Australorps breed Thread

[Gramma Chick]

Quote: It's can also be caused by eating moldy food....

 

[tnmommy]

Very educational and yucky....I don't have a "coop" to clean out at present since they are housed in a covered pen at the moment but I am going to thoroughly clean and investigate their pen and my other 2 as well. I can't imagine locking my birds up in a coop in the South during the miserably hot and humid summer.... I can't imagine what that would lead to besides heatstroke. Talk about nasty germs and fungi growing...I clean out their feeders and waterers, nest boxes, litter on the ground....is there anything I can treat the litter with on the ground to prevent fungi growth or any other nastiness? I use deep litter mixed with sand right now to keep the droppings composted

 

[Turk Raphael]

Thanks to everyone for the replies to my vent gleet question.

Turk

 

[getaclue]

tnmommy, here in Florida, most of us use wire for the coop(s) as well as the run, then staple plastic to the outside of the coop portion only during the coldest, wettest, windiest days of winter. It's not so much about the cold, but we don't get a cold snap down here without a lot of strong winds, and heavy rain. When it warms up, down comes the plastic. We can easily confine chickens to the coop without them overheating.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Very educational and yucky....I don't have a "coop" to clean out at present since they are housed in a covered pen at the moment but I am going to thoroughly clean and investigate their pen and my other 2 as well. I can't imagine locking my birds up in a coop in the South during the miserably hot and humid summer.... I can't imagine what that would lead to besides heatstroke. Talk about nasty germs and fungi growing...I clean out their feeders and waterers, nest boxes, litter on the ground....is there anything I can treat the litter with on the ground to prevent fungi growth or any other nastiness? I use deep litter mixed with sand right now to keep the droppings composted

sOME PEOPLE ADD DE - Diatomaceous earth TO KEEP EVERYTHING DRY .
The key is to keep the coop dry as possible .
I put apple cider vinegar in their water ..it is supposed to help with keeping them healthy .

 

[tnmommy]

I though DE could damage their respiratory tract??

 

[tnmommy]

tnmommy, here in Florida, most of us use wire for the coop(s) as well as the run, then staple plastic to the outside of the coop portion only during the coldest, wettest, windiest days of winter. It's not so much about the cold, but we don't get a cold snap down here without a lot of strong winds, and heavy rain. When it warms up, down comes the plastic. We can easily confine chickens to the coop without them overheating.

Some people here don't give their chickens access to a coop at all. I did last year when I had 4 but I didn't close it up except when it got below the 30's. I gave them the option. They enjoyed a heat lamp when it was below 20 but any warmer than freezing they were often outside the coop.

 

[Gramma Chick]

I though DE could damage their respiratory tract??

it probably could if they breathe alot of it in ..some people use it ...I think you would want to be careful & not over do it .

Quote: There is one thing about adding heat to the coop ..if the power goes out ...they die ...
without heat my coop stayed in the 25 - 30 degree range ...they heat the coop themselves ...just like cows heat the barn
You must not have any predators ? mine are locked up at night . We have coons , 0possom , foxes , who knows what else roaming around

 

[Turk Raphael]

it probably could if they breathe alot of it in ..some people use it ...I think you would want to be careful & not over do it .
There is one thing about adding heat to the coop ..if the power goes out ...they die ...
without heat my coop stayed in the 25 - 30 degree range ...they heat the coop themselves ...just like cows heat the barn
You must not have any predators ? mine are locked up at night . We have coons , 0possom , foxes , who knows what else roaming around

The power goes off often enough around here, even in the summer time that we bought a generator. It's one thing to run a generator to keep the house functioning but having to run it during the winter to keep chickens warm would really put a load on it's capacity. My dad has a BIG commercial rig but that's out of my league and even he wouldn't heat a chicken house. The trick is to have good housing, good bedding and good ventilation.....along with good feeding program...JMHO

 

[tnmommy]

The pen is completely enclosed. I'm petitioning to have it reinforced better. We are in the burbs with our dogs on patrol. But wire enclosed top and bottom