on the roost board every night. It's "their" spot. Make sure your girls spots are indeed somewhere on that roost. You've just got 3 more to go.

~Kelly~
✿My Country Chronicles Blog✿

 

[bobbieschicks]

Thanks Keltara -

Yes, I think it will be good to use sand in the manure box and scoop it often to keep smells down. I use DE in the pine shavings - but it still gets smelly fast in there. I am thanking of adding the sand to the run once they've eaten all the vegetation - which may be pretty soon at the rate they are eating that grass.

I went to check on the water/food/poop condition and after just a day of being in there there's already alot of poop. Scooping it with the pine shavings was a pain b/c I got alot of shavings - so I'm sure it will be easier with the sand to scoop less filler and more poop. On the plus side their water dish is relatively shavings free b/c it hangs from the ceiling now.

I will definitely keep up the moving them to the roost part until I find them only on the roost - I wonder if their sleeping in the shavings has to do with that's what they had in the brooder to sleep on. Once I switch to sand they may not like it as much and maybe won't want to sleep there anymore. I'm picking up sand tonight for the manure box and will spread it down tomorrow hopefully. I plan to use the sand from my kids' sandbox in the run - they don't play in it anymore anyway.

Thanks again!

 

[RedDrgn]

They're little chicks in a big new world! They have to get used to what to do and recognize that the new building is their home. Even though we'd take our out to roam about the run and coop when they were young and it was warm enough, they were still a bit weird about hitting the coop when it got dark. They'd pile up on my husband and I instead, and it took both of us to put them into the coop the first night they spent out (which was at 4 weeks).

Fortunately, on night #2, they did put themselves to bed in the coop. However, it's been two weeks since they were moved outside and they still chicken-pile into one of the nest boxes each night rather than roost on either of the two roosts (one lower and one higher). They get onto both roosts during daylight, but apparently aren't keen on the concept at night just yet. We're not forcing them, though. As long as they head indoors, they can sleep wherever they want for now. From what I've heard, they'll hit the roosts for the night at their own pace.

 

[Keltara]

Quote:
Bobbie
I use sand on more than just the poop board. I use it also on the floor of the coop. I would highly recommend that. Here's a picture of the interior of our coop...

The kitty litter scoop is really big. And here's a picture to show how our coop is elevated. It makes for very easy cleaning. I don't have to bend over.

~Kelly~
✿My Country Chronicles Blog✿

 

[bobbieschicks]

Quote:
Bobbie
I use sand on more than just the poop board. I use it also on the floor of the coop. I would highly recommend that. Here's a picture of the interior of our coop...
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o106/imagineitphotos/IMG_5304.jpg

The kitty litter scoop is really big. And here's a picture to show how our coop is elevated. It makes for very easy cleaning. I don't have to bend over.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o106/imagineitphotos/IMG_5311.jpg

~Kelly~
✿My Country Chronicles Blog✿

Nice set up - I was wondering how it would be if I used sand inside the coop. Do you have to scoop daily to keep it smelling good? Does it help keep it dry in there? That was the reason I wanted to use DE & DLM rather than sand - so I could be lazier about the scooping and just turn over the shavings as needed and sprinkle a little stall drier as needed.

BTW - love the pics on your blog - especially love the teaparty chick! Too cute. My son wants me to get BOs next time b/c he's "tired of these chickens that don't like people" - referring to our White Leghorns and the little Ancona we just added. He was quite happy when I told him the mutt chicks we adopted were "docile and friendly" according to the woman who sold them to me.

 

[Keltara]

Quote:
Bobbie
I use sand on more than just the poop board. I use it also on the floor of the coop. I would highly recommend that. Here's a picture of the interior of our coop...
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o106/imagineitphotos/IMG_5304.jpg

The kitty litter scoop is really big. And here's a picture to show how our coop is elevated. It makes for very easy cleaning. I don't have to bend over.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o106/imagineitphotos/IMG_5311.jpg

~Kelly~
✿My Country Chronicles Blog✿

Nice set up - I was wondering how it would be if I used sand inside the coop. Do you have to scoop daily to keep it smelling good? Does it help keep it dry in there? That was the reason I wanted to use DE & DLM rather than sand - so I could be lazier about the scooping and just turn over the shavings as needed and sprinkle a little stall drier as needed.

BTW - love the pics on your blog - especially love the teaparty chick! Too cute. My son wants me to get BOs next time b/c he's "tired of these chickens that don't like people" - referring to our White Leghorns and the little Ancona we just added. He was quite happy when I told him the mutt chicks we adopted were "docile and friendly" according to the woman who sold them to me.

Okay. First the sand. When I initially put the sand in, I also added some Sweet PDZ. I thought it would be necessary for the smell. I think that was a wasted expense (luckily I only spent $3.00 on it). The sand dries the poop rather quickly and therefore eliminating the odor. The longest I have gone without cleaning my coop is 3 days and there was absolutely no smell. Please believe me when I tell you it only takes me approximately 1 minute per day to clean it. It is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier than shavings. I just scoop it out and fling it into the woods. The kitty litter scoop sifts all the poop out and leaves the sand. No waste. One minute and done! The sand is very good for the feet of the chickens and keeps mites, and fleas away. At least it has for my birds. We are in August and I have not had to treat them in any way for mites/bugs. With sand, there is no need for DE or stall drier. The interior of the coop is so very sanitary and that in turn is so good for my special girls. The type of sand is important though. You should get construction sand. It's sharper and better for their feet. It's less habitable for mites and bugs as well. I promise you, that if you got rid of all your shavings and replaced it all with construction sand (you can buy bags of it cheap at Lowes or Home Depot), you will have made your job of maintaing your coop 110% more easy and pleasant. ❤ I promise❤!! I'm sure play sand would be good as well though. Construction sand is just "better". The sand in my coop is 1/2 inch deep. It took three 50lb. bags. No need for any more in there. It's perfect. When I do our run, I'll probably go 3 inches deep or so. That way it will be easy to rake. From what I've read here on BYC, people just rake their runs of sand and the poop literally just disappears. Lovely!! I have not had to haul out the sand and bring in new like you need to do with shavings. So all told, to have an immaculate poop free coop, it literally, and I mean VERY literally, takes me all of 7 minutes per week. Doesn't that sound just dreamy? It is wonderful.

Now on the Buff Orpingtons. I am on your son's side with that. As I stated in my blog, they are really friendly, loving, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet birds. You need to get a couple ASAP!!! They will quickly become your favorite. Since mine free range all day, I can't always find them when I first go outside. All I have to do is yell "Henny Penny's", and they will come fly running to me as quickly as possible. It's really funny! I just adore them. I'm so glad you visited my new blog. Did you know that you can sign up to follow it by email? Just type your email address in and whenever I update it, you'll get notification.

I hope you decide to follow us by email.

Oh!! One more benefit of sand! One of my girls recently had several days where she was pooping diarrhea. As soon as it hit the sand....dried up with no smell!! Yay sand!!

I hope this helps to convince you to make a complete switch and ditch the shavings all together.

~Kelly~
✿My Country Chronicles Blog✿